It really does. I eat chocolate and next thing I know, I can't fit into my jeans quite as well.
I LOVE chocolate... well, let me qualify... I like chocolate, but I LOVE dark chocolate. There is just something about that sweet taste with the slightly bitter kick.
Life is kinda like that... mostly sweet, but every now and again it gives a bitter kick. I could go on about bitter kicks. We all could because we have all had them. But I've learned it is not the bitter kick that teaches us anything. It is our choices and actions during those times that shape us and either build up or break down our character.
Once we had a paperwork issue that required the involvement of the dreaded IRS. We didn't realize we had missed an important form that needed to be filled out a year earlier. Talk about a kick in the gut... I thought we were doomed. I mean come on, this is the IRS. I remember my actions/reactions during this crisis were none too flattering. I panicked. I think I cried. I stressed out my husband asking what if. I remember actually saying out loud, "Not even God can fix this problem because it's the IRS." To my shame.. I really did say that.
However, God, being the loving and faithful God He is, decided to show me how silly my lack of faith was that very same day. My husband came home from work, picked up the phone, and called the dreaded IRS. In less than 30 minutes, those "dreaded" people had not only taken care of the form for us, they were able to make it retroactive so that this "massively bitter kick" was a NON-ISSUE.
Now this my actions during this non-crisis did work on my character even though they were none too flattering, I learned from them. Instead of these negative actions breaking down my character, God allowed them to be used to build my character. I realized how little faith I had. So I set this incident as a "Marker" to remember. As I faced, and still face, more serious bitter kicks, I look back and remember that my God is greater than any problem... even the IRS.
I LOVE chocolate... well, let me qualify... I like chocolate, but I LOVE dark chocolate. There is just something about that sweet taste with the slightly bitter kick.
Life is kinda like that... mostly sweet, but every now and again it gives a bitter kick. I could go on about bitter kicks. We all could because we have all had them. But I've learned it is not the bitter kick that teaches us anything. It is our choices and actions during those times that shape us and either build up or break down our character.
Once we had a paperwork issue that required the involvement of the dreaded IRS. We didn't realize we had missed an important form that needed to be filled out a year earlier. Talk about a kick in the gut... I thought we were doomed. I mean come on, this is the IRS. I remember my actions/reactions during this crisis were none too flattering. I panicked. I think I cried. I stressed out my husband asking what if. I remember actually saying out loud, "Not even God can fix this problem because it's the IRS." To my shame.. I really did say that.
However, God, being the loving and faithful God He is, decided to show me how silly my lack of faith was that very same day. My husband came home from work, picked up the phone, and called the dreaded IRS. In less than 30 minutes, those "dreaded" people had not only taken care of the form for us, they were able to make it retroactive so that this "massively bitter kick" was a NON-ISSUE.
Now this my actions during this non-crisis did work on my character even though they were none too flattering, I learned from them. Instead of these negative actions breaking down my character, God allowed them to be used to build my character. I realized how little faith I had. So I set this incident as a "Marker" to remember. As I faced, and still face, more serious bitter kicks, I look back and remember that my God is greater than any problem... even the IRS.