The power of doubt...

Doubt is a feeling or state of uncertainty, especially as to whether somebody is sincere or trustworthy, or as to whether something is true, likely, or genuine.

There is a genuine story that demostrates the power of doubt very well and that I will be very much happy to share with you. The story goes so... One day Jesus after finishing his teaching sent his disciples on a boat ahead of him, while He stayed to send the people who came to listen to Him home. He was to join them on their boat later. Then, while the disciples was on the middle of the sea they encountered a big storm that terrified them so much. They were about to lose all hope when they saw Jesus coming to them walking on the water. That even terrified them more because they thought it was a ghost. When Jesus came near they saw it was their master, then the ever bold Peter called out to Jesus and told him that if He were truly the master let Jesus command him to come to him there on the water. Jesus told him to come. Peter climbed over board and started walking on the water too. He walked on until he looked around him and saw how fiercly the storm was raging all around him and he lost the trust he had on Jesus. Do you know what started happening to him? He started sinking. He was about to get drown when he called out to Jesus again to save him and Jesus came to him and took hold of his hand and pulled him out of the water. (Mt 14:22-33).

This is a good example of what doubt can do in our lives. Just like Peter we start to sink each time we start focusing on the number, weight and height of our problems. The situation may be scary but it becomes more scarier and unbearable when we start focusing more on it and direct all our attention to it. What it will do to us is that it will take our ability to trust God away from us and we will start asking ouselves, does God really care? Are you sure God really exsits? If He does, are you sure He has not forgotten all about me? And if we are not truly strong we might decide to try another place. Even in different aspects of our lives, what we encounter can sometimes make us to give up.

The good news is that our God never fails no matter how long it takes. And for the waiting and the troubles to be bearable you need to trust God. Don't look at the storms raging all around. Just keep looking to Him and know that no matter what, your problems will never outweigh Him. It will only take a day to free you from that problem and that day may be today. So be strong!!!

When high is not high enough

I once read in a magazine about a young woman who allowed drugs to waste 20 years of her life. She started using drugs at the age of 15. She eventually got married and had two kids, but she was not able to stop using drugs and her husband left her for another women. Her kids sometimes visited their father, since they all are no longer living together. On one of such visits their father's girlfriend attacked one of them. She used her cigarette light to burn one of the boys' foot so badly that when they returned home and their mum saw it she was so devasted. She cried like never before and from that day she took a brave decision to go into a rehabilitation centre, because she knew no one would have been able to do that to her child if she had been responsible enough.

These are the type of stories you hear anytime drug abuse is mentioned. Many people have died because of it and many are still destroying themselves. A lot of kids have been disformed in many ways because of drugs used irresponsibly by their parents. What most of them fail to see is that drugs can never chase your problems away rather it will only complicate things for you. You conquer your problem only when you are able to live with it, only when you are able to stare it squarely in the face and feel comfortable with it. What is the use of getting high for 15 minutes in other to get rid of your problem only to have the same problem sit in your arm chair with a mug of coffee in its hand waiting for you to become sober again so that you two can continue where you stopped. Know this; the drug you take does not affect the problem in any way, rather you are the one who is been wasted while your problem grow fat and more complicated.

There is a vacuum in our lives that must be filled by God for one to be complete and fulfilled. Some people try to fill this vacuum with sex, drugs, alcohol etc, looking for fulfillment and satisfaction in these things, but they never succeeded. You may get temporal satisfaction but it will never last. Just like St. Augustine said: "Our soul is made by God and it can never rest until it rests in God." Why not try God today, approach him with that problem and tell him to take it away from you and see what he will and can do. Drugs can make you suicidal. But suicide is not the best option. Where are you going to go when you die? How are you so sure rest will be there, since you have not been there before? How are you so sure death will solve the problem? What if the problem follows you there, what then will you do since you cannot kill yourself twice? There is always a way out of every situation and the right way is Jesus who said that He is the Way, the Truth and Life and no one can come to God except through him. There is no reason to give up. If today is strong enough to come to you, be strong enough to face it, not only on your own but with Jesus who is always there to lend you a helping hand. Turning to drugs will only destroy you.

