Dark Night of the Soul

William Cowper, poet and hymn writer, who lived from 1731-1800 in England, apparently suffered from fits of melancholy and frequent attacks of spiritual despair which led to two suicide attempts.

On one of these occasions, during a time of deep despair and a dark night of the soul on a foggy night he set out from his home in London with the intention of jumping into the River Thames to end his life.

He got hopelessly lost in the fog and wandered blind for some time. Eventually, lost and confused, he walked into a home to get out of the fog. And the home he walked into? It was his own.

He sat down and penned the words of the beloved hymn:

    God moves in a mysterious way
    His wonders to perform;
    He plants his footsteps in the sea,
    And rides upon the storm.

    Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
    The clouds ye so much dread
    Are big with mercy, and shall break
    In blessings on your head.

If you are going through a dark night of the soul right now and it feels that God is far away, be assured He is standing in the shadows and He knows all about you and He cares.

When we commit and trust our life to God every day, "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy will come in the morning" -- even if it is eventually!

Dear God
In my despair
let me not grow weary in trusting you
but renew my faith
and use my present pain
to make me a better, stronger person
so I can comfort others
as they struggle
through their journey of despair and pain.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ..

You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don’t Want

I read an interesting quote that said, "You can never get enough of what you don't want." I had to stop and think about this one. Why would I ever want what I don't want?

An over-simplification of what I believe this quote means is that if I have a craving for chocolate ice cream, no matter how much vanilla ice-cream I get, it would never satisfy my hunger for chocolate ice-cream.

To apply this principle to a higher cause means that sometimes we settle for less than what is best for us because of the challenge to achieve what we truly want to achieve if we are determined to do so.

God wants the very best for us. The question for each of us is, Do we want what God wants for us?

God wants us a healthy lifestyle, a worthwhile work into which we can put our best efforts, loving relationships, and for us to discover and fulfill His divine purpose for our life.

It is no "chocolate ice cream party" to achieve any of these goals let alone all of them. The half-hearted never make it. "Vanilla ice-cream living" is so much easier to achieve, but it has no “nutritional" (spiritual) value.

Are you and I settling for "vanilla ice-cream" when we could have the gold of God's "chocolate ice cream" life?

Dear God
please don't let me ever get satisfied with an abundance of what I don't want--anything less than all that you have planned and envisioned for me to become and do.

Please give me faith and determination, and with your help, to achieve all your goals for my life.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayers

(Urdu) The Story of Diamond and Coal

بابا دین دنیا سے بے نیاز ایک کہانی سنا ریا تھا..
وہ بولا کہ ایک بادشاہ نے کانچ کے ھیرے اور اصلی ھیرے ایک تھیلی میں ڈال کر اعلان کیا "ھے کوئی جوھری جو کانچ اور اصلی ھیرے الگ کر سکے"

شرط یہ تھی کہ کامیاب جوھری کو منہ مانگا انعام اور ناکام کا سر قلم کردیا جائے گا ۔ درجن بھر جوھری سر قلم کروا بیٹھے ۔ کیوں کہ کانچ کے نقلی ھیروں کو اس مہارت سے تراشا گیا تھا کہ اصلی کا گمان ھوتا تھا ۔ ڈھنڈھورا سنکر ایک اندھا شاھی محل میں حاضر ھوا فرشی سلام کے بعد بولا کہ میں وہ ھیرے اور کانچ الگ الگ کر سکتا ہوں ۔ بادشاہ نے تمسخر اڑایا اور ناکامی کی صورت میں سر قلم کرنےکی شرط بتائی اندھا ھر شرط ماننے کوتیار ھوا ۔ ھیروں کی تھیلی اٹھائی اور محل سے نکل گیا ۔ ایک گھنٹے بعد حاضر ھوا اس کے ایک ھاتھ میں اصلی اور دوسرے ھاتھ میں کانچ کے نقلی ھیرے تھے ۔
شاھی جوھریوں نے تصدیق کی کے اندھا جیت گیا ھے ۔ بادشاہ بہت حیران ھوا اس کی حیرت کی انتہا نہ رھی کہ ایک جو کام آنکھوں والے نہ کر سکے وہ کام ایک نابینا کیسے کر گیا ۔ بادشاہ نے اندھے سے دریافت کیا کہ اس نے اصلی اور نقلی کی پہچان کیسے کی؟

اندھا بولا یہ تو بہت آسان ھے "میں نے ھیروں کی تھیلی کڑی دھوپ میں رکھ دی پھر جو تپش سے گرم ھوگئے  وہ نقلی تھے اور جو گرمی برداشت کر گئے اور ٹھنڈے رھے اور وہ اصلی تھے "

بادشاہ نے اندھے کے علم کی تعریف کی اور انعام اکرام سے نواز کر رخصت کیا ۔

بابا دین نے ایک لمبا سانس لیا اور بولا...

