Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash
The rains pour down, the grass grows tall,
the sun comes out, and the lawnmower won’t start at all.
I need to get to work, but the car is making a funny sound,
I take it in to the shop and he said, “No issue can be found.”
The kid gets sick, so to the doctor we must go,
I tried to pick up the prescription, but the store says, “No.”
No money on my card, but I just got paid,
I call the bank, they research, “Oh, sorry, a mistake was made.”
I wake up to find water on the kitchen floor,
Great! The refrigerator gone out, and the frozen foods leaked out the door.
The neighbor’s kid was outside playing baseball,
a home run hit, ball through my window, it’s now in my hall.
The alarm doesn’t ring, I guess the power went out,
I’m late for work, and my boss yells and shouts.
My spouse fell and tore their work clothes too,
how are we going to replace with all these bills due?
Why is my life such a chaotic mess?
I’m so tired of all this distress!
Is this life? For better or for worse?
I can’t take it any longer, so put me in a hearse!
Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy, so he’s behind it all,
Jesus came to give abundant life. To restore things after “The Fall”.
Adam and Eve, thought they could do life on their own,
they disobeyed God, life became hard, and so they moan.
Accepting Jesus isn’t a magic pill, to make the chaos all go away,
but you can devote yourself to Him, and with you He will stay.
All the chaos is just one big distraction, keeping you from God,
Speak to it, in the name of Jesus, “Peace be still”, even if it feels odd.
God tells us to take dominion over the earth, to rule with him in this life.
We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, so you won’t even need a knife.
Use the power He gives you, in His name. Drive out evil spirits that disrupt,
Call forth peace, joy, and love to come into your life. These things are not corrupt!
You can live life now, the way God first intended, rich and full,
you don’t have to put up with the chaos, which is nothing, but Satan’s bull!
It’s up to you. A life of peace, or a life of crises,
Give your life to Jesus, and you can overcome, Satan’s devices.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
After living here four months, it finally happened! I got very sick this past week from being an American and being careless with the water here in the Philippines. While I was lying in my hospital bed, there was a series of thoughts like, “Is God punishing me? Am I not praying enough? What lesson is God wanting me to learn? Should I be praying more?” Then there are those who try to bargain with God like, “God, I will go to church, if you get me out of this.”
Well, here you are. In the middle of life, and honestly, it’s not what you expected. What do you do? Give up? Run away? Get a divorce? The attraction is; wherever I go has to be better than this! Disappointing job, house, spouse, church, etc. doesn’t really matter. It sucks!
It can be challenging, trying to blend two cultures, but it can also be fun. For instance, I grew up in America where my mother and father had a lot of people over to play card games, eat, and laugh. I thought it was pretty cool. Something I have tried to emulate as an adult.
If you have tried everything, does that list include Jesus?
I got remarried yesterday evening, after being divorced for twenty-three years. I no longer have to check that dreaded little box, “Divorced”. I married a wonderful woman of God who is a Filipino. The only problem is, I’m an American, and she is not allowed to enter the United States without a Visa, which could take a year or longer to arrive. When she said, “I do,” she became an “IR”. Instant Relative. This status gives her priority over everyone else trying to enter America by any other means. Work Visa, Student Visa, Fiancé Visa, etc. It also gives her access to a “Green Card” and two weeks after she arrives in America she will get her Social Security card. Being an “IR” has instant privileges.
When is enough, enough? Have you had it with an individual, or a workplace? What about a country? You scream so loud on the inside you’re surprised that dogs don’t howl! Why do people, work rules, or a countries procedures have to be ridiculous? If they made sense, or had a justifiable reason behind them, then fine, so be it. For someone to say, “But that’s the rule,” or “that’s the way it is,” over and over doesn’t help either. It hurts, beating your head against the wall repeatedly, trying to find a sliver of logic to it all when the truth is, there is none!
I once wrote, the act of dying doesn’t hurt. I am learning it does, when you die, while you are still living. What in the world am I saying? I thought I had fully surrendered everything to God, and then I moved to the Philippines following his direction. Now, he is requiring more of me. To give up my self-reliant attitude. Living in a foreign country, where they speak some English, but not fluently, and I only know about 12 Tagalog words.
Yes, that quote is from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Why am I referencing it? Well, for the last two weeks I have been working many hours a day to prepare for a major move in my life, and I have witnessed God’s mighty hand all along the way.
brady, mark a. 