People Will Let You Down

This is so strange. My last post was about a blessing. This post is about a discouragement.

That's how life is, isn't it? Peaks and valleys, ups and downs, laughter and tears, Light and Darkness.

Everyone is human; everyone has faults. No matter how wonderful, spiritual, consecrated, or wise they are, they are still flawed in some area. I have always known that people will let you down (God won't). Sometimes it seems like I don't know it though.

Saturday I got a good hard shock that thoroughly proved the accuracy of this post's title. At an event that day (for time's sake, and to avoid finger-pointing, I won't name names or go into all the details), a group of people who I have respected, trusted, and looked up to, behaved in a manner completely foreign to the people I thought they were. I respected, trusted, and looked up to them, because of their character, integrity, spiritual-mindedness, purity, and set-apartness (I don't know if that's even a word, but it serves my purpose). Witnessing their behavior, I was completely dumb-founded. Disgusted. Embarassed. And heart-broken. I turned to Mom and told her, "These aren't the [people] I know!" This was so unlike them! It was like living a nightmare, where strange and shady-minded characters take the bodies and voices of people you love, then behave like the fiends they are.

Oh how I have prayed that the Lord would pierce their consciences! Shame them to their core; wake them up, startled, to the realization of the message they were sending.

I also have the impression that I should try to speak to them. They knew I was there; they know I saw. I cannot conscientiously stand by, silent, and act like everything is OK. It's NOT okay! I must, as a loving friend, approach them and give an account of what their actions spoke to an outsider. But I am so afraid. Afraid I will not have the right words. That I will not time it right. Afraid for their testimonies. Afraid to lose them as friends.

The sovereignty of God is a great comfort!

Encouragement

This past Sunday, I recieved a sweet blessing that I thought I might like to remember.
I have always desired to be a good example, and an encouragement. Early Sunday, I had prayed specifically that I would be used to encourage other believers - especially people at church, who had been such a blessing in my life.
Before the day was over, Bro. Earl, Bro. Mike, and two others had all expressed to me that the Lord had used me to be a blessing to them. Talk about an immediate answer!

Heb 10:24 says,

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"

How many times we struggle along, feeling sorry for ourselves and our 'problems', when we could be being used to lift the burdens of someone else! And how many times therefore, we miss the opportunity to have our own lifted.

Disney's Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Well, for any of you who are Narnia people and haven't heard yet, the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" trailer has been released. I am hoping that the makers learned their lesson with the major fan dissapointment of "Prince Caspian", and decided to stick to the book for their inspiration for "Dawn Treader", instead of their own immaginations. The first one they made, "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", wasn't exactly like the book, but any alterations that were made only honored and enhanced the original C. S. Lewis ideas. Their version of "Prince Caspian" however, was such a major dissapointment in so many areas! It's only redeeming quality, I felt, was how they handled the character of Edmund. I thought they 'did' him excellently.

Now it's time for "Dawn Treader". Set to release this December, and so far, the trailer looks very familiar to anyone who has read the book. I detected only a couple of things I didn't recognize, and I'm hoping that means "Dawn Treader" will be patterned more after the quality of "Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe".

I thought I'd post the trailer here for anyone who's interested.



Once again, I would like to note that I have not viewed any of the 'related' videos whose links may be displayed with this one. Please use caution if you choose to view any of them - sometimes not-so-nice (and totally unrelated) material is snuck in to this list.