Wild World

I'm sure you can tell from the blog posts the past couple of months that things have been a bit rough.  Truly, there hasn't been a specific event that has been hard.  I've just been reminded of what a yucky, sinful world that we live in.  God is certainly present and working and there is good but wowzers there is also just yuck!  Sometimes I think of this little chorus from Wild World, "oh baby, baby it's a wild world. it's hard to get by just upon a smile."  As a young girl I remember my Dad telling me that people liked others who smiled.  For a long time smiles got me through... but then I grew up!  Smiles certainly don't make the pain and yuck of this world go away.  I think one of the hardest things that I am learning is that after you are hurt or experience pain that you can't just get angry, close up or cut yourself off from the situation.  Lately, I've found myself thinking, maybe if I could just live on a farm in the middle of nowhere then I wouldn't have to deal with most of this hurt.  The truth is that I could never do that!  I would be way too lonely.  However, instead of physically moving I find myself putting up little walls around my heart to protect myself.  While I think it's "normal" to want to protect myself from pain or hurt I don't think that is what God wants from me at all.  He doesn't just want me to box up my heart.  I think God wants us to remain open and even tender to the sin and pain in this world.  I think that is part of what Scripture talks about when we hear about having faith like a child.  A heart that is still willing to trust.  A heart that is still full of love and compassion regardless of the pain that has been felt.  I'm not suggesting that we let ourselves be trampled all over.  I am just saying that God doesn't want us to turn cold and bitter due to hurts but to experience them, learn, grow and remain a loving, faithful servant.  All of this is so hard to do in this wild world!