" اندھے کی رخصتی کے ساتھ ھی میرا غصہ میری انا میرے دماغ کی گرمی بھی رخصت ھوگئی-

مجھے سمجھ آگئی کہ برداشت, نرم مزاجی, حلیمی , متانت اور محبت ھی انسایت کی معراج ھے جو گرمئی حالات کو سہہ گیا وہ ھیرا جو نہ سہہ سکا وہ کانچ "۔

میں خاموشی کے ساتھ بابا دین محمد کی باتیں سمجھنے کی کوشش کر رھا تھا ۔

بابا بولا بیٹا بانو قدسیہ آپا راجہ گدھ میں لکھتی ہیں کہ "جو دباو سہہ جائے وہ ھیرا جو نہ سہہ سکے وہ کوئلہ "

مجھے بابا دین محمد نے آج بہت بڑی بات سمجھائی تھی ۔ میں جان گیا تھا کے اصلی اور نقلی میں صرف برداشت اور سہہ جانے کا فرق ھے ۔

میں نے پوچھا بابا انسان آخر کب تک برداشت کرے؟کب تک لوگو کے طعنے سہے؟کب تک اپنے غصے کو پئے؟آخر برداشت کی کوئی حد ھوتی ھے

بابا مسکرایا اور بولا بیٹا اس وقت تک سہنا ھے جب تک ھیرا نہ بن جاؤ

میں نے پوچھا پھر اس کے بعد..؟

بابا نے کہا ھیرا بنے کے بعد ھیرے پر کوئی دباو کوئی آگ کوئی تپش اثر نہیں کرتی ۔

جس طرح چکنے گھڑے پر پانی نہیں ٹکتا اسی طرح "اصلی" پر کوئی تیر کوئی نشتر کام نہیں کرتا ۔ بندہ جب بندے کے عشق میں مبتلا ھوجاتا ھے تو وہ دنیا کے لئے اور دنیا اس کے لئے بے ضرر ھوجاتی ھے ۔

میں نے کہا انسان کو انسان کے ساتھ کیسا سلوک کرنا چاھئے؟

بابا دین محمد بولا درخت سے سیکھو جو پھل بھی دیتا ھے اور سایہ بھی..

لوگ آتے ہیں اس کے سائے میں سستاتے ھیں پھل کھاتے ھیں اور چلے جاتے ہیں ۔ درخت اسی جگہ کھڑا اگلے مسافر کا انتظار کرتا ھے اور ھر آنے والے کی آٶ بھگت کرتا ھے ۔ خاموش رھتا ھے کبھی شور نہیں کرتا اپنی عنایات کا اعلان نہیں کرتا, جتاتا نہیں ۔ اسی طرح بندے کو ھونا چاھئیے ۔ بابا اشفاق صاحب فرماتے تھے کہ کسی آم کے درخت نے کبھی اپنا آم چوس کر نہیں دیکھا۔ بابا دین محمد بولا درخت نے دان کرنے کی یہ ادا ماں سے سیکھی ھے جو بچوں کو سکول بھیجنے کے بعد چار گھنٹے لگا کر گوشت سبزی پیاز پودینے سے ھانڈی پکاتی ھے اور بچوں کے آتے ہی چار گھنٹے کی محنت ان کے سامنے رکھ کر خاموشی سے بچوں کو کھاتا دیکھر من ھی من خوش ھوتی ھے ۔ ماتھے کا پسینہ دوپٹے کے پلو سے صاف کرکے سلامت رھو تاقیامت کی دعا دیتی ھے ۔

ھم درخت اور ماں کو استاد مان کر سب کچھ سیکھ سکتے ہیں ۔ بابا کھڑا ھوا اور ھاتھ ملا کر پارک کے صدر دروازے سے نکل گیا۔۔۔

Grumblers

 

In much younger days, i made a major mistake. I was scared to tell my boss. But when I did, he quickly put me at ease when he said, "Well, the fellow who never made a mistake, never made anything." And we fixed my mistake without any fuss or bother.

