The “Colonel’s” VFV Motivational/Inspirational Quotes & Message of the Day!

COL Mikel J. Burroughs Good to see you back on here Colonel. You were my first contact when I signed into Rally Point almost five years ago.

COL Mikel J. Burroughs I'm Aspergers "Shy" I Don't Need "Motivation." I Prefer to be Left Alone, 21 Years as a Navy Spook, I Learned Leaving Me Alone isn't an Option!

Good morning Col Burroughs and all of my brothers and sisters here on RP. For me, believing in Jesus is easy. The hard part is living a life that is pleasing to Him. I know that I will have everlasting life because of what the following verse has to say:

Have a blessed day today and always.

Taken from:https://medium.com/@ForgedByFaith/not-just-when-its-easy-f83f0b617c4f

Not Just When It’s Easy

The Forge

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Day 2644 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge. 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. NIV

Thankfulness is something that is pretty much only found when life is going our way. We humans are so wrapped up in what we want and how we want life to go that anything that differs from those preferences is almost always met with disdain and disappointment. We sit around every single day and dream up these perfect lives that always work out just right and lead to every desire fulfilled just as we’d like. But as we all know by this point, life doesn’t take into account our preferences.

We’ve been talking for a couple of days about our tendency to complain. We look at what we’re handed in life and compare it with those perfect ideals that we have brainstormed. And when the perfection of our dreams seems a far cry from the confusion and uncertainty of reality, it leaves us with a choice. But unfortunately, we often allow our circumstances to make that decision for us when we fall into anger and disapproval every time that life unfolds in a manner contrary to what we have dreamed of.

Rather than giving thanks in all circumstances, we relegate our thankfulness to only those few and far between moments when life is what we want it to be. We hold back our gratitude during times of difficulty and pain and worry because we don’t enjoy those things. We don’t appreciate when life that varies from our plans. We don’t find joy in things that unfold differently than our dreams. We don’t enjoy a life that seems to ignore our hopes and continues to avoid our picture-perfect ideal of what our lives should be.

Makes it easy to see why there’s so much unrest and anger in life. If we’re only happy when we get our way, then we’re going to be very upset for about 90% of our time here. As much as we may loathe the idea, the fact is that God doesn’t take our selfish plans or perfect ideas into account when He establishes His will for our lives. May sound kind of brutal because we have this idea of a god who is like some sort of genie that grants wishes and somehow opens this secret door to a life that is exactly what we want filled with everything that we want, and where there’s never anything hard or painful or scary to ever have to worry about.

But friends, what we have to understand is that we don’t have to understand it all. We don’t have to approve of God’s will, but it’s going to happen His way anyway. Now we can spend our time plotting out this magnificent journey through these days and hours that we’re on this earth, but at some point our plans will meet His will, and sorry to break it to you, but His will is gonna win that meeting every single time. So are we just going to whine and complain and stomp our feet and shake our fists and yell out in anger every time that something goes a different direction than we’d choose for ourselves?

Or are we going to do as this verse asks us to do? Are we going to be thankful no matter what we’re faced with here? Are we going to find some way to appreciate the life that God has written out for us? Are we going to humble ourselves to the point of being willing to let go of every ideal that we’ve had so that we can learn to find the good in His plans instead? It’s all a choice, and I’ll give it to you, it’s a hard one sometimes. Being thankful when life seems to suck isn’t anywhere close to easy. But does being angry or resentful make the hard times any better?

I think what we need to understand is that while these lives feel like they’re ours, they’re not. We were redeemed at a price so that we could be God’s people who do His will in His timing until His Son comes and calls us home. Maybe that’s all that matters. Maybe all these plans and dreams and hopes and vacations and dream houses and dream jobs and different countries is all just extra. Maybe we’ve allowed ourselves to focus too much on what we want and not enough on what God’s trying to do. Maybe we’ve spent far too long trying to build our paradise on this globe only to ignore the fact that Heaven is the only place where the streets are paved with gold.

Friends, my point is that life is life. And it’s always what we make out of what we’re given. We get some say in some things every now and then. We have the free-will to make up our own minds and try to plot our own course. But eventually, we’re going to have to choose to either be happy or to continue trying to carve out a life that fits what we want it to be. Maybe this is where we are for a reason. Maybe God is leading us through these storms we face for a purpose. Maybe He’s keeping that door closed that we’ve spent years begging for Him to open because He sees what’s really on the other side, where we can only see what we hope is on the other side.

As much as it may hurt, God does know best. And while our best dream and most perfect plan make complete sense to us, what matters most is finding joy in our lot in life. It may not be perfect, but that shouldn’t mean we’re not thankful. Life may not unfold like we hope it does, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to find happiness while we’re here. If we hold so tightly to our dreams that absolutely nothing else will ever come close to making us happy, then we’re building ourselves up for a hard fall. As much as we may disapprove of the fact, dreams and reality often take different roads. And that’s why we can’t base our joy or peace or thankfulness on one certain outcome. Because if that outcome doesn’t come through, then what happens to all that happiness that we planned to find in that place we never end up reaching?

So what’s the secret to happiness then? Well, it isn’t found in a life that checks off every box we can come up with. It isn’t found in a life free from hardship or disappointment. Happiness isn’t in a life that unfolds exactly as we plan and that is filled with everything our hearts crave. Happiness is found in the ability to be thankful in every circumstance. Happiness is found in a prayer during one of life’s many storms. Happiness is in finding appreciation for the simple things. Happiness is learning to see that each and every breath is a gift, no matter where you breathe them in. Happiness is found in letting go and trusting in God’s plans, even when those plans differ from our own.

I’m not going to share this common lie that a life of faith leads to everything we want. It doesn’t. Saying the name of Jesus doesn’t instantly transport us to an island in the Bahamas with enough money in the bank to buy a fleet of private jets and fancy cars and massive houses. Proclaiming faith in God doesn’t immediately erase every hard day that we would have otherwise faced. Reading the Bible doesn’t make us immune to illness or injury or worry or concern. But our faith reminds us that even when we don’t get our way, that life is still unfolding God’s way. And even if His path is hard, painful, scary, and leads us away from everything we’ve ever wanted, our faith reminds us that it’s for our best because He leads us out of love. And His love only wants the absolute best for us.

God doesn’t want us to be miserable. If He did, He would have never sent Christ to buy our freedom and erase our sins. He wants us be joyful. He wants us to find peace and happiness here. But the truth that we have to come to terms with is that true peace and happiness are only found in Him. And until we only seek them in Him, we’re left to being bounced around by the uncertainty of trying to force our dreams in a life that simply may not have room for them because they’re already filled with what God has planned for us instead.