Pratt: God is not the only one observing our weaknesses
When fall decides to make a real visit, we celebrate the cooler days and longer nights. But those of us who tend to have allergic reactions to fuzzy or dry “stuff” blowing in the air dread the season.
One moment, life is good, even golden or orange with berries and leaves in the trees. Then the torture begins – coughing, sneezing, etc. Perhaps there is something universal about seasonal changes that I'm sure we would miss in those tropical havens we see advertised as a great place to visit or even retire.
However, temptation doesn't linger long when I think about mildewed shoes in the closet or the occasional hurricane. Also, unless you can just walk about and pick from the trees to enjoy a meal, I suspect there are still a lot of chores for women no matter the attractive idea of retirement.
It appears that in that original Garden of Eden, Adam still expected Eve to deliver the meal, hence his immediate willingness to taste the forbidden apple she hands him (and I promise I'm not going there with this little essay).
Fall's romance (as well as spring delight in new growth) ends rather quickly inland when allergy symptoms soon arrive. Strangely, without moving, I had a reprieve from most of my asthma, hay fever, sinus infections and other such boring ailment for about 10 years after I officially “retired,” but some of it seems to be slowly creeping back into my experience.
Is it true that good health leads to good thoughts? It most certainly helps, but it is our actions that shape our attitudes.
We've long known that a positive attitude leads to success. Ancient wisdom says: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22 NIV).
What a difficult time we have recalling how easily we waste our time in pursuing fun, fame and fortune over family, faith and a forever relationship with God, the great giver of life.
When we find ourselves betrayed or otherwise disappointed in the circumstance of our life journey, the reality of our faith is most tested. Some simply give up, oddly enough by leaving the faith that has brought them through other difficult times and disappointments.
Or, they foolishly decide they will abandon all hope to right whatever went wrong in their journey and join instead with the enemy that truly does seek our destruction. Caution: God is not the only one observing our weaknesses.
Possibly, we've only given “lip-service” to our core faith without understanding the real war between good and evil is ownership – one bound for a glorious eternity based not on our own “goodness,” but on our acceptance of our treasured value to our maker. The other based on the powerful Angel Lucifer's envious hatred of not being able to conquer the head of the heavenly hierarchy.
We try to say these truths simply even as we know how limited our ability to understand our role as the human element in this battle between Good and Evil. As much as we might claim or prefer to believe, Ultimate Perfection simply isn't a power within our grasp. But at birth each human carries a genetic tie to God.
Thus, we are participants in the battle whether we are fighters or pacifists in our natural inclinations. In this on-going story, we only choose whether we fight with God's army or that of Satan and his followers.
During the season of our days upon Earth, we have directions about how to follow and fulfill our own part in the great battle. We also have an angelic force that intervenes to protect us in ways we will not realize until our time on Earth ends.
Beth Pratt retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: God is not the only one observing our weaknesses
