Get Hi5 Falling Hearts Wednesday 12th January 2022
Happy New Year!
This is officially my first Post in 2022. It would have come earlier but unfortunately I've been procrastinating - which happens sometimes although I'm here now so it doesn't matter!
God has been telling me to post for a long time since the New Year but I refused. I just didn't feel like it. But today I decided that it was time to post something once and for all.
I would have felt guilty if I didn't, especially how I have been slacking behind on this website for almost a couple of weeks now.
I hope your New Year has been off to a good start. Mine has been decent, I can't complain about anything. I'm still at home at the moment so I was at home when I posted this. I'm going back to university on Sunday.
As you can see, today's topic is called:
What Comes Easy Doesn't Last & What Lasts Doesn't Come Easy
There was no way I was going to write that again, so I just copied the title from the top. There was a specific reason as to why I chose this topic. It's even a quote.
Because on a heart monitor, our heart goes up and down.
If life was only full of downs - I'm not sure about you but I would find that very depressing! Nothing would go your way ever and every day would more or less be a bad day.
Whereas if life was only full of ups, we wouldn't have to work for anything because things would just come to us. Everything we want, we would get.
I would love that at first, then it would get a bit boring. That's exactly why life is full of ups and downs, so as to balance everything out. If you don't experience the bad, then you can't really appreciate the good.
My favourite gospel song (Darwin Hobbs - The Thank You Song) has lyrics in the second verse that says this:
Wanna thank you for the hope that you bring
Wanna thank you for the joy and the pain
'Cause if I never really knew you in my rain
Then my sun would surely be in vain!
I would love 30 Billion in my account as well as Versace and Gucci - but if I didn't work for those things, then it wouldn't really be worth anything.
It took ages to find this song, I can't lie. It was on this gospel CD I liked, but I forgot the name of it as it was like 10 years ago. But I'm glad I did find it, and I also hope that YouTube doesn't get rid of it as the link was the only version of the song they have.
The lyrics say that they want to thank God for the joy and the pain together.
Not joy respectively.
Some people only thank God for the good things in their life. Whilst I don't blame them, I'm also not saying that thanking God for joy alone is the right thing to do. You should thank God for the joy and the pain together.
Psalms 55:22 says Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
So yes, anytime you have a problem - ♫ take it to the Lord in prayer! ♫
The last bit of the lyrics says this:
'Cause if I never really knew you in my rain
Then my sun would surely be in vain!
Which just simply means that if you didn't really know God or turn to God when you were going through something bad, and then something good in your life happens to you -- it's kind of in vain as you didn't turn to God when you were experiencing a dark time.
Do I make sense? I hope I do.
On to today's topic, which links to if life was good all of the time.
Like I said, if life was good all of the time, you wouldn't have to work for anything. Things would just come to you naturally.
[Davido - If]
You understand where I'm coming from?
I mean, these things aren't worth much anyway because you're not supposed to love the world or anything in it... but that's another story for another day.
I even did a series on it a few months back, which I will reference when I'm done with today's topic.
Besides, money can't make you happy; it's even the root of evil - which you can find in 1 Timothy 6:10.
Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.
If things come to you easily, they won't last. This isn't always true- depending mainly on how you handle something, but most of the time it is.
Ever heard of the term 15 minutes of fame?
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden.
3 But God did say, ‘You must not eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”
4 “You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil.”
It's essentially when you are famous for a short time. And believe me when I say that there are a lot of people like that, whether they've accepted it or not.
These people, not speaking for everyone though, maybe they were just unlucky - who knows? 🤷 -- yeah, these people probably got their fame quickly.
Whereas the people who are still famous now most likely worked harder than those who lost their fame quickly.
I'm not saying the people who were famous for a short time didn't work hard, nor am I disregarding any efforts made that made them famous. I'm just saying fame probably came to them easy.
Most of the time anyway.
Let's look at some Biblical examples of the title in action.
I'm going to be looking firstly at those who had things come to them easy and they didn't last, then I will contrast this to three very important people who had to wait a long time for something good to come, but it came.
And it lasted!
There are more examples but let me just do five for now.
Coming Easy; Not Lasting
Adam and Eve & the Parable of the Rich Man.
In Genesis 3, the serpent had tricked both Adam and Eve into eating fruit from the tree that God said they shouldn't eat from.
You can find this in Genesis 3 vs 1-5...
The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden.
3 But God did say, ‘You must not eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”
4 “You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil.”
I ordered a table for my room earlier this month, and this week my family and I helped to build it.
The very last screw that was needed to fix the table wasn't going in properly, which had happened for about 20 minutes. It could have only been the devil. He had waited until the very last minute, literally, to mess everything up.
Which was to his downfall as my table is flawless now, and I used it to type this message anyway.
The serpent had tricked Adam and Eve into thinking that the fruit would have given them wisdom. And I guess it did, temporarily.
That was until God had realised what had happened, cursing all three of them. Why?
Because they got the wisdom easily! If they had worked for the wisdom, then that's a completely different story. But God did specifically tell them not to eat fruit from the tree in the Middle of the garden.
But they disobeyed him.
The next example of someone I had thought of who had gotten something easily but it didn't last was the rich man in Luke 12 vs 16 to 21.
17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them.
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them.
19 I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”
20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”
What came to him easily? Probably the very large crop that his land had produced. And goodness knows how he became rich, I don't think it mentions it in the Bible.
But the Bible did say that he was a rich fool.
I guess in this scenario, nothing really came to him easily that didn't last - however his life got taken away from him because he was taking life for granted.
I have been reading this story a lot in the Bible this week.
