A Weary World Rejoices

As our community continues to move forward after being shocked, overwhelmed, and devastated by the effects of Hurricane Harvey, I have heard so many people talk about how they feel stuck. It’s almost as if we are in some kind of time warp where time has somewhat frozen and, even though it’s December, we still feel like it’s August. The past few months have been a whirlwind and for some, a blur. We have gone through the motions and made it further than anyone could have foreseen back in August. Progress has been made, yet there is still so very much left to do.

A few nights ago, I was reading in my devotional and came across a poem the author referred to called “The Age-Long Minute” by Amy Carmichael. She used it to describe a similar experience in which she was in a waiting period and felt like time was standing still. She felt like things would never get better and that God was silent. I thought to myself, “That’s it; that’s the phrase we’ve all been looking for!” We have been living in an age-long minute! It feels like we are stuck in a moment in time and even though we keep going and go through the motions every day, nothing really changes.

Life has been so crazy since August 29^th. I can still so clearly remember hearing the unrelenting rain and constantly checking to see how flooded things were. I remember the constant tornado warnings and staring at the weather channel. I remember getting calls and texts from people whose houses were flooding and going out to rescue some. I remember standing at the end of a well-known, residential boulevard and helping people out of boats as they were being rescued. I remember those boats, driven by civilians, carrying the residents of two entire nursing homes to safety and working alongside so many members of the community as we tried to take care of them. The helicopters, the army coming in, the makeshift shelters popping up and donations pouring in. All of it felt like something out of a movie. But it was real, and we were all running around like crazy trying to help in any way we could. It was traumatizing and beautiful all at the same time. It’s something I will never forget. Ever since then, life has gone on. Schools reopened and people went back to work. Houses were gutted and families who were affected went to live with friends or relatives. Life took on a new kind of normal, and we went on. Still, the past few months have felt like one incredibly long minute that just won’t end. Our brains can’t process it and it makes us feel confused and weary.

In the wee hours of the morning on December 8^th, that age-long minute snapped. Right here in Southeast Texas, it started to SNOW! It stuck to the ground and covered everything in the most beautiful, freezing cold powder that was the purest white. Our weary community got out of our beds and ran out to play, rejoicing in a way that a lot of us thought we might never again! Children’s heartfelt prayers were answered as people young and old built snowmen, made snow angels, ate snowflakes, had snowball fights, and walked around in awe and wonder. This weary, desolate land turned into our very own winter wonderland! Tears of joy were shed and there was a renewed spirit of energy and hope in the air all day long. It was the most beautiful experience.

I’ve been reflecting on the fact that the snow came the same year as the hurricane, and I don’t believe for a minute that it’s a coincidence. I believe it’s perfectly parallel to the story of the very first Christmas, the night that Jesus was born. In studying the scriptures, we find that Jesus was born in one of those age-long minutes. Apparently that’s not a new thing. At the time of Jesus’ birth, God had been silent for 400 years. The world was lost in darkness and losing hope of ever receiving the promised Messiah, the Savior. I can imagine that the people were going through the motions and feeling frozen in time. I think of the shepherds sitting out in the fields just like they likely did every night. They had to have felt so hopeless and just plain bored. I wonder if they sat there thinking about whether life really had any greater meaning or if this was as good as it was going to get. I can almost feel the yearning that might have been within their hearts as they tried to grasp something that just wasn’t there. Perhaps they prayed “God, are You listening? Do you even care anymore? Have You just left us here alone in this dark, weary world?” And then, the dark night was pierced with the most brilliant light as an angel appeared to them. Talk about shock! The angel tells them of a Savior who has been born on that cold, dark, weary night. He tells them to go find Him and worship Him. And they do. They get up, just like we did when it snowed, and ran to Bethlehem to find the baby King. They didn’t know all the details, but they knew that things were about to change.

We know more than the shepherds did that night. We know that Jesus was born to save us and give our lives meaning. He broke the silence of God and gave us a reason to rejoice. Just like the Southeast Texas snow, Jesus came right in the middle of that age-long minute to restore our hope and remind us that God is with us. He’s not silent and He’s not far away; He’s right here with us! Christmas is definitely a time to rejoice, but not for the reasons society has given us. We don’t have to try to force ourselves to be holly jolly or feel guilty that we’re not excited about decorations or Santa’s arrival. We have much more reason to rejoice, and it has nothing to do with our circumstances. Jesus has come, and that means God is with us. Forever. We have HOPE and the silence has been broken!

