{"id":1843,"date":"2019-09-20T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/?p=1843"},"modified":"2019-09-20T16:32:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T21:32:07","slug":"the-struggle-is-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2019\/09\/20\/the-struggle-is-real\/","title":{"rendered":"The Struggle is Real"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I know I haven\u2019t written anything down in a long time. Some of it was laziness, other times I wasn\u2019t sure what to say.\u00a0 You see, my personal life prevents me from saying too much.\u00a0 After all my life is no longer private really. (Who is with all that social media) What I say can inadvertently effect my spouse and family. I also speak about God all the time or try to give a glimpse of feel good meme\u2019s on Facebook.\u00a0 I figured if it helped you through the day, that\u2019s all that mattered.\u00a0 However, is that enough?\u00a0 Reality is if I\u2019m going to share it, I need to live it.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve done that lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since entering spiritual\ndirection I have discovered, the need to put God first, to pray and to read my\nbible.  Oh I\u2019ve done all of these things\nat one time or another, but never consistently and never together.  The time has come to live what I\nbelieve.  It\u2019s time to live out what I\u2019m\nlearning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Everyone\nhas problems of some kind, and no one problem is greater than another. How, we\ndeal with that problem is the true test of faith.  My own faith these days has surely been\ntested and I suspect will continue to be tested.  Maybe, as I have grown in my spiritual\njourney, evil has decided to put up roadblocks. \nMaybe, I have set up my own roadblocks, I don\u2019t know.  I must ask myself, \u201cso, now what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently looked at my bible sitting on my desk.\u00a0 Not long ago, it looked untouched, unopened.\u00a0 Oh I opened it a time or two, hoping to find answers.\u00a0 Sometimes I would read something that made sense, other times, not so much.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never, did I ever mark any pages. \u00a0Never would I write in pen or pencil inside the book, after all that is what I was taught. \u00a0I noticed today, I have opened it more times than I realized and now it looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is wearing on the edges, and tabs marking bible verses that bring comfort and hope. Some, I started off color coding, then it became more important to just make sure I got it marked so I know where to look for that hope and comfort.\u00a0 No, I still do not use pen or pencil in the book itself, but I do write on the tabs. I guess some things will never change.\u00a0 However, tabs are like sticky notes and can be removed at any time, should I need to. Although, I hope I don\u2019t need to remove any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I want to be very\nclear, this does not mean that problems go away.  I still have good and bad days that I struggle\nwith and think God all but abandoned me. I\u2019m still human and I worry and stress\nabout things not in my control.  I don\u2019t\nknow many people who don\u2019t do that. It is a great reminder that God is control,\nnot me.  How I respond to these\nsituations, dictates the direction I end up going in.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when I return to Facebook and share meme\u2019s maybe that is a good reminder to me and you, if it fits your situation.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe more prayer, bible readings and meditation is needed.\u00a0 Again, it doesn\u2019t solve the problem or make it go away.\u00a0 It does help me not feel so alone and have hope, that I’m in Gods care.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay to cry, it\u2019s okay to get angry, it\u2019s okay to cling to the bible passage that brings comfort.\u00a0 Those things can also build faith, trust and hope.\u00a0 It can also provide clarity and direction if I stop to listen.\u00a0\u00a0 At the time of this writing I\u2019m dealing with a lot of anger.\u00a0\u00a0 In my devotional time this passage was brought to me, and I believe God wanted me to take notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 25:2 The Voice (VOICE)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>BECAUSE You are my God and I put my trust\nin You.
\n    Do not let me be humiliated.
\n    Do not let my enemies celebrate at my expense.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time to walk the talk.\u00a0 I put my trust in You Lord.\u00a0 May I feel God’s peace, comfort, hope and direction. May you who are reading this, know that you are loved, and God is with you always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know I haven\u2019t written anything down in a long time. Some of it was laziness, other times I wasn\u2019t sure what to say.\u00a0 You see, my personal life prevents me from saying too much.\u00a0 After all my life is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m8F1-tJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":237,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/27\/lent-still\/","url_meta":{"origin":1843,"position":0},"title":"Lent……Still","author":"Kris Dill","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight I'm feeling a little lost. Finances are getting tougher, I make little money, and right now I feel abandoned by God. Harsh, I'm sure to say such things. But I feel like I'm being punished for all the bad things I've done in my life. I don't think it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/19\/lent-week-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":1843,"position":1},"title":"Lent Week One","author":"Kris Dill","date":"February 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay your sick of the disclaimer, but please understand I'm really not on Facebook, this is an automatic feed from RSS Graffiti. Well it's just shy of one week of being off Facebook. It's not as hard as I thought it might be. I have filled the time, with many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1710,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2015\/12\/02\/philippians-413the-voice-voice13-i-can-be-content-in-any-and-every-situation-through-the-anointed-one-who-is-my-power-and-strength-serving-god-is-not-easy-just-because-you-choose-to-serve-him-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":1843,"position":2},"title":"Serving God is not easy!","author":"admin","date":"December 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Philippians 4:13The Voice (VOICE)13 I can be content in any and every situation through the Anointed One who is my power and strength. Serving God is not easy. Just because you choose to serve him, doesn\u2019t mean your life is going to be wine and roses. 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The first movie, \u201cGod\u2019s not dead\u201d centered on a student who was forced to defend and prove his point that God exists, after his professor wanted the whole class to admit God does not exists. \u00a0Where the second movie, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith from the Average Person"","block_context":{"text":"Faith from the Average Person","link":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hello-my-name-is-template","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/hello-my-name-is-template-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1734,"url":"https:\/\/www.familydill.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/25\/my-open-dairy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1843,"position":5},"title":"My Open Dairy","author":"Kris Dill","date":"March 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This will not be a normal blog post, but it has been weighing on my mind for some time now. 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