We hurt because life is tough! The journey of life is filled with so many ecstasies, including the good, the bad, the painful and the not so pleasant. How then do we want to experience all the good parts and never  want to endure the painful parts? Perhaps it is not fair to life to expect everything to be fine all the time. Yes, painful experiences -- - we would rather do without, but is this fair to life itself?

One of the the major sources of our pain and hurt is selfishness. It is our way or no way! Everything else has to come to our satisfaction to make us happy. Is this possible all the time? How selfish? The truth is, we all need some painful experiences in our life - - - these will eventually make us stronger. Bad experiences teach good lessons. They also prepare us for our missions in life. Why should we receive all the good things and later be angry with God when things go bad? Our expectations that everything has to be nice all the time violates the "Law of the Maxims of Life." It is nice to fall in love, to get married, to have babies, to get a college education, to get a wonderful job and to live happily ever after. But, when love gets cold and marriage falls apart, when we lose our job and a best friend betrays us, we seem to experience one of the greatest emotional crash of our life. Life becomes meaningless because we are hurting so much and we do not see anything else at that time! I remember a young man who married one of the most attractive ladies in town, everybody appreciated her beauty so much and put her on the cover of the town magazine every now and then. Her husband loved her so much because of her beauty, and he literally worshipped her by kissing her feet every morning before he went to work One day the young lady’s high school sweet-heart came to town and visited her. When her husband came back from work, she not only admitted her spontaneous affair with her ex-boyfriend, she later ran away with him, leaving her husband and kids behind. So much for the happiness created by sex and romantic love. As powerful as such happiness is, does it ever last? The husband had an emotional-break down - - - he was crushed! Romantic love creates a false hope of everlasting happiness! Surprise, surprise! The greatest source of happiness can sometimes be the greatest source of pain. Life is never the same after a betrayal.

Some people will recover; others will nurse the pain for the rest of their life as every person who comes to a wounded lion is going to catch hell! We become paranoid and less trusting of others. We do not realize we create our own hell on earth because we refuse to let go. Reality hits us in the face when we finally realize that money can only create the illusion of happiness, not true happiness. The more we pull anything in this life, the easier it breaks. Some painful experiences are unexpected because we could not prevent a dying parent or family member or a friend from leaving us. While they are trying to go to a better place our selfishness is trying to hold them back. As far as the dead are concerned, they have written their final chapters of life. Our mission is to do our part in glorifying God and the essence of our existence - - - to make the World a better place for others while we can.

There are others who derive much pleasure from dishing out pain to others! Call them hell-raisers, sociopaths or real psychos! In reality such people are never happy because they are submerged in their own miseries and they want everybody to catch hell and be unhappy just as they are. Doing good is contrary to their life's mission, and they derive much pleasure at raising hell and hurting others! Even those people using their power positions to terrorize others eventually succumb to the evils of their own madness. Thank goodness! And somebody dared to think there is no God? I believe that those people doing evil are being tricked by satan.

Greatest Joy of All

Sadly people, not God, have used religion as a tool of abuse, persecution and oppression to violate others. One of the reasons why religion fails some people is because the issue about God is served to people on a platter of hypocrisy and hatred. How can a minister profess to be a Christian and a servant of Christ while at the same time preaching prejudice, hate and racism from the church’s pulpit? As a result many people leave the church or the religious community because they are angry at God. Sometimes people go to the church to worship their ministers instead of God. Others are angry at one thing or another and declare that God does not exist. Yet they breath of the fresh air, drink of the water created by the invisible Being called God and enjoy the beauty of the flowers created by His greatness. The mightiness of His power is indisputable. Martin Luther stated it well when he said, "Mighty fortress is our God, a help that never fails." - - - - - "A mad man had said in his heart that there is no God!" How dare you?

