To stand or to fall
To go or to turn back
There is always a reason
For everything we do
At every point in time
There is always a reason
When the heart is willing
It seeks a basis
And when it is unwilling
It makes excuses

Let us not be deceived by the presentations on social media: every human aches somewhere that selfies don’t reflect. It is good to see the good in others and in everything but that doesn’t mean denial that there are times when things are not so good and it happens to one and to all. Every man on planet earth carries a cross except that different people have different ways of coping with their plights. Life is not perfect for anyone anywhere on this earth.

Different people have varying reasons for tripping and falling even though some remain standing in spite of seemingly justifiable reasons to drop out. Some of us have had our hopes crashed in very delicate places and times. Some of us have gone too far and waited too long for things that cost others nothing. Some of us have fought too hard and lost too much. For some, it is one big issue that cracks through firm beliefs. For others, it is a conglomeration of crises over the years that lead to the final rupture. Some of us eventually get up and make it out of such predicaments. Some others are swallowed up in the waves that knock every believer down. Still, it remains our choice to count God faithful in spite of all and thus continue in faith, even when it seems not to be working as expected, or allow the world paint God unfaithful, uncertain and thus unworthy of our persistent pursuit.

The night always seems like it will last forever that we tend to lose hope. Amidst stifling gloom, it is our choice to believe in the God of light, that He will not fail us, or to chuck Him out and embrace prevailing darkness. None of both choices is easy, each with its own consequences. Still it is a choice only you and I can make. In our world and in such a time when we tend to take so much for granted, maybe all these ‘falling always’ will remind us to keep our focus on Jesus and not set up demi-gods that are but ‘glorified humans.’

Maybe all these ‘falling always’ will remind us to be grateful that we are still standing, still holding on, still walking the narrow path that appears to be losing attraction to so many, in spite of all we have been through, in spite of whatever lies ahead. Maybe it will help us appreciate the fact that it is not of us but of Him who keeps us standing every time we trip, and pressing onward though we feel like turning back. And to Him who is faithful to keep His own to the end, may we look to, today and always. Amen.

Glory!