A rose is still a rose

So yesterday my devotional, which was entitled "A Life of Becoming", was based on 2 Cor 4: 7-18. It made me reflect upon the current financial crisis in this country, and my own financial challenges, as well as the election at hand, in a new way. Here's what I mean.

vs. 8-9 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

You could easily deduce that many Americans are "hard pressed on every side" with credit card debt, over-their-head mortgages, high gas prices (though they're down to $2.99 here!) and the ever increasing price of food and essentials. But despite the doomsday-spouting media, most are not "crushed" by these hard times. I know some days it feels pretty squeaky tight around here but we're not crushed.

Many of us republicans are perplexed by not only our candidate but Obama too. We are perplexed that McCain hasn't called him out on so many things and perplexed that people actually believe the hogwash Obama spews. Yet we are not yet despaired. Personally, Scott and I have been perplexed a lot lately. We are continuously perplexed at the ebb and flow of our business. Some days the perplexity borders on discouragement but these days we are not despaired.

Persecuted? Oh yes, I know many Americans are feeling persecuted by bill collectors, and the like. But if only they'd realize they are not abandoned by the Almighty that would bring them comfort. We don't have bill collectors calling us, but again, we often feel persecuted in that we don't have the money to do all the things we want to do. Or persecuted in that we don't have all the business we want, or the customers are difficult and keep changing their minds. Sometimes I feel persecuted by my children who are always "taking" but so rarely "giving." Yet in all of this, we are never abandoned. He has never left us and never will leave us.

A few months ago, Scott and I felt struck down. We felt knocked on our butts by something a "friend" did and said. It has taken months for us to recover from this. And it did nearly destroy our business, our confidence, our forward motion. But we remained faithful. We continued to seek His guidance and He spared us from destruction.

There's so much more to this passage...but my laptop battery is about to die. I will pick up tomorrow and you will see why I say "a rose is still a rose."