Just Give Me None

Every night when evening prayers are said, she always includes this request, "Please give me no bad dreams; a good dream with no bad parts in it; if you don't have any of those, please give me none." Every night. She has such fear of a bad dream that she would rather have no dreams at all than chance that she might experience some fear. (Now, I'm not at all saying she is wrong to pray that request. Even Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Deliver us from evil.")

How about us? Is that how we live life? Do we say to the Lord, "Please give me a job with no bad experiences in it; a marriage with no problems; children with no issues...and if you can't do that, then just give me none." Maybe not to that extreme, but do you see a pale reflection of your heart in those statements?

Jesus said, "In this world you WILL have trouble." WILL. Definite. Not probably. You WILL have trouble. "But take heart, I have overcome the world." There's the key and the crux all in the same paradox. The relief to our fears, the calm to our uncertainty is that in the end, we get Jesus. The crux: do we want Him? Is He enough? Is He our hearts' desire? Above anything or anyone else, will we be satisfied with Jesus?

In this world you will have trouble. Christian, non-Christian...you will have trouble. "Just give me none" is not an option when asking for a life without pain, fear or trials. They are going to come. The question is, can you take heart knowing that in the end, no matter what life throws at you, you get Jesus? Is He enough?