[Note: I found this a couple of days ago. I have no idea WHEN exactly I wrote it. Maybe Sept. 2005 or July 2008. I don’t even remember writing it, except I seem to have just ranted on paper, put it in a Word doc, formatted it, and then emailed it to myself so I wouldn’t lose it. It’s definitely my style, and it’s just the word I needed to hear right now. ~Cara]

Life can be really difficult sometimes… and unfair…
And just generally unbearable in moments of crisis!
It has been so for me at least,
Not only on a personal level,
But for close friends and family as well.
I rail at what most people call fate, thinking,
“What did we do to deserve this???”
The answer of course is “nothing”.
The perversities and hardships come crashing in.
Everything falls all in a heap about our ears,
Heedless of tears and prayers and pleas for mercy.
Push the right button on each of us and we blow up.
Life blows up… KABOOM!
We end up making do with what we’re handed out
Or sometimes starting from scratch all over again.
The thing is that
Everybody has issues, stresses, problems,
Crises on various levels.
If you start talking about who deserves what,
Well, then, I mean, REALLY,
Who doesn’t deserve problems?
We’ve all done things wrong.
Nobody’s perfect.
We all make mistakes and bad choices.
Sometimes those have direct consequences.
Sometimes they have indirect consequences.
And (sigh) sometimes things just happen.

You run over a nail in the road and your tire blows out.
The nail was just there.
No one put it there on purpose.
You couldn’t see it and so couldn’t avoid it.
Now, you have to stop traveling
(Towards whatever goal you can name),
Get out, and fix the problem.
That, my friends, is where we really face the fire.
Are we bitter? Do we resent having to stop and deal?
Will we just keep going and avoid the issue?
Will we lose our temper, expending needed energy?
Or can we take our lump,
Focus our intellect and strength on changing the tire
(i.e. dealing with the problem), and
Thank the Father above, for a moment,
For the mercies we have on other days.
You know-
The days when the road is clear,
Our tanks and our bellies are full, or at least, not empty,
The weather is fine, and we can continue,
Unimpeded, on our journey.

So, life is difficult and unfair and sometimes unbearable,
But we’re breathing, aren’t we?
Every moment we breathe is a reminder
That our life is sustained by mercy and grace alone.
We can accept the mercy, stand on the grace, and
Extend that same mercy and grace to others.
Or waste our lives throwing tantrums-
Instead of moving forward with each new day.
The earth spins on its axis and
Lets us see the daylight dawning
With a brand new perspective.
God didn’t promise to deliver us from fire and water,
But He did promise to walk through it with us.
It’s been awesome realizing I’m not alone… ever.
By His Word, I am sustained.
By His Spirit, I am comforted.
By His Blood, I am forgiven and able to start afresh.
I dare you to try trusting Him if you haven’t.
You’ll be surprised at how much difference it makes!

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