The Trappings of These Present Circumstances

You think you can hold me. --Kitsunigari, X-Files.

It's an X-Files quote, yes, but hey...I've been pretty good about holding back on these things that constantly run though my mind

How about one from the Word?

[We are] sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor yet making others rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything. -Paul, 2 Corinthians 6:10

Considering my last post, this has been a current struggle. I felt trapped by my own circumstances and the consequences of the choices I had made; presently and in the past. In other words, I was pretending not to be dark and broody when the contrary was very much my reality. It is a struggle, I suppose, to not feel trapped by one's own circumstances. Yes, there is sorrow, but there is much joy. Yes, we may feel like we have nothing, but we have everything we could ever hope for.

We are different. The trappings of this world cannot hold us. Jesus died for our sins, conquered death. These are the things we talk about. But what about these present circumstances?

Because of the love of Christ, we are not held by these circumstances. Yes, we suffer/rejoice due to the consequences of the choices we make, but we are not left alone in them. We are not left alone in death. We are not left alone in our sorrow. We are not left alone in our despair. And people wonder what makes this all possible and we are reluctant to point to the source.

We have a hope that does not disappoint. That is what makes us different. And yet, people who witness our lives are left wondering why we don't live out the hope that we profess.

What would someone say if they witnessed my current struggle? Would they say that I was trapped, or that I was different because they saw a supernatural miracle? And if asked, would my answer be of despair or of hope?

These present circumstances say that they can hold me. But I write this unusual preachy blog to state the following:

My life is not my own; I belong to someone greater than the one that is in this world. And I can, with confidence, say that they cannot hold me because nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ.