Sunday, July 2, 2023

Hell on Earth

     
“When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you.” (Isaiah 43:2-3, Good News Translation)

We were watching an old episode of NCIS, and one of the characters was dealing with some trials in life. One of his co-workers said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

Isn’t that the truth? When things aren’t going well for us and it feels like we are living in hell on earth, don’t we sometimes just want to give up and quit? And then where are we? Still stuck in hell on earth.

Turn your problems over to God, ask Him to give you the strength to keep plowing through, and then keeping going until you are back to heaven on earth.

And also remember – hell on earth is nothing compared to the real hell. Make sure your goal is to end up in the real heaven when you leave this earth.

(The picture above is from Hell's Gate Park in Kenya, when I was there in 2017. I climbed this same wall, but didn't do it nearly as gracefully as the younger volunteers.) 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know the hopeless feeling of back pain so sending hugs and prayers you feel better soon!

Carol Stam Rehse said...

Chris, I just finished reading Holding All the Aces. You honored Pat by telling her story. I have no doubt that she is proud of you. I enjoyed how you gave us a peak into your childhood and your lives growing up. Each page and chapter showed the love you shared. I am sorry Pat’s life was cut short by that evil cancer. I’m hoping we will see Pat again in one of your next novels.
I am presently reading your working through Covid experiences. I pray we never have to go through that again.
I sympathize with you with your back issues. As is often said been there done that. Blessings to you.

Carol Stam Rehse said...

I hope my comment went through. I dropped my iPad!

Chris Loehmer Kincaid said...

Carol, I got both of your comments. No worries. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts on the memoir of my sister Pat. She was an amazing person and is still missed.
Thank you also, for your concerns on my back pain. It's been tough, but God will get me through.
May He bless you. Have a great summer, for what's left of it.