If you’re having trouble getting into the “Christmas spirit,” I would encourage you to dwell on the true meaning of Christmas instead of society’s take on it. This can be a very stressful time of year and we often get caught up in trying to buy the perfect gifts, host the perfect party, and maintain a positive, cheery disposition. But that’s not what this season is really about. This Christmas, remember that we have an everlasting hope because of Jesus. Let the snow remind you that the age-long minute has been broken and that Jesus always meets us right in the middle of our weariness. Life may not be perfect right now, but we will keep going and we will recover. In the meantime, we don’t have to pretend. We need only to hold onto Jesus and rejoice in what He accomplished on the cross. And it all started on that first Christmas in the middle of an age-long minute.

On Gifts and Seasons

I have always loved the passage in Ecclesiastes that talks about seasons:

  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

 a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

 a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

This passage is so beautiful in bringing a sense of order to our lives and reminding us that there is an appointed time for everything that happens. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the fact that life happens in seasons. Obviously, we experience the four seasons of summer, fall, winter, and spring (although this is debatable if you live here in Southeast Texas! J) We also experiences other kinds of seasons. We have seasons of contentment in which all seems to be right in our world. We go through seasons of change in which things don’t seem to be settled and life can be confusing. There are also seasons of heartache in which our world has been turned upside down and we feel like we are walking in darkness with no hope of every being in the light again. Then, there are seasons of hope and renewal in which things start to look up and we begin to live again.

 I like to think that these seasons of our lives correlate perfectly with the seasons of the earth.  Summer represents joy and contentment. Fall is a time of change and shifting, which can make us feel a little down and melancholy. Winter is cold and represents despair and darkness. Then, spring comes along and reminds us that there is life and that we are going to make it out of that cold, dark season. I love the way God set that up! Some of these seasons are a lot more fun than others. Some we would like to skip. It can often feel like God has abandoned us when hard things happen and life feels cold, dark, and lonely. I want to share a story with you and something God has been revealing to me recently about His presence in every season of my life.

The second semester of my senior year of high school was a rough one. My grandma, whom I was extremely close to, was diagnosed with cancer and went on Hospice care. She passed away in March of that year, two months before my graduation. Her death hit me extremely hard and I quickly entered into a season of depression, loneliness, grief, and hopelessness. I couldn’t imagine being truly okay again. The months went by and I started college that fall, only to have my uncle be placed on Hospice care and pass away that October. Needless to say, 2014 was a rough year for our family. The holidays approached and I dreaded them. Thanksgiving passed and it was okay, but the sadness remained. I was really not ready for Christmas without my grandma. I didn’t even want to think about her not being there. So, in the days leading up to December, I mentioned to my parents that I thought getting a puppy might help me. Surprisingly, they agreed. On December 2, 2014, a sweet, tiny little puppy came into our family. I immediately fell in love with her and named her Mabry, which was my grandma’s middle name. Over the next few days and weeks, my heart was filled with so much joy, comfort, and love. Every time I would get sad and start missing my grandma, I would just look at Mabry and be filled with joy again. I called her my “Christmas gift from heaven” and fully believed that God sent her to me specifically to tell me, “you’re going to be okay.” I was so thankful. Mabry quickly captured the hearts of everyone in my family. She brought all of us so much love, laughter, and comfort. She grew and developed such a funny personality. She was so very unique and you couldn’t help but love her! We even said that she took on some of the same character qualities that my grandma had, which made her even more special!

After I got Mabry, I felt like I was moving forward again, living again. I would think about graduating college and moving off to graduate school and think, “how will I ever leave my Mabry?” She was so very precious to me in helping me through my grief. Two years passed and we celebrated her second birthday and the second anniversary of the day she came into our family. She was a gift I thanked God for every day!

In April of 2017, Mabry began to have some stomach problems. We started having to take her to the vet frequently and she had to have several tests done. Everything always came back okay and they couldn’t figure out what the problem was. It wasn’t affecting her everyday life, so we didn’t think it was that big of a deal. In August, we left her with the vet while we went on vacation and he did some more testing. When we got back, we were told that Mabry had a rare form of leukemia and that there were not adequate treatment options. The future was very unknown and dogs could live a long time or a short time with this disease. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. She was my baby! The next few weeks were spent taking care of her as she began to decline. She lost her eyesight and became more and more fragile. It was the most heartbreaking thing to witness. I cherished every moment I had with her and prayed that God would somehow get me through what had become my worst fear, losing Mabry.

