Dear Inner Critique

Dear Inner Critique,

As of late, you have become a great nuisance. You have kept me from finishing many a project and have often persuaded me to refrain from starting new ones. The majority of your advice has been quite detrimental and negative, the very opposite of what it should be. There is little I do that is good enough for your taste, and since my work cannot measure up, why begin? If I accepted everything you said, I should find myself begging on the side of the road somewhere.

For these reasons, your employment is terminated. Consider this a friendly warning; the official pink slip will be sent tomorrow.

I apologize for any inconveniences unemployment might cause you, yet I hope you understand why I could not keep you. I also encourage you use this as a learning experience to better prepare you, should find another critiquing position. Knowing what one's mistakes are often helps one overcome them, and I am certain that is true for you.


Sincerely,
Your former boss

World Peace?

Recently, I entered into a discussion about world peace (let it be noted that I did not instigate this discussion). This guy insisted on the possibility of all humanity being able to get along perfectly, without war, without conflict. It was hard for me to resist bursting out in laughter- he spoke with such conviction in an absolutely preposterous. He truly believed people would someday learn to live in total peace with one another because time would eventually improve human nature.

Instead of laughing, I blankly stared at him for a few seconds. I had to compose my thoughts and sort my opinions and my arguments. He was wrong, not about there being a day with no more contentions, but about  such a day occurring as a result of time and human effort. People do not have perfect peace in them of themselves. The only way "world peace" can truly be achieved is when the Almighty God wills it to happen by His power; end of story.

To make my point, I reached for this guy's phone. The moment my fingers had wrapped around it, he snatched it away and held it like his life depended on it. A cell phone. According to him, humanly initiated world peace was possible, yet he couldn't let me take his phone. He had no intention sharing his plastic device, whatsoever. Ironic, considering how assured he was of future world peace.

If people cannot find peace with each other concerning small, plastic things, how can we have peace in matters concerning life and death. We fight over the TV remote, and the last piece of cake. Someone cuts us off on our way to work, so we take it out on the clerk at the front desk. These are small things, relatively meaningless, but they can cause so much strife in people's lives. But we can make world peace for ourselves, without any help.

The reality is, it is not humanly possible to make the world peaceful. It is, however, Divinely possible. He is called the Prince of Peace, and that says it all. He will make a day when war will only be a memory, a day when conflict will be a word for the history books. He is the only one we can trust to give us world peace.

Encouragement

Encourage- "to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence" (from Dictionary.com)

Everyone needs encouragement, especially in a world where everyone and everything shouts,"You're not good enough," "You're not rich enough," and "You'll never be happy without..." It is absolutely exhausting. There is no contentment or peace in such a world.

Hopeless, I groan because I believe I'm not good enough, wealthy enough, or happy enough. I see these words as unchangeable, unarguable truths. They ring in my ears and drown out everything else, and I spiral into a seemingly endless cycle of selfishness. Now, the world revolves around me, and my sad mess of a life. But who would understand, or care for that matter? The world just told me that I am a big bucket of worthlessness.


It is in these moments, that I wish someone would hold me in their arms and yell back,"Stop your lying! Can't you see how destructive it is?!" Many times, I have longed for someone to pull me up, up out of the filth where I had been groveling for so long. I needed someone to speak the truth: You were created by a the Perfect one who does not make mistakes. 

I thank God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, for being that someone. In my darkest hours, He was the one to hold my aching soul and wipe the grime away. He yanked me out of my selfishness and poured His Word into my heart, reminding me of His greatness. I may be nothing at all, but my Father is the Lord of All Creation, who gave His Son for my sins so that I could be His child. His sacrifice allows me to rest in Him, regardless of the world's lies.

The world shows us everything we don't have, but Jesus reminds us of everything He is. The world makes us covet, yet Jesus allows us to count our blessings. The world tells us we deserve better, while Jesus says we don't even deserve life. He is the only one who can truly fulfill us, and this knowledge is encouraging.