Food for thought: The path we choose to travel

[Devildog]

Has anyone ever thought about those tough times in your life? How you have those days, week, even years where nothing seems to go your way?

 

It seems like my marriage was always like that. Just could never get ahead, never caught a break. Most days it seemed like a constant struggle just to keep from being overwhelmed.

 

Before I got married, I was told that my XW was NOT the person I was meant to be with. This person wasn't a psychic, but has something of a gift on a meta-physical level. She then proceeded to describe to me the woman I was meant to be with and told me I would meet her in the next few months. The physical description was very specific, including a rather distinctive hairstyle. And she was absolutely right. I met the woman she described a few months later and there was a huge spark there. But as I was in a relationship, I distanced myself from this person and stayed with my XW and got married. So basically, because of my honor and integrity, I willfully choose to stray from the path I was meant to be on. And that path was rocky and difficult and filled with sadness. Sure, there was some joy to be had, such as my daughter, but there was a great deal of sadness and misery.

 

Now that my marriage is over, I have re-initiated contact with the woman I was meant to be with. And my life is turning around. Things seem to fall into place better for me. Opportunities open up for a better life than I had before. And I am happier than I have been in years.

 

So what do you think, are the constant struggles and difficulties an indication that we are following down the wrong path with our lives? Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?

[westernxer]

Originally posted by Devildog

Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?

 

The only path worth following is that which leads to wisdom. Wisdom is manifest through pain and suffering. Pleasure teaches nothing and is recommended in small doses, lest you succumb to self-indulgence.

 

The alternative to wisdom is bitterness, and regret.

[alphamale]

Originally posted by Devildog

So what do you think, are the constant struggles and difficulties an indication that we are following down the wrong path with our lives? Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?

If there were not constant struggles and difficulties then YOU WOULD NOT BE LIVING LIFE!!! This is part and parcel of the human condition.

 

What is the definition of the "correct path"? You'll never know whether you're on the correct path or not....unless you have a crystal ball. And apparently you do, DEVILDAWG

[wizdom]

I THINK THAT GOD HAS A DESTINY FOR OUR LIVES BUT HE GIVES US FREE WILL TO CHOOSE WHAT PATH WE WILL TAKE. HE IS NOT IN THE BUISNESS OF FORCES US TO SOMTIMES TAKE A LESS ATTRACTIVE RT. BUT HE DOES HAVE PLANS FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF US. ( THAT'S WHY I AM AGAINST ABORTION BECASUE THAT IS A HUMAN LIFE WITH IT;S OWN GENETIC MAKEUP AND HE STATES IN PSALMS THAT HE NEW US BEFORE WE WERE IN ARE MOTHERS WOMBS. SO HE HAS A PURPORSE FOR US HE SAYS THAT HE HAS CALLED US BY NAME.) BUT THAT IS ANOTHER DISSCUSION. BUT YOU CAN MAKE YOU LIFE AS GOOD OR AS BAD AS YOU WANT IT TO BE. THE KEY IS HAVING A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND BEING ABLE AND WILLING TO LISTEN TO HIS WISDOM AND GUIDANCE TO DIRECT YOU TO THE TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. KIND OF WHAT PHYSICS TRY TO DO BUT REALLY THEY ARE RECIEVING WISDOM FROM THE DEVIL. ( THE FALLEN ANGLE, LUCIFER WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL HIM. HE OPPOSES GOD AND EVERYTHING THAT HE STANDS FOR AND DESIRES TO EXALT HIS NAME ABOVE GOD SO HE GIVES POWER TO THOSE TO SEE INTO YOUR LIFE AND OR GIVE YOU INFOMATION THAT YOU WILL BE LOOKIG FOR SO WHEN YOU IN YOUR CASE MEET SOMEONE THