I have a love-hate relationship with the sun. I love it on cool, autumn days when it slices through the air temperature to warm my goose-bumped skin. I love it after a cold, dark winter when its rays bring with it the renewed life of spring. I love the way it tones my skin as I lounge and play under its long summer light. I love the way it sparkles off the gentle waves on a quiet lake. I love the way it paints the sky as it rises and sets. Without the sun our planet would be a frozen wasteland in which none could survive. Without its light our plants couldn't produce the oxygen which we breathe. I love it when it's good for me and meets my needs and pleasures.
But that very same sun burns my skin when I linger underneath it too long. I hate it when it turns summer days into a sweltering, sweaty sauna. I hate how it incessantly beats down its heat through the cloudless skies as I hike through the desert. I try to hide in the shade or the air conditioning, but it's always there with its perpetual blaze and its ultraviolet rays. When it makes me uncomfortable or irritated, I turn against my once celebrated ally.
But isn't this also how I treat God? I'm a huge fan when it suits me and meets my needs and makes me feel comfortable and accepted. But when things aren't going my way or I feel like I can do fine on my own, I'm content to live without Him. Not literally without Him. Certainly He continues to uphold me and provide for me despite my traitorous betrayal, which only credits His faithfulness. But I live practically without Him. I forget to pray, or purposefully don't waste the time. I lose sight of His subtle, sovereign workings and attribute them to my own ingenuity or happy coincidence. I turn against the very source of life when in reality He's what I need the most. I'm reminded how fickle my affections really are. I'm reminded how quickly forgetful I can be. I'm reminded that my greatest consistency is my inconsistency. The part that I hate the most is the love-hate relationship.
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This is an archive collection of the many different blogsites I've used over the years. These posts chronicle my incessant ramblings, thoughts and observations over the course of my life journey. On different occasions I have written with more frequency, honesty, or purpose than others, but my hope is that as you eavesdrop along my journey, my words may somehow prove to be signposts for yours.
View Current Blogs | Blossoming Deserts | All Surpassing Worth | A Hiker's Guide to the NH48 | Photo Archive
View Current Blogs | Blossoming Deserts | All Surpassing Worth | A Hiker's Guide to the NH48 | Photo Archive
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Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Quote of the Day
"God never promises his people smooth sailing in this life; the only thing He promises is a safe port. Some of us may indeed traverse the bloody seas in order to arrive in that mooring." ~ Dr. John Currid
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Quote of the Day
"The discontented person thinks everything he does for God too much, and everything God does for him too little." ~ Thomas Watson, Contentment
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Quote of the Day
"Indeed, there is no middle ground between these two: either the world must become worthless to us or hold us bound by intemperate love of it. Accordingly, if we have any concern for eternity, we must strive diligently to strike off these evil fetters." ~ John Calvin
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Quote of the Day
"He liked as he liked; he seems to have like everybody, but especially those whom everybody disliked him for liking." ~ G.K. Chesterton on St. Francis of Assisi
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