Marring marriage

The first marriage took place in the garden of Eden between our first parents, Adam and Eve. God was the minister who presided over that wedding. God Himself blessed the wedding and told them to go ahead and multiply and subdue the earth.

Marriage! What does this one word mean to you and me? How is this one word affecting our lives? One can not speak of marriage without talking about family. Both of them go hand in hand. Marriage leads to family and That is why marriage is a very important issue, because family is where the crown of the society lies. That is the reason we should be more careful with marriage and treat it with respect. You do not get married just because you feel like it, you get married because you know you have what it takes to face its challenges and stay married. Marriage is not just a fairytale. There is no happily ever after in marriage. You should not hope to live happily ever after with someone who is flawed like you. You should remember that he or she has both good and bad character. So if you are entering marriage hoping that it will be for you like it was for Cinderella. Sweetheart! you are joking.

Let us face the truth, shall we? There is bound to be trouble and no matter how you try to hide from it it will always find you out. The bills will come, there will be arguments which may sometimes end in a bitter row, there will be children problem, the dishwasher will become faulty and eventually stop working someday, the car will need to be changed someday, even the nannies will leave someday and the list is endless. So tell me, with all these problems that will surface someday, how can one live happily ever after. Let us face reality and forget the sugar-coated information we receieve from romantic movies and novels.

If you take a look around you, you will see that marriage is speedily losing its worth and the effect it is having on us is also seen everywhere in the society. There is nothing wrong with marriage. The only problem is with us, we allow what we see in movies and read in novels to control the way we feel about marriage. But all hope is not lost. Marriage may not be a bed of roses, but neither is it a bed of thorns. Roses are beautiful, yet they have thorns. If you do not want the thorns to hurt you, you will handle them carefully. That is how it is with marriage. When handled with respect and care, marriage can be the sweetest thing on earth. Marriage is the right choice you will ever make in life, because if it is worthless as most people paint it to be God would not have presided over the first marriage and He would not have blessed it either. So if you are preparing for marriage, go ahead and do it with joy, but make sure you understand the true meaning of it.

Who is a perfect bride???

Wedding day is a day of joy especially for the bride, whose dreams has come true. It is a day of great jubilee, but to some women the wedding day has become a very big nightmare.

I read some articles a few weeks ago about what some brides put themselves through just because they want to look like the perfect bride on their wedding day. How some of them will go to an abnormal extent of injecting themselves with all kinds of drugs, undergoing all kinds of surgery, starving themselves and doing all kinds of unimaginable things to themselves just because they want to look like 'Cindarella' on their wedding day. That is why I ask if there is anything like the perfect bride. The answer is, there is nothing like a perfect bride since imperfection is in all of us, so it will be a waste of time trying to make yourself look perfect. The wedding is just for one day, living together with your spouse will lasts for a lifetime. The only perfect bride is a bride who understands that the wedding day is the biginning of a new journey - that will last a lifetime - and not the end. The perfect bride is that bride that understands the sacredness of her vow and not the splendour of her wedding gown. The perfect bride is that bride that understand that marriage is a serious business, and not some play thing that she can discard at any time.

The perfect bride is that bride that understands that she will be a bride just for one day, but a mother and a wife for the rest of her life. A perfect bride is that bride who understands that her decision today will affect a lot of people. I am not saying that we should start treating our wedding day like a funeral day, all am saying is that we should not let all those frivolities cloud our mind and stop us from seeing what it is we are really doing. Marriage is not something you go into when you feel like and pull out anytime you start getting uncomfortable, neither do we calculate a woman's achievements by the number of divorces she has had. Before you do something try and know the consequences that goes with it. When you marry and decide to pull out when you are no more comfortable, what will happen to your partner and the kids - if you have kids -? Some kids are jeopardized today because of the rash decisions of their parents. So before you start it, make sure you understands all that is involved. And if you understand all these, don't waste your energy anymore trying to make yourself what you already are - a perfect bride!!!