How different are negative people who are constantly looking for pegs on which to hang their anger, bitterness, and negativity. They complain about the weather, their boss, their health, and everything else they can think of to gripe about, and they never lack for ways to criticize others.

As John W. Stott said in his book,  "The censorious critic is the fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking out their failures. He puts the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes, and is ungenerous towards their mistakes."

Not very flattering--to put it mildly.

Actually negative complainers are angry people. Instead of facing their anger and negative feelings realistically and resolving them, they project them onto others and express them in hurtful and destructive ways. They are not nice people to be around. So, whenever you and I are being over-critical, let's examine our own heart to see what it is in us that needs to be faced, confronted and resolved.

Dear God
please deliver me
from the sin of grumbling
and complaining.
Whenever I am tempted to criticize bitterly
and have a negative attitude
help me
to look into my heart
and see why I am feeling the way I am.

Thank you for hearing and answering my
prayers..

Creative Questioning

Albert Einstein, who discovered the theory of relativity, asked, "What would a light wave look like to someone keeping pace with it?"

Bill Bowerman, inventor of Nike shoes, questioned, "What happens if I pour rubber into my waffle iron?"

Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express, reasoned, "Why can't there be reliable overnight mail service?"

Godfrey Hounsfield, inventor of the CAT scanner, asked, "Why can't we see in three dimensions what is inside a human body without cutting it open?"

And Masaru Ibuka, honorary chairman of the Sony Corporation who came up with the idea for the Sony Walkman, queried, "Why don't we remove the recording function and speaker and put headphones in the recorder?"

Asking the right questions is one of the fundamental keys for opening the mind to new ideas, some of which have made profound changes for mankind.

However, whenever people come up with new ideas, they need courage to overcome the criticisms of negative people who seem to feel that their calling in life is to discourage creative thinkers and productive change.

For instance, shoe makers called Nike's idea for waffle shoes stupid. Godfrey Hounsfield's CAT scan idea was seen as "impractical." Masaru Ibuka was asked if he was crazy when he proposed the idea for the Sony walkman and Fred Smith wrote a paper at Yale suggesting the idea for Federal Express--and got a "C" grade!

We, too, need to question doctrines we are taught to make sure they are not just outmoded traditions of man and be constantly open to and actively seeking better ways of doing things for improving the quality of life for ourselves and others. And, most of all, we need to be open to what God is doing, or wanting to do, in our own life, in our community, and in our nation--and get in on his plans.

Dear God
help me not to accept everything I hear
but to test it to see if it is true.
And help me to be open to change
where change is needed
and where I need to change
and help me to be a change agent for you

In Whom Is Our Trust?

Some years back, Professor John Passmore in speaking about Australia's capital city, Canberra, said it was one of the most highly planned and well laid out and ordered cities in the world. (It was designed by American Walter Burleigh Griffin.) It was an attempt to build "an ideal urban environment for the future."

However, in spite of all the best-laid plans of men, Canberra has had [at least in the past] one of the highest suicide rates in the country, the highest unemployment rate, and the highest rate of marriage breakdown.

In our contemporary society we have sharpened the mind, strived for technological and scientific excellence, built the greatest means of transport and communication systems in the history of the world. But like ancient Egypt, we have put our trust in our own strength and that of the things we have developed, and have ignored the spirit and not relied on God.

Unless we turn back to God, we will inevitably go the same way as ancient Egypt and other civilizations, who forgot God, went.

Freezing Spirits

John Elliott says. "When you're freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and don't wake up because it feels too good."

Life can be like that too. Millions of people, whose lives are filled with the pleasures and occupied with the pursuits of the world, are lulled to sleep spiritually, warm and cozy in their complacency, oblivious to the fact that they are heading pell-mell towards a lost eternity without God and without hope.

Dear God ..
please use me ..
to help awaken those ..
who are spiritually asleep ..
and unaware ..
that they are on their way ..
to a lost eternity ..
without ..
You ..

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ..

A Persistent Duck

In Vancouver, British Columbia (reported Reuters), when a family of ducklings fell down a Vancouver sewer grate, their mother did what any parent would do. She got help from a passing police officer.

Vancouver police officer Ray Peterson admitted he was not sure what to make of the duck that grabbed him by the pant leg while he was on foot patrol on a Wednesday evening in a neighborhood near the city's downtown.

