Contradictions or Keys to Life: Safe or Good, Simple or Easy?

Contradictory statements or keys to a successful and fulfilled life?

1) It's takes work to grow and doing nothing doesn't mean you stay the same, it means you deteriorate.

Example, our physical bodies. We work hard to get fit and we get sick and lose everything we worked for in a matter of days or possibly hours. Or, we do nothing at all and we actually grow more out of shape.

This is the same with our mental capacity. Staying the same does not equal being equally smart, it means you are growing more stupid.

2) Specifically when God speaks sometimes we are required to believe before we understand.

I'm NOT talking about not studying before a test because we "believe" the answer will be revealed to us in our osmosis. I AM talking about believing in what the God of the universe tells to his children, the authority figure that DOES have all the answers even when we fight with our limited ability to understand why. Not that we don't seek to understand why, but that we accept the answer from the ultimate authority. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me", Jn. 10:27.

3) God is not safe but he is good.

C.S. Lewis made this statement in his Chronicles of Narnia books in regard to the king Asland. In the same way God knows what's best for us, and that isn't always that we are happy, but that Christ is glorified in us and that we continue to grow humble and submitted to Him. Read the book of Job. And then read Rom 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

4) Most things in life are not easy, but they are simple.

Spoken by a friend, Dana Barfield, in regard to how you define what you are providing for your customers when starting a new business. His Article. I believe this applies to more aspects than just defining your business proposition. Believing in God and having faith in Him is easy but is not simple. Sin's presence on the earth and our fight between the control of one or the other over our thoughts and actions is a constant struggle for us when God makes it clear to us how we should live.

Finally, strive to come to grips with God's authority in your life. Believe in him, hope in something of real value. Struggle to know Him more fully.