Slicker than a penny in the rain

I pretty much feel the way Josh does. I've been to Hell and back in the past, but things right now couldn't be any better--well, actually, a million dollars would be nice. And so I avoid posting, because I don't want to simply say, "I understand. Jesus loves you. God is in control." And like Tim said, I don't know exactly what ya'll are going through, but I can empathize with the pain.

I've been trying to read straight through the Bible for like the past 2 years and I'm finally in the minor prophets. Man, I love the minor prophets! I just read Habakkuk the other day and two things stuck out to me. 2:1, "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint." Habakkuk has just laid out his questions and complaints before God and is like, "what the deuce?" But God's answer here--just like his answer in Job--does not try to explain his reasoning. He simply tells him who he is and why he's the one in charge. God is God. And we can question him all we want, but be prepared to receive an answer. And most likely be prepared to receive and answer you didn't want to hear and doesn't necessarily fix your problem.

The second thing is in 3:17-18, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." He's not saying that he will necessarily be happy with where he is in life. He's simply saying that he will rejoice and be happy in God. My life might suck right now, but praise God for filling my lungs with air and my body with the energy to wake up this morning. I may not have wanted to get up, but God wanted me to--praise God for wanting me to live today!

I leave you now with two of my favorite recent quotes to ponder over. The first is by musician Eric Peters. The second is from the movie The Darjeeling Limited:

"It is an odd series of days, I am realizing, when you question your own faith more than you question your own doubt."

"We haven't located where we are yet."