Just... Peace.

Happy Birthday, Facebook. I heard somewhere that it just turned 10 or something like that. For some reason anniversaries and birthdays seem to have more significance if they were in numerals of 5 in a given year. 

I'm not complaining, nor do I think that people who see that significance are weird. Heck, I'm one of those guys who, when changing volume levels on my iPhone or on the computer, requires (yes, requires) the levels to be in numerals of 10, if not 5. I can't have 74% or 39%. It has to be 75 or 40, or I close the program! 

Aaaaaanyway. Yeah, like I said, Happy Birthday, Facebook. You've come a long way from bringing college friends together. Now I have kids and stores and franchises listed on my contact list as well. You've been through so much, yet one thing remains: You still take a notable amount of time from me every day. 

Oh, and about contacts, well, thank you, Facebook, for being so famous that most people I speak to who swear they will never have a Facebook profile eat their words months, even years after they declare it. Because of this, I have a good number of friends and acquaintances from almost every institution I've gone to. As an affiliate pastor (also part of my contact list) declared, 'God bless you, Mr. Zuckerberg.' 

Yesterday I was engaged in a conversation with one of these friends I'm blessed to have as a contact. We were talking about my sudden interest in getting a bike I can use to travel from home to the main city proper, and vice versa. While I still have the thought of biking to commute on my mind, I've had to consider other things after the conversation - pollution, traffic, etc. 

But one thing I'd like to point out is that most of the motivation I have for wanting to bike is coming from my desire to get multiple things done at once. In this case, I'd get to work, save gas, get my exercise for the day, and if I had a pedal generator doohickey on then I'd probably have enough juice for my phone to stay charged. 

I've noticed that there have been instances where I held off on doing something, or buying something, if it didn't serve more than one purpose at a time. Consequently, you would have me convinced to do or buy something if I saw that it hit two or three or four birds with one stone. I would like to think that one of my priorities in decision making is efficiency, not necessarily finding the easy way out, or the path with least resistance. 

I can't really say why I'm continuing to write about this right now. There must be a reason beyond what I perceive that is behind the need to declare it. 

I believe that the most efficient and effective people in this world have peace. You don't see any immediate signs of stress on their faces when they smile for Time's Man/Woman of the Year award. This peace seems to come from a realization that everything is in control - this probably means that they have control over what really matters... 

...or they know the real deal behind Who is sovereign and Who is the absolute authority over all that has been, is, and will be. 

See, in Christ, we are most efficient and effective, simply because Christ is most efficient and effective. We may not always see this, but the fact that He makes all things work for our good keeps us grounded (or afloat, if you prefer). As we continue to believe and receive His absolutely unconditional and eternal love for us, we will be at peace, even if things don't necessarily go our way. 

Actually, right now I have all the reasons to feel frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and demotivated. But I just give God all the glory, for in Christ, none of these feelings define who I am! In fact, it is no longer about who I am now, more than it is about Who saved me...

(and this, I typed on my phone almost 9 hours ago)

...The Lord is my refuge, my strength in the day of trouble. Though I be surrounded without any hope of escape, He will rescue me. Christ is with me. He will never leave not forsake me. 

Wave after wave strikes, and though I am shaken, I will not be moved, for Christ is my Firm Foundation. He is my Prince of Peace. He is the strength of my life - whom, indeed whom shall I fear? 

I will bless The Lord forever! I bless His holy name! He is the Christ, our Savior, the Son of the living God! He is my Way, my Truth, and my Life, and it is only through Him that I dwell in our Father's presence! Truly, nothing can ever separate me from the Father's love, for I am in Christ! 

(end note)

There will be times when we open our Facebook profiles, and see no requests, no messages, no notifications. On the other hand, when we scroll down our news feed, we see our friends and acquaintances achieving what seems to be more than what you only expected to do in a given day. Friend, put your hope in God! The Word says that God's eye is on each and every man, and wherever we may be, He is there. His unfailing love is always present for us to receive, consistent in keeping us on solid ground, even when we don't see things happening the way we want them to happen, or when we don't see things unfolding as quickly as we expected. 

How do I know this? Well, as the song goes, Jesus paid for it all... He paid with His life, His battered body nailed to the cross, renewed at the third day, so that we would not perish, but have everlasting life - a righteous and free life with our Father! He died and rose again, that once we believe, we would have life, and life abundant! 

Brothers and sisters, just know that in Christ, everything that's going on is never a waste of time for our loving Father, who makes it all efficient and effective. Be at peace! Shalom!

Now this, this I would love to like and share. 

God bless and keep you. In Christ, you are beloved.

_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com


May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26