It's not the end -- but a beginning

I thought I had heard everything Matthew West had sung, but I was wrong. As I sat to begin this pondering, I was struck by this one, called The End:

It was raining when I woke this morning
So to escape it I went back to bed
But then the rain started leaking through the ceiling
and pretty soon it was pouring on my head

Sometimes it follows you home
like an old stray dog
It won't leave you alone

But it's not the end
the end of the world
It's just another day
depending on grace

Oh, did he nail it or what?

Jeremiah said it this way:
Even the gold has lost its luster!
Even the finest gold has become dull.
The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets!
See how the precious children of Jerusalem,
worth their weight in fine gold
are now treated like pots of gold,
made by a common potter.

Whatever we think about what what is going on in life, whatever we think about our marriages, whatever we think about our jobs, whatever fear we have about that strange entity called Obamacare, you name it, there's always hope, there are more dreams to be had, more faith to be gathered.

What if the trials we face are simply the way He uses to get our attention? It truly isn't the end of the world as we know it.  It's just a way of overcoming.

As another writer said, "what if a thousand sleepless years is what it takes to know you're near?"

For example, I'm having a great deal of difficulty bringing my blood pressure down. We've tried a couple or three medicines. It went up more, for reasons the doc doesn't kjnow. Now we're doubling the doubling.

I was asked yesterday by a nurse, "Do you have any stress in your life right now?"

Oh, well, uh, er, just the most I've ever had in my life. Without going into what is causing me stress, let me just say that I pray that when I read this in four years or so, I remember it as a period that made me stronger, not weaker.

It's not the end until we say it's the end. It's not life-threatening if we aren't worried about life's threats.

It's just another day when I rely on grace to bring me through. That's something I need to be reminded of from time to time (along with a thousand other things).

No, it's not the end. It's a beginning.