Sadness may end the evening, but true joy comes in the morning. Truly, joy comes from close relationship with our God during the process of spiritual communion. Jesus Christ was sent to the earth as a messenger of peace and on a mission of mercy. He came as a representation of God on earth, and it is through him we can attain grace and the greatest joy of all because he is always at the bosom of the Father. Do not be shocked to know that money, power, beauty, and glamour do not create happiness but the illusion of self-worth and the exaggerated sense of self importance. We attain the greatest joy when we truly and honestly surrender ourselves to Christ. This should not preclude us from self-actualization because life continues just as our journey of life. A "spiritual surrender" should prevent us from pulling too tight, or making our needs the central and the only platform of our existence. We were all given one or more talents so as to manifest the power of our maker in us. What have you done with your natural talents?

One time a person struggling with his faith said that, "God must be egocentric if He needs us to worship Him so much." As blasphemous as he sounded, I responded, "If a giant power above all heavens and all creations can create all these wonders, and the sun has not crashed to crush down or burn us on earth yet, He has the right to be egocentric and I will do my best to glorify His name -- - Amen." So, I rested my case. Science has proven the existence of God beyond human imagination, and history has documented the experience of those who witnessed great wonders as we are witnessing now. Just try to imagine being present to witness the manifestation of God’s power as Moses held his staff up experiencing the parting of the Red Sea! What other proof do we need except the day we die? The first-timers on earth always have arguments questioning spiritual power and God, but the second-or-third timers who are usually spiritual messengers never question the power of God, let alone His existence. Are you a spiritual messenger, and do you have a chronic need to do good for others? Do you know your mission in life? Are you on the Lord’s side or are you working for the other guy? You can not afford to be neutral; you have to be one or the other. They do not allow people in the hallway or sitting on the fence in heaven. You are either going to heaven or to hell; make your choice now!

While we are alive, we have the power to do so many good things and achieve so many things. Engage in a random act of kindness to others once in a while and expect nothing in return! Have a quiet time and a conversation with God - - - He is always listening. You better hurry because after death your earthly existence ends. You have no choice but to cross over to the other side, or you may decide to be floating around the universe without attaining a resting place. Death results in the division of the body and the spirit; even though spiritual life continues, our options are limited afterwards. Do your best while you are still here when you have the best opportunity to glorify your Creator by ministering unto others. You will truly be embraced by the Light of Our Savior Jesus Christ, granting you the eternal joy and happiness and the everlasting reunion with him. I hope you realize that the second marriage is the reunion with Christ after death. "Let not your heart be troubled, yee believe in God believe also in me, because in my father’s house are many mansions." He did not say few mansions, he said many! So, do not think they are going to run out of rooms up there soon. Jesus said, "I am the true tabanacle, and the food of life." He has gone to prepare masions for us in heaven and some people are worried about  Wall Street crashing! People, people, people, what’s the matter with you!

I knew one guy who worked all his life and saved a lot of money for himself; he died a few weeks after retirement. I do not think they let you keep earthly belongings in heaven if you ever make it that far. The truth is, have you made your heavenly reservation yet? Time is running out! No late reservation is accepted. It is between you and your Creator; your heart is the prosecuting attorney and Jesus Christ your defense attorney. I think the service is free if you make your arrangement before death. Sorry, Satan is not allowed as a defense attorney in heaven. His legal license as an angel was revoked a while back! Remember, he was cast into hell years ago after he initiated a rebellion in heaven and the "Angel Holy Michael" with his sword of fire chased him and his cronies out of heaven. What a glorious day in heaven! No wonder he is causing so much trouble on earth -- he has no other place to go! We should all be waiting for the time they are going to lock up his ass! Those Columbine boys did not act alone in killing all those people! What’s the matter with people for goodness sake! Contrary to what the police might have said, Satan was the culprit! When we take the Bible from our children and give them guns, what do we expect?

I hope I have convinced you that the primary reason we hurt so much is due to selfishness. Forget about the money, drugs, sex, power and glamour, and surrender yourself to Christ. Do not stop living while enjoying  life and everything in moderation, but make Jesus your priority. Stop pushing so hard, stop worrying so much about earthly things and you will attain the greatest joy of all. Serenity in Christ will grant you the eternal joy and the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

article by V. 'Yinka Vidal