On September 7, we had to make the impossible decision to have Mabry put down. She was suffering too much and we couldn’t let that continue. I stayed with her to the very end and we gave her a special burial in the backyard. I immediately went back into a very dark season. I just couldn’t understand why God would take such a precious gift away from me so quickly. It did not seem fair and I was just heartbroken.

Through talking to some special, trusted friends, my family and I decided to get another dog. Not to replace Mabry because she could NEVER be replaced, but to be a blessing to another dog and allow them to help fill some of the emptiness in our hearts. Two weeks later, we adopted a sweet little rescue dog named Penny. We have had her for about two months now and she has grown in size and personality. She has become so comfortable with us and brings us love and laughter. She is definitely helping our hearts heal. I am extra thankful for her today because today would mark the third anniversary of Mabry coming into our family.

Penny’s actual birthday is unknown since she is a rescue, but they estimate that she was born in April. That was exactly when Mabry began having problems. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s like God was already preparing to take care of me before I even knew what was going to happen. We adopted Penny on October 1, which would have been Mabry’s third birthday. Again, not a coincidence. Just God’s perfect timing.

I still don’t understand why God chose to take Mabry when He did. All I know is that He is sovereign and good. In EVERY season. God sent Mabry to me exactly when I needed her. Even with Mabry, it took me a long time to really become at peace with my grandma’s death. Maybe taking her was God’s way of telling me, “it’s okay. You don’t need her anymore. She has served her purpose and you really are going to be okay.” Still, He knew that I would need help in dealing with her loss. So, He sent Penny. She is so different than Mabry but I’m also starting to see lots of similarities. She is truly a blessing.

I hope this story helps remind you that God is in every season. He gives us what we need for each season and provides us a way to keep going. Then, every once in a while, He sends us a reminder that we are going to be okay. It may be a small, simple reminder, but powerful nonetheless. I would encourage you to look for those reminders and keep going, no matter what season you are in. He is there, and He loves us more than we will ever know.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time…”

Ecclesiastes 3:11

https://youtu.be/vmXdCzMQ9_M

Don't Should on Yourself

Don’t you just love hearing the word “should?” So many well-meaning people, including ourselves, often offer advice in the form of telling someone they “should” do this or they “should not” do that. When we are the one giving the advice, we really do have good intentions; we think we know what’s best for the person and their situation. When we’re on the receiving end, it’s a different story. I’m guilty of it, too. I am quick to think that I’m the expert on other peoples’ lives and I have often used the word “should” in an attempt to help or even control certain situations. However, being the stubborn, quite independent person that I am, hearing someone tell me what I should or shouldn’t do just makes my skin crawl and irritates me to no end. Can anyone relate??

One of the things I love about being a Social Work major is that I can apply so many of the things I am learning to my everyday life; not just my future career. I have so many amazing professors who have so much valuable experience and information to share. Last semester, one of them taught us something that really stood out and has stayed with me ever since. She said, “when working with clients, never ‘should’ on them.” She went on to explain that telling a client what they should or shouldn’t do only makes them feel judged and powerless over their situation. We are not there to boss them around or control them, we are there to guide them into making decisions that will help improve their circumstances. In Social Work, we respect a client’s right to self-determination, which means that it is ultimately their job to make a decision about their situation whether we agree with it or not, which is one of the hardest parts of this profession.

I have really been trying to put this into practice in my everyday life by avoiding the word “should” when talking to others or giving them advice. I’d like to say I’ve been doing a pretty good job at it, except for when it comes to myself. I cannot tell you how many times over the course of my life, and especially over the past few weeks, that I have told myself things that include the word “should.” “You should be studying more. You should be trying harder with this. You should be able to keep it together.” Those are the things I’ve been telling myself. I have to think that I’m not alone. I’ve talked to several people lately who have expressed having trouble getting it together. I am quick to tell others that they’re doing the best they can and that they have every right to feel the way they do, but I never seem to allow myself that much grace. I think the worst of it is when I start telling myself, “you shouldn’t feel this way. It doesn’t make sense and you should be over that by now.” That became a real problem. It has led me to some conclusions and revealed to me many things I need to work on.

