Similar to how I call my blog posts about my daily life "Journal Entries," I decided to start calling these posts "Bible Diaries."

The reason I chose that title is because 1) They should always be rooted in Scripture. 2) I want to do this often, like a diary or journal 3) The word "diary" suggests that it is a personal writing, for me, so it may or may not apply to other people in the same way that it applies to me. This is kind of something to keep people from thinking that I am being "preach-y." I don't expect anyone to read these things. If people do read them and get something out of them, that's the Holy Spirit's doing, not mine. Know what I mean? I want to be sure that my words are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Words can be dangerous in the hands of man without God's help.

Anyways, for this post, I wanted to encourage and help people who are hurting. The thought came to mind the other morning and I wrote this. I wanted to share it in case God brought these thoughts to me for your benefit as well as my own.

So here's my first official "Bible Diary" :) ...

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You know how when you hear about someone being kind, generous, patient, loving, joyful, faithful or gentle in the face of adversity? In a situation where most people would not have the strength or self-control to do so? You know how it makes you feel so happy for them, and praise God for the goodness within that person? How joyful the story makes you feel?

And you know how when you hear horrible stories of wicked people being cruel or taking advantage of the poor... and how that makes you feel so sad? And sometimes angry? Or hopeless?

Those feelings that you have are the same way God feels. It makes God happy when people make the world a better place and work for righteousness, and he feels sad and angry when people are cruel. If you feel that way and love righteousness and goodness, and hate wickedness, it only makes sense to love God, because He feels the same way, and works in people to make them want to do the right thing and make the world a better place.

If you are discouraged with the world and feel hopeless and depressed, you should remember that what you desire, the goodness you wish you could see in the world, is what God wants to see also. The only way you can see that goodness in the world around you is to follow God and His scripture. God will show you the goodness around you and will enable you to contribute to it.

You might be feeling angry or resentful at God. But you should remember, while God allows us much freedom, free will, the ability to choose; while He is eternally loving and forgiving and full of mercy and grace and how much He wants us to come to Him... at the same time, we must not forget the power of God. He is all-knowing. His knowledge is much greater than our own. We do not know the things He knows, we do not understand the things He understands. In the end, God will do things around us that don't make sense, might seem cruel or harsh, and we will not understand why. We might look at God in anger. "Why would You do that, God?" "Why would You ask this of me?" "I thought You loved me?" But we must calm our anger and remember that God is all-knowing, and we are not. He is all-powerful, and we are not. The things He decides and chooses are outside of our control, and it is only by His grace that we have all the good things that we have in our lives. Things may seem bad, but they are the lot that God has given us, and we are not God. We do not have the power that God has.

We must be grateful for the blessings He has given us, even if they are almost nothing. Because we are not deserving of even that. We must remember that God's blessings are BLESSINGS, and the hardship that we might be going through is ALSO a blessing. Things might seem bad, but God knows why you are going through this hard time, and you do not. You must have faith in God to deliver you through this rough time into a new era of his life in which you will be a stronger and more faithful person than you ever were before.

I encourage you to share your feelings with your fellow Christians and with God. Do you feel resentful of God? Are you hurting? Do you feel depressed? Is there something in you that needs to heal? If so, remember that healing doesn't come from sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. Healing comes from digging into your soul, finding the problem and fixing it. It takes lots of prayer, and it can be painful, but it's what must be done. God offers healing. His healing is not easy. It is the more difficult path, but it is the path that leads to a true and faithful life.

Satan offers the easy path. "Don't think about it. Get instant gratification instead. Ignore it. Enjoy life now instead of investing in the future." This is much easier and more enjoyable, but it won't lead you to a true and faithful life.