Light and Momentary

Okay friends, I came across this verse the other day and had to share - and it's especially true in my life right now.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." - II Corinthians 4:17.

So lately my life has seemed pretty much non-existent. I wake up every morning realizing that my day won't even end with me at home before 10pm. Often I am overwhelmed by the extreme amount of school work, business work, Cheer work, and personal relationships - and it gets to the point that I feel as though I can't even function. There are days that I sit in my bed and think, "whats the point of me even waking up anyways?" or "What do I have to look forward to?" I even sometimes despise the fact that I'm an adult now and can't have all the fun I had in my youth. It's frustrating and scary and often just plain annoying to be at this place in life.

However, this semester I'm taking an International Film class that is throwing me back into reality and making me be GRATEFUL for the life I lead. In the past two weeks we've watched "City of God" and "Innocent Voices". Both films depict the lives of children who are either thrown into armies at the age of 12 and told to beat, rape, and kill their own family members or are turned to gangs for their own survival. These films show the extreme poverty of 3rd world countries like El Salvador and many African countries. I can't even put into words the emotions that come over someone when they realize that innocent children are living lives of "normalcy" - which to them means someone close to them either dies or gets hurt everyday. There is no value in human life and the poverty just makes things worse for them. They hide on their rooftops or in trees from the army officials who are coming to steal them away from their childhoods. The cycle is never ending and each generation keeps it going. The children get younger and younger when they are recruited and seeing an 8 year old kill his 5 year old brother will definitely give you a wake up call. It's devastating and it's happening more now than ever before. But as Americans we always seem to put a blind eye to the "problems of the world".

It's after seeing films or reading newspaper articles like this that I literally sit and look at myself - almost disgusted for even complaining that I have can go to school or I have a job. What gives me the right to complain when there are people whose lives are thrown away so easily? What gives me the right to whine because I didn't get enough sleep last night? There are children and mothers around the world who would give anything to sleep peacefully for one night. What gives me the right to be frustrated with the "overwhelming" amount of time I've lost on furthering myself? There are families all around the world that give their OWN lives to save someone they love. I'm beginning to realize that my light and momentary struggles with school, work, and relationships are absolutely NOTHING compared to the extreme fear that more than half our world deals with every day.

Praise the Lord for giving us the eyes to see and the ears to hear so that we may change our outlook on life and instead of being frustrated - being grateful and thankful for the many blessings He pours out on each of us everyday. For our struggles are "light and momentary" compared to our eternal life with Him after this world passes away.