I know this won’t apply to everyone reading this, but it will for a lot of you. Guys, we are living in a disaster area. I know that life has pretty much gotten back to normal for most of us, but there are so many people who are still displaced from their homes and dealing with the effects of this storm. It seemed to come in out of nowhere and just turned our world upside down. We were expecting it, of course, but no one could have expected the extent of it. Our friends and family and maybe even you personally have been through trauma these past few months. If you weren’t affected by Harvey, maybe you’ve recently experienced some other type of “storm” in your life. The fact is that everyone has gone through something, is currently going through something, or will go through something in the future that is difficult. Life is hard! We don’t need to “get it together,” we need GRACE.

Let’s face it: We, as humans, tend to fall apart sometimes. We go through seasons of struggle and discouragement. Some of us experiences periodic or constant depression. We keep going the best we can and feel like every day is a fight. We go through the motions and try to find life and joy, but that sometimes seems so far out of reach. Especially when we’ve experienced a loss. We’ll have one particularly bad day and think “I have to get it together!” or “I really need to stop thinking about that. It’s over and I should just move on and stop being sad.” Let me share with you another little Social Work secret. Self-talk is powerful. It determines our emotions and, eventually, our actions and decisions.

A while back, I was reading a book by Lynn Cowell and came across this statement that I think we could all benefit from:

 God’s love does not depend on my performance.

This has been a game changer for me. I have to remind myself of this constantly, and I hope you will, too. Our struggles do not define us. Our failures do not make God love us any less. His grace is greater than anything we could ever do and anything that has been done to us. It’s okay if we can’t get it together. Who, in all honesty, really has it all together?

The only way we are going to heal and cope in a healthy way is if we acknowledge our struggles and emotions and own them. Realize that it is what it is and determine to keep moving forward in spite of it. Grief is a complex experience and it’s not limited to the death of a loved one. It is experienced at the ending of a relationship, the loss of a home or pet, life taking an unexpected turn, and many other things. We “should” not try to avoid it or minimize it. We “should” not try to present ourselves as perfect or hold ourselves to standards of perfection. We “should” give ourselves time and permission to experience our emotions and process them, however long that takes. We just shouldn’t “should” on ourselves!

If no one has told you lately, you’re doing a good job. You really are. Assuming you are doing the best you can with what you have, that’s all that can be expected. Try not to be so hard on yourself. Give yourself grace and allow God’s grace to be greater than what you are going through. You are going to make it. WE are going to make it. I’m speaking to myself here as much as I’m speaking to you, and I hope we can all learn to be more open with one another and encourage each other through these difficult days.

Christy Nockels - River of Grace 

https://youtu.be/o_r_0d8RW9g

Why It's Worth It

Let’s face it: Scrolling through Facebook and Instagram can be kind of depressing. Seeing all of your friends having fun, going to cool places, and living life to the fullest can cause us to wonder “what’s wrong with me? Why am I not happy? Why am I the only one going through a hard time?” It’s easy to get discouraged when we see others living life while we seem to be stuck and not sure how to move forward. Social media can paint a pretty picture, but the reality is that Life. Is. Hard. For everyone. We may see our friends’ highlights on Facebook, but we don’t see their low points, the nights where they cry themselves to sleep and the days that seem overwhelming. Even the most perfect-looking people face hard, heart-wrenching challenges at some point in life.

As a social work major, I feel like I’m constantly becoming more and more aware of the brokenness of this world. Social work is such a broad field and there are so many different career paths to take. As exciting as it is to think about all of the possibilities, I’m also faced with the reality that all of these paths will require working with broken people. People who are lonely, hurting, feeling hopeless, rejected, abandoned, sick, and so much more. Which is fine; that’s exactly why I chose social work. I want to help people. But if I’m honest, I sometimes get so very overwhelmed at the thought of facing so much heartache in this field. My life is going to be dedicated to walking with and lifting up the broken, advocating for the powerless, comforting the hurting, and trying to help people get to a better place in life. The most rewarding, fulfilling job I can think of. But like I said, sometimes, I get overwhelmed.

