I can't stand some people . . .

You know what I can't stand? People who seem like they have no
problems. They are always smiling and laughing and . . . well I want
to go kick them in the shins but I'm afraid they would start laughing,
I would shrivel up into nothing and die! But it is the truth: these
people are messed up in the brain. I mean maybe like some people have
brown eyes God made some people to have a few wires loose upstairs so
that the glass is always full even when there is no glass! You know
the type of people I am talking about don't you? And if you don't, go
look in the mirror and try and frown--bet you can't do it because you
ARE one of them!

I cannot be around these people because I thought this is what it
meant to be a Christian. For one reason or another I thought that you
had to smile and say things like 'it is okay' or 'it could be worse'
when you just got diagnosed with cancer. I thought that you had to be
SO delighted with Jesus that you (not only shouldn't) but COULDN'T
appear to be unhappy lest you ruin your witness! I thought that you
had to act like everything was okay when your entire life looked like
a pile of . . . well something not good.

Boy was I happy when I discovered that Jesus suffered greatly and
wasn't smiling the whole time. I do not know where some people get
this idea that since there is fullness of joy in God we are oblivious
and immune to pain and suffering and the blues. But if I ever did find
out I'd go to that place and knock some heads around.

Listen, if you are a Christian it is okay to mourn--and not just over
your terrible sins! It is okay to feel annoyed when you have the flu;
it is okay to uncontrollably cry for a time when you have a
miscarriage; it is okay to feel really unhappy not eat a few days when your spouse dies;it is okay to feel glum when you just failed your test; it is okay to
feel bad and sad and even mad sometimes. You know why? Because Jesus
lets us. He was, the bible tells us, a man of SORROWS and ACQUAINTED
WITH MUCH GRIEF. You remember what Jesus was doing before he was
betrayed by one of his followers? He was grinding his teeth and
begging God for another way. He was so into it he was sweating drops
of blood instead of salty water. He was in agony. I guarantee you if
someone within a thousand miles of him tried to smile at that moment
they couldn't. He ground his teeth which means the agony within was so
real it made his outsides go yonkers.

If you're one of those whacks who thinks that when you're a Christian
you have to be happy all the time, you need to get your brain checked
or you're not a Christian because Christians are human. Life is hard
and sometimes unbearable Yea, there is
hope. Yes, there is joy. Of course, you can smile if you need to. But
don't go thinking that when you get hurt or harmed you have to 'put on
a happy face!' Go be sad for a little while and soon enough you will
remember that Jesus is there with you, being sad right along side with
you