Grandfather's & Lantern's

My grandfather is a wise man.

I know this because his wisdom has proven itself true time and time again.  Though he isn’t perfect, so often he knows exactly what to say.

One of his favorite phrases is “Tough.” 

Essentially, if you live long enough, you’re going to get burned, hurt, broken.  Life is tough.

I think we can all agree, life is tough.

So often, when life does get tough I’ve caught myself saying, “Jesus, take me now. I just want to be home with you. I’m ready to go.”

Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians touching on a similar subject.

“So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him [Jesus]. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others." 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, NLT.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be with Jesus. Being with Him is not only where we belong, but our true home.  However, I believe we let this mentality take over when times get tough.

When tough times do come, it is much easier to think about leaving rather than enduring knowing one deep truth:

Many times God has used the toughest of times to bring those far from Him closer to His deep embrace. Although we are hurting, He is with us and He will receive glory no matter the outcome. 

Its easy to forget, we have a responsibility to Him whether we are here on earth or with Him.  That responsibility is to please Him.

A friend would put it this way, “We still have a lot of work to do. Let's get to work!"

I emplore you to use your time in this life to chase passionately after God, and in the hard times pursue Him harder than you ever have before.  Let the tough times be the times where you’re light shines brightest in a dark and broken world that so desperately needs to be filled with the light of Christ. 

Don't give up when tough times come, rather dig deeper into Christ and work harder than ever, here is where your light shines brightly bearing the name Jesus, because He is filling you up, not anyone or anything else, no matter the outcome.

My last words to you are simply to shine, my friends. Shine.

Simply,
Tex G.M. Rule