Actually, now that I think about it: this version says that the rich man wanted to take life easy. God just dawned that on me. The rich man wanted to live an easy life, and the ending result was for God to take away his life.
John 12:25 says this:
Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
This isn't saying hate your life. It's just saying that you shouldn't be too materialistic. Which is something I need to work on myself.
God condemned the man for what he was planning to do with his crops, not just for thinking. Jeremiah 17:10, probably my favourite verse in the Bible says:
The Lord says, “I look deep down inside human hearts.
I see what is in people’s minds.
I reward each person in keeping with their conduct.
I bless them based on what they have done.”
I see what is in people’s minds.
I reward each person in keeping with their conduct.
I bless them based on what they have done.”
So God looked inside his heart, and realised that he wanted to live his life selfishly. Not just that, but God gave him the crops. He didn't say that, he said it was his.
It wasn't his, it was God's that he gave to him. Anything God gives you is his, so therefore you should thank him for it.
Not Coming Easy But Lasting
There are many examples of this in the Bible, but due to limited time, I'm only going to mention two. Job respectively and Abraham and Sarah, collectively.
Let's read Genesis 21 vs 1 to 7.
2 Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. The child was born at the exact time God had promised.
3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him.
4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. He did it exactly as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has given laughter to me. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would breast-feed children? But I’ve had a son by him when he is old.”
Abraham was 100 when Sarah had given birth. Sarah was 90.
She had to wait 90 whole years to give birth to a son, when other women she knew would have probably given birth in their 30s or 40s. Maybe (late) 20s.
That's why you shouldn't give up when something bad is happening to you and it seems like the end of the road. Or when it seems like others are moving ahead of you but you're not really going anywhere.
God knows exactly what he is doing. Plus who said you can handle what your friends are handling?
1 Corinthians 10:13 says that you aren't given more than what you can handle, and when you are tempted, God will always provide a way out somehow.
God will never give us more than what we can handle, we are the ones that think we can't handle it.
If Sarah could never handle having a child at 90 years old then be rest assured that God would have never given her one. Luckily, her, Abraham and Isaac too for that matter had lived a long life, which I wish for y'all, in Jesus Name!
A long life with meaning though; not just any long life. Those that live long doesn't always live life well.
Last but not least is Job, who lost everything in Job 1 vs 13 - 22.
13 One day Job’s sons and daughters were at their oldest brother’s house. They were enjoying good food and drinking wine.
14 During that time a messenger came to Job. He said, “The oxen were plowing. The donkeys were eating grass near them. 1
5 Then the Sabeans attacked us and carried off the animals. They killed some of the servants with their swords. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, a second messenger came. He said, “God sent lightning from the sky. It struck the sheep and killed them. It burned up some of the servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, a third messenger came. He said, “The Chaldeans separated themselves into three groups. They attacked your camels and carried them off. They killed the rest of the servants with their swords. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, a fourth messenger came. He said, “Your sons and daughters were at their oldest brother’s house. They were enjoying good food and drinking wine.
16 While he was still speaking, a second messenger came. He said, “God sent lightning from the sky. It struck the sheep and killed them. It burned up some of the servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, a third messenger came. He said, “The Chaldeans separated themselves into three groups. They attacked your camels and carried them off. They killed the rest of the servants with their swords. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, a fourth messenger came. He said, “Your sons and daughters were at their oldest brother’s house. They were enjoying good food and drinking wine.
19 Suddenly a strong wind blew in from the desert. It struck the four corners of the house. The house fell down on your children. Now all of them are dead. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 After Job heard all these reports, he got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped the Lord. 21 He said,
“I was born naked.
And I’ll leave here naked.
The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away.
May the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In spite of everything, Job didn’t sin by blaming God for doing anything wrong.
20 After Job heard all these reports, he got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped the Lord. 21 He said,
“I was born naked.
And I’ll leave here naked.
The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away.
May the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In spite of everything, Job didn’t sin by blaming God for doing anything wrong.
Job went from having a lot of things to losing everything in a short amount of time. I can think of one person like that: Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa.
She had everything, but then on the fateful day of January 26th 2020, both her husband and daughter died. Her life fell into pieces after that had happened because losing one person was enough, but two?
That's was unbearable.
The same thing had happened to Job. He lost everything. But he got everything back at the end of Job, even when his life had seemed hopeless.
I don't know how long it had taken, although he didn't sin by blaming God. We shouldn't blame God for anything bad happening in our lives either. God never promised us happiness 24/7.
He promised that he would give us happiness, but he didn't say that life would always be happy. Life is hard for everyone, regardless of who you are or where you come from.
So what did Job get back?
He got back more than what he had lost. And God can do that, he works in mysterious ways after all.
You can find this in Job 42:10-17.
11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came to see him. They ate with him in his house. They showed their concern for him. They comforted him because of all the troubles the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part. He gave Job 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels. He gave him 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 donkeys. 13 Job also had seven sons and three daughters.
14 He named the first daughter Jemimah. He named the second Keziah. And he named the third Keren-Happuch.
15 Job’s daughters were more beautiful than any other women in the whole land. Their father gave them a share of property along with their brothers.
16 After all of that happened, Job lived for 140 years. He saw his children, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.
17 And so Job died. He had lived for a very long time.
If you are dealing with something hard and it seems like there's no way out, always think of Job! He lost everything but he got it back. That's why a rainbow comes after the rain and not before.
Hopefully today you have learnt that what comes easy doesn't last and what lasts doesn't come easy.
I did mention that I'd make reference to my series on not loving the world, so here it is... Have a look if you so wish! :)
It's harder than you think to make references to my previous posts -- but I'll see you next time and I hope you have a fantabalous week and year ahead!
Till next time!
Lola xx
