Reason #707
I was thinking back through 2013 today as I organized my bathroom. You know, perspective really does matter. Your outlook greatly affects many aspects of your life. You can look at situations as opportunities for growth, as a chance for your faith to be refined, or you can look at them as bad. You can see them as blessings in disguise, or you can see them as painful and unfair trials. A while back, my mom challenged me to write "blessing blogs" rather than "depressing blogs," and she had a good point. Because my perspective needed to change, and until it did, my life wasn't going to get any better. And so I try to be real and authentic when I write each night, but I also try to be uplifting. I don't like to pretend that my life is perfect or that I am. That's far from the truth. But I also don't like to dwell on what's not going my way. And so I thought about how maybe sometimes it seems like everything just always "works out" for me. Maybe it seems like nothing ever really goes wrong and if it does, it turns around quickly. Yet as I thought back over 2013, I thought about a lot of the not so easy and fun moments that occurred. Because even though I always make a point to highlight all of the good things, there have been some not so good things that my family and I have struggled through this year.
I love people who aren't afraid to be honest about their lives. People who aren't ashamed to tell share their stories and their heartaches. People who will sympathize rather than pretend like they don't understand what hardship is. I appreciate people who will admit their struggles and their weakness. People who will be quick to tell you that they are imperfect, too. Because we all are, yet so many times we look at the lives of others and we don't see it. It is as if they are always winning in life. Always getting the best of the best. It's like everything just magically works out for them... all the time. You probably know someone like that. I can think of a few. Yet what we don't always know is that not everything works out for them all the time. We don't see that they, too, have struggles and difficulties. In fact, they might even be looking at someone else thinking the exact thing that you're thinking about them. But what makes the difference is perspective. It's the way they view things. It's how they look at life. And when you look at circumstances in life as opportunities rather than punishment, you find that it is much easier to emerge victorious.
I heard this song multiple times today and I thought about the joy of being able to always sing Hallelujah. Of being able to offer up praise to God no matter what. Because sometime we shout it from the top of our lungs. Hallelujah! We can't contain our joy and we worship Him from hearts that are overflowing with gratitude. But then there are those moments when we are so broken. Devastated and hurting, and we can hardly speak. Our hearts ache, we don't understand, it's not easy, and we're completely disappointed. Yet even in the sorrow, we can offer up a broken hallelujah along with all of those other things and He'll take it. The joyful hallelujahs and the broken ones are all accepted. Because that's just how life goes, and God understands that. Yet we have the choice to still praise Him regardless. To see it as an opportunity to witness God create beauty from ashes. To allow Him to make His power known in our lives. The hardships are our opportunities to see God do amazing and miraculous things if we'll allow Him the chance.
I anticipate that 2014 will be filled with wonderful blessings, yet I also know that 2014 will come with it's fair share of challenges and disappointments. There will be achy heart days, and there will be tears, I'm sure. Life isn't perfect, but life can be a beautiful blessing if you choose to see it that way.
Hallelujah.
#707 - Because He accepts our joyful and our broken hallelujahs!
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you." - Psalm 84:11-12
I love people who aren't afraid to be honest about their lives. People who aren't ashamed to tell share their stories and their heartaches. People who will sympathize rather than pretend like they don't understand what hardship is. I appreciate people who will admit their struggles and their weakness. People who will be quick to tell you that they are imperfect, too. Because we all are, yet so many times we look at the lives of others and we don't see it. It is as if they are always winning in life. Always getting the best of the best. It's like everything just magically works out for them... all the time. You probably know someone like that. I can think of a few. Yet what we don't always know is that not everything works out for them all the time. We don't see that they, too, have struggles and difficulties. In fact, they might even be looking at someone else thinking the exact thing that you're thinking about them. But what makes the difference is perspective. It's the way they view things. It's how they look at life. And when you look at circumstances in life as opportunities rather than punishment, you find that it is much easier to emerge victorious.
I can barely stand right now.
Everything is crashing down,
And I wonder where You are.
I try to find the words to pray.
I don't always know what to say,
But You're the one that can hear my heart.
Even though I don't know what your plan is,
I know You're making beauty from these ashes.
I've seen joy and I've seen pain.
On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
You know the things that have brought me here.
You know the story of every tear.
‘Cause You've been here from the very start.
Even though I don't know what your plan is,
I know You're making beauty from these ashes.
I've seen joy and I've seen pain.
On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
When all is taken away, don't let my heart be changed.
Let me always sing Hallelujah
When I feel afraid, don't let my hope be erased
Let me always sing Hallelujah.
Everything is crashing down,
And I wonder where You are.
I try to find the words to pray.
I don't always know what to say,
But You're the one that can hear my heart.
Even though I don't know what your plan is,
I know You're making beauty from these ashes.
I've seen joy and I've seen pain.
On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
You know the things that have brought me here.
You know the story of every tear.
‘Cause You've been here from the very start.
Even though I don't know what your plan is,
I know You're making beauty from these ashes.
I've seen joy and I've seen pain.
On my knees, I call Your name.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
With nothing left to hold onto,
I raise these empty hands to You.
Here's my broken hallelujah.
When all is taken away, don't let my heart be changed.
Let me always sing Hallelujah
When I feel afraid, don't let my hope be erased
Let me always sing Hallelujah.
I heard this song multiple times today and I thought about the joy of being able to always sing Hallelujah. Of being able to offer up praise to God no matter what. Because sometime we shout it from the top of our lungs. Hallelujah! We can't contain our joy and we worship Him from hearts that are overflowing with gratitude. But then there are those moments when we are so broken. Devastated and hurting, and we can hardly speak. Our hearts ache, we don't understand, it's not easy, and we're completely disappointed. Yet even in the sorrow, we can offer up a broken hallelujah along with all of those other things and He'll take it. The joyful hallelujahs and the broken ones are all accepted. Because that's just how life goes, and God understands that. Yet we have the choice to still praise Him regardless. To see it as an opportunity to witness God create beauty from ashes. To allow Him to make His power known in our lives. The hardships are our opportunities to see God do amazing and miraculous things if we'll allow Him the chance.
I anticipate that 2014 will be filled with wonderful blessings, yet I also know that 2014 will come with it's fair share of challenges and disappointments. There will be achy heart days, and there will be tears, I'm sure. Life isn't perfect, but life can be a beautiful blessing if you choose to see it that way.
Hallelujah.
#707 - Because He accepts our joyful and our broken hallelujahs!
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you." - Psalm 84:11-12
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