"I thought it was a bit goofy, so I shoved it away," Peterson told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

The mother duck persisted, grabbing Peterson's leg again when he tried to leave, and then waddling to a nearby sewer grate where she sat down and waited for him to follow and investigate.

"I went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below," he said.

Police said they removed the heavy metal grate with the help of a tow truck and used a vegetable strainer to lift the ducklings to safety. Mother and offspring then departed for a nearby pond.

God will also test us to see if we are determined and desperate enough to turn to Him for help. The half-hearted never make it.

Dear God ..
thank you that ..
when I am serious ..
about turning to You for help ..
You always hear ..
and answer the prayer ..
that comes from my heart.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ..

The Importance of Little Things

Whether it's little acts of kindness, little words of encouragement, little acts of unkindness or little acts of thoughtless deeds, little things play a big role in, and are a major part of, our lives. Their impact can far outweigh the size of the words or deeds.

Furthermore, "Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones."

"Oh be careful little hands what you do!
Oh be careful little hands what you do,
God is up above,
He is looking down in love,
So be careful little hands what you do."

That song may sound silly, but it isn't.

Remember it's the little acts of kindness and love that enrich our own lives as well as the lives of those we touch.

Dear God,
help me always
to remember
that it's the everyday 'little things'
that, added together, form the character
and value (or otherwise) of my life.

Help me to also remember
'Be careful little hands' (and tongue)
what you do and say.

Thank you for hearing and answering my
prayer.

Warning Notice Ignored

A few years ago, three young tourists when visiting Yosemite  National Park were swept over the 317-foot Vernal Fall. One of the tourists, a young woman, was no doubt drawn by the alluring beauty of the raging waterfall and the fast moving Merced River below after a record winter snowfall. Tragically she slipped on a rock above the falls. Two friends reached out to rescue her and the trio was swept over the edge.

At the bottom of the trail leading to the Vernal  Falls there is a sign warning about the fast moving water. Also, when entering the Yosemite Park, visitors are given a news paper warning about water hazards and to stay away from fast moving water.

Furthermore, at the top of the Vernal Fall there is a guard railing and a metal safety barricade marked with a warning. Tragically the victims of this tragedy ignored all the warning signs, climbed over the barricade, and fell to a horrific death.

How foolish we say, and yet, I wonder how many warnings in life we ignore.

The greatest tragedy of all is when we ignore all the warnings in God's Word, and especially so if we ignore God's warnings about life after death.

Whatever you do, do not be like the tourists who disregarded all the warning signs in the Yosemite National Park and fell to a horrific death, and disregard God's repeated warnings.

Dear God ..
please open the eyes ..
of my understanding ..
so that I will clearly see ..
all your warnings in your Word ..
and give me the wisdom ..
to accept your gift of forgiveness ..
for all my sins ..

What I See Is Who I Am

Ken Crockett, in his book, "I Once Was Blind, But Now I Squint", shares the experience of Pastor Ed Manning who told "about a situation when a woman approached him to ask a question. As she drew closer to him, he tipped his head back to look through the bottom lenses of his bifocals to focus on her more clearly. 'There you go again!' the woman exploded. 'You stick your nose up in the air every time I talk to you! Who do you think you are? I'm sick of your arrogant attitude!'

"Manning was taken aback by her outburst of anger. 'You don't understand,' he explained. 'I'm not sticking my nose up in the air at you. I just can't see you when you get near me. I'm tilting my head back so I can see you through the bottom half of my bifocals.'"

Sound familiar ?

Blaise Pascal said, "We view things not only from different sides but with different eyes." Or to put it another way, "We see things not the way they are, but the way we are."

For instance, if I have unresolved anger, I will see things through angry, critical eyes. If have unresolved fears, I will view things through fearful eyes. If I have a negative attitude, I will look at things through negative eyes. If I am insecure, I will see things through insecure eyes. If I am a jealous person, I will view things through jealous eyes. If I am a cheat, I will see things through cheating eyes, and so on.

Whatever I see--the way I see it will always be twisted to match my distorted perception of reality and in so doing I will rationalize my every thought and justify my every action. A very unhealthy and self-defeating way to live.

If we are going to see things the way they are, we need to see the plank in our own eye and get rid of that. It is true, what I see is who I am. It is equally true, if I am a loving person, I will see things through loving eyes.

Dear God, please open my eyes
so that I will see clearly
who I am
and help me
to get rid of any specks
and all planks in my eye
so I will see the truth as it is
and not as I distort or want it to be.