Christian, Don't Promise Me

Dear Christian,

When the rain never comes,
When fiery trials rage,
Or sorrows overtake...

Don’t promise me
Your best wishes
That “God will provide”
Or “Everything will be alright.”
Don’t promise me
That somewhere out there,
God is preparing the perfect one for me,
Plus health, wealth, and a loving family.

Don’t promise me empty words
That never once appear in the Word.

Promise me the truth,
That the righteous shall see
Hatred, persecution, and death,
And sojourn the earth with nowhere to be.
For the Lord gives and He takes away,
Who among mortals shall have a say?

Promise me this,
That in knowing Christ,
There is fullness of joy,
That will always suffice.
Though trials, famine, and sword shall come, 
There is hope that never fades,
Love that never dies,
And God’s own presence to the end of the age.

“The grass withers, and the flower falls,
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
Promise me this,
Or nothing at all.

(Inspired from Maya Angelou - "Preacher, Don't Send Me")

Solitude

One of the biggest challenges in being a young adult is learning to be OK with being alone. It's easy to feel worthless, unloved, and uncared for when you are all by yourself. Some people avoid it at all costs; many people fill their lives with distractions; almost everyone cannot stand it for extended periods of time.

However, I found this note I quickly jotted down a couple months ago. It reads,

"There's a sense of aloneness that is empowering.. The feeling of being all alone with no one having a clue where you are and what you do . the feeling of tremendous power and independence. You can finally do and think and feel what you are. No one is stopping you from anything- tears, worship, dancing, laughter. You breathe and you are. Just you and your creator and how he created you to be."

Maybe I'm on the path of becoming a recluse. All I can say is for once in my life, I was thankful for complete and utter solitude.