There are so many children in the foster care system. They need a loving home; a family who will take them in and love them and guide them through this time in their life. The world is full of human trafficking victims who need healing, restoration, and love. People of all ages are dying every day because of poverty. The elderly are placed in sometimes horrible facilities with no one to advocate for them or even come visit them. Think about all of the prisoners and the kids in the juvenile system. They need us, too! They need someone to tell them that they have potential and that their life can be better. They need help when they are released so that they can get a job and try to improve their life. Mentally ill people are looked down upon and treated unfairly because of an illness and struggle that no one can understand unless they’ve experienced it. People are getting up every day and going through the motions because they’ve lost their sense of purpose and they’re losing hope and their will to live. So many people are staying in abusive relationships because they’re afraid of what they’ll lose if they leave. It’s just too much! Social workers are wonderful. They do all they can every single day to fight for, build up, and come alongside these people. But there just aren’t enough of us to go around. For the past few weeks, I’ve thought about all of this and gotten so very discouraged. I’ve thought, “I’ll get a job and I’ll help people, but there are so many people out there that I won’t be able to help.” This doesn’t just apply to social work. I think a lot of us have moments in everyday life in which we think “is it really even worth it?” Whether it be family conflict, financial struggles, a strained marriage, or some other tragedy, it can be easy to want to stop fighting and just give in to the struggle. I was struggling to fight that mindset until last Sunday when my dad preached a sermon on this very issue.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells the people a story. He is trying to teach them not to lose heart.

                “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them? I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily.’”

This judge wasn’t a good guy. He didn’t fear God and follow His ways and he didn’t even respect people in general. Still, he gave the woman justice because she kept coming to him over and over again.

Let’s think about our own Judge, our Heavenly Father. He’s righteous. He loves His people. So, if He’s that much better than the unrighteous judge, don’t you think He’ll bring justice to us even more so?

God is aware of this broken world. He loves and has compassion on His people. He sees when we are abandoned, treated unfairly, and hurting. He knows every single situation of every human being on this earth, even the ones that we as humans know nothing about.

The beginning of this passage says that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” There it is. Yes, life here on earth can be very overwhelming and heartbreaking. Still, we are not to lose heart. Jesus is with us. God is going to bring justice one day, in His timing. The reality is that we aren’t going to be able to bring about justice for everyone and we’re not going to be able to fix everyone’s situation. But we should ALWAYS pray. We should constantly be praying for that justice we know He is going to bring. And in the meantime, we should keep fighting, keep walking with the broken and speaking for the voiceless and lifting up the fallen. Keep rescuing the captives and fighting for our marriages and loving those around us through their times of heartache. Because even though it’s tough right now, there is a promise: God will give justice to us speedily. And in the end, it will be worth it. Because Jesus is worth it. 

Miracles

Do you believe in miracles?

It’s a question that most of us have heard at some point in our lives. The dictionary defines a miracle as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”

People have many different opinions on these so-called miracles, events that simply can’t be explained. Some people stand in awe and amazement while others are suspicious and doubtful. I, for one, am a strong believer in miracles.

I’ve been fortunate (in my opinion) to have witnessed several miracles in my 21 years of living. The first time I remember seeing a true miracle was when I was in eighth grade. A lady in my church, whom I had been very close to since birth, went in for surgery one day. It was a minor surgery that was expected to be successful, so I wasn’t worried or thinking much of it. I still remember my mom picking me up from school the next day and telling me that we were going to the hospital because Mrs. Janet wasn’t doing well at all. Something had gone terribly wrong and her body was basically shutting down. The doctors were doing everything they could, but they didn’t expect her to make it through the night. I gathered with almost all of my church family in the ICU waiting room that night. We prayed, waited, and comforted each other. We took turns visiting Mrs. Janet and sat in disbelief at the horrible turn of events. All throughout the night, the doctors continued to give reports void of any hope.

God obviously wasn’t through with Mrs. Janet. She made it through the night and continued to improve. She woke up from her coma about a week later and, after a series of more ups and downs, finally got to go home and get back to her normal life. She was more limited after that, but she was still faithful. She lived for five more years and used all of that time lifting others up and telling the story of the miracle God worked in her life. Seeing God at work in Mrs. Janet strengthened my faith tremendously as a young girl. Even now, I look back on that time and I am amazed at how powerfully He worked and proved all of the doctors wrong.

A few months ago, I was helping lead worship at church and we were singing a song called “Miracles.” As we sang the song, I reflected on the miracle that God has worked in my life over the past year in leading me through the darkest season of my life in which I was crippled by anxiety and panic disorder. I began to look around the room at different people and families who had experienced miracles in their lives and marveled at the truth of the words in the song about God being a God of miracles. But then I looked around at other people, ones who had experienced tragedy and heartache, both recently and in the past. I couldn’t help but think, “why didn’t they get their miracle?” As I sang the words, “the God who brings the dead to life,” I thought, “their loved ones aren’t coming back to life. It doesn’t seem fair.” I thought about the loss of my grandma and my uncle three years ago. Both of their deaths hit me hard and I have often wondered why God didn’t heal them and let them stay. It just doesn’t make sense.

 Almost immediately, it’s as if God were answering me and it occurred to me that the fact that my loved ones, along with those of my church family, are in heaven is a miracle in itself. Jesus made a way for us to live after we die. I know we’ve heard it over and over, but think about it. God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for our sins. He lived the perfect life that we couldn’t live and became the perfect sacrifice for all we’ve ever done wrong. If we accept and believe that, we are completely forgiven! When God looks at us, He sees the blood of Jesus that makes us clean and covers our sin. And because of this, we will never die! Physically, we will, but our spirit will live forever in heaven with Jesus. Watching my grandma and uncle take their final breath and enter into eternity was the most heartbreaking, yet miraculous, thing I have ever witnessed. One moment, they were here on earth struggling to breathe, and in the very next moment, they were completely still. Their bodies were lifeless, but they had never been more alive because Jesus welcomed them into their new home in heaven. That is a miracle for sure!

The next thought I had was, “The fact that these people who have lost their loved ones so tragically or too soon are still making it every day is a miracle. They are surviving a devastating, unimaginable loss. They keep going no matter how hard it is. God sustains them even after that much heartbreak that we think is just too much for a person to bear. That is a miracle.”

Ever since that day, I’ve had a new perspective. Miracles aren’t always big, spectacular events that the whole world raves over. Sometimes, they are the small moments in which you see something and think, “that had to be God.” When you think about it, every day is a miracle. The fact that the sun rises every morning and we wake up able to breathe and enjoy a new day, the way we are able to fall asleep at night and look at the moon and stars as the sky goes black, the people we get to interact with and the love we have in our hearts for them, and countless other things. God’s works can’t be explained.

Next time you are faced with an overwhelming situation and find yourself praying for a miracle, I would encourage you to remember that miracles come in many different ways. They don’t all look the same and sometimes, we have to look a little harder for them. But they are there. They are always there. Because we serve a God of miracles. 

Miracles: 

https://youtu.be/5vUvi-A75BU

Why Do People Have Problems?

If you’re friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I am a social work major. I love everything about it and can’t express how thankful I am that God led me to this major! He continues to blow me away by how He leads me and shows me that His plan is always so much better than mine. I am learning so much about the world we live in and about so many different kinds of people. My eyes are being opened and my heart is being touched. I would not want it any other way. I am being challenged to really think and do a lot of soul-searching as I learn about the many different issues I will be faced with and the different people I will be trying to help. Something we talked about in class recently really stuck with me and made me think. It prompted me to write, so here are some of the things I have been pondering.

Social work, by nature, is a helping profession. People go into social work because they want to make a difference in the world and help people who are in need. It’s no secret to any of us that there are plenty of people in this world who need help. We’ve all been in a difficult situation at some point in our lives. However, something came up in one of my classes a few weeks ago that really caught my attention. During our lecture, a question appeared on the screen in the midst of other things we were to take notes on: “Why do people have problems?” It seems like a simple question, but I found that our class was extremely quiet when the instructor voiced it. We all agree that there are countless problems in this world. If there weren’t, there would be no need for social workers. However, I don’t think we address this question very often. We just accept the fact that we all have problems and never think twice about it. Sure, we often question why something is happening when we are going through a hard time, but we don’t typically sit around thinking deeper into the question of why problems even exist or where they originated.

If you’re one of the very few people who do not believe that everyone has problems, take a moment to think about it. Think about the wide variety of problems that exist in this world. Medical problems alone are completely mind-boggling to me. Things can go so very wrong within our bodies even though we are made up of organs and systems that should be able to function correctly. Yet people die every day because of things going wrong inside their bodies. Then, there are mental illnesses that so many people deal with and fight on a daily basis. Depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and the list goes on. It’s like our brains and our bodies are fighting against us. What is up with that? Natural disasters. Things we have no control over come into our world and often turn our lives upside down. Tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, floods, fires, and so many other things. It seems as if the Earth is attacking itself! Poverty. There are some places in the world that don’t even contain clean water for people to drink, much less food for them to eat, houses for them to live in, and other things that are important in meeting their basic needs. Relationships are broken. People get married and then they get divorced. Spouses are unfaithful to one another. Parents abandon their children. Families are divided and full of conflict. Do I even need to mention politics and the never-ending scandals and controversy that goes on there? Some people can’t make enough money to provide for their families. Just when they think things are going well, they lose their job. Houses need repairing, cars break down, nations are at war, children are taken advantage of, people lie, cheat, and steal, and the list  goes on and on and on.

So, you see? Everyone has problems. The world is a crazy, often scary, place. Has it always been this way? If you pick up and read any book about history, you’ll find that the answer is yes. People have always had problems. But why? Where did all of this madness start?

The answers to this question that were given in class that day were as follows: Genetics. Cultural differences. The environment. Lack of opportunities. And so on.

Yes, these factors can explain a lot of the problems we face, but certainly not all of them. In one of my other classes, we were asked the question “If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?” We all pretty much had different answers. This goes to show that even if we were able to fix one or even several problems, there would always be another one right behind. The condition of this world is out of our control.

Now, don’t accuse me of being all doom and gloom just yet. I did choose to be a social worker, remember? I must think I can make some kind of difference. And I plan to. However, I believe that I will only be able to make a difference one I can answer the original question my teacher posed to us: Why do people have problems?

Yes, people have problems because of cultural differences. Yes, people have problems because of genetics and the fact that they have inherited them. Yes, people have problems because of a lack of opportunities, and, yes, people have problems because of the environment they live in. But all of these answers have to be considered together. Not one of them is correct on its own. I believe that there is one single answer to the fact that we have so many problems. The answer is sin.

It is always nice to be positive, look on the bright side, believe that there is good in the world, and hold onto hope that there are good people in the world. Those things are good and there is truth to them. However, we must also face the reality that this world is a messed up place. It has been for some time now. But here’s where it gets good…there is hope! For all of us!

Before time even began, there was a God. A sovereign, eternal Being that “hovered over the waters” as it says in Genesis 1:2. God created a world in which everything was perfect, including humans. There were no problems and certainly no need for social workers or many of the other professions that exist today. Just God and His people abiding together in a beautiful paradise. Can you imagine how wonderful that must have been? But pretty soon, something went wrong. The humans messed up the perfection that God had created, thus bringing a curse upon themselves. They were given the gift of free will, and they made the decision to disobey God. From that time on, the curse of sin has run rampant throughout creation. Humans are no longer perfect or inherently good. We possess a sin nature that causes us to do bad things and have bad things happen to us. And there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. Sounds pretty hopeless, right? Well, it’s not. I have very good news for all of us.

There is no way for us to bring back the perfection that originally existed. We messed that up. In fact, there is no way for us to even have a relationship with the perfect, Sovereign God who created us. He is holy and cannot abide with sin. So, what’s going to happen to us? Well, we’re all going to eventually leave this earth. But we are eternal creatures, so we will continue to live even after we die. Without a relationship with God, we’ll have to spend eternity in Hell, which is a very, very awful place. But want to know the awesome, wonderful, incredible news? God made a way for us to have a relationship with Him! He knew that we were going to sin. He knew that we were going to break our relationship with Him and that we would have no way of fixing it. So He decided to fix it Himself. He came down to Earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. He was born, lived the absolutely perfect life that we couldn’t live, and then He died the death that we couldn’t die. He was the sacrifice for our sin. Why would He do that? Because of the unconditional, all-consuming, indescribable LOVE that He has for each and every one of us. And all we can do is stand in awe of Him and believe that He is our Savior, our only way back to a relationship with God. When we believe this, it changes everything. We now have hope!

Unfortunately, believing in Jesus does not make our problems go away. In fact, He tells us in John 16:33 that “in this world [we] will have trouble.” But He goes on to tell us that He has already overcome the world. Nothing on Earth can defeat us. We have an eternal hope!

So, now do you see why I still want to be a social worker? It’s not hopeless! It’s actually the opposite. I realize that I will not be able to help everyone. But, that is not my job. I’m called to help the ones who are right in front of me. I have an advantage because I know why they have problems. I know why I have problems. And I also know the answer to all of the problems. I am committed to helping people with the needs they have here on earth in the hope that I will be able to help them with their greatest need of all, a Savior. That is the difference I want to make. Jesus came for the broken, the outcasts, the skeptics, and the needy. He calls us to reach these exact people. And that is what I intend to spend my life doing. I will offer them all I have, and that is Jesus. 

Really great song that goes along with this: https://youtu.be/-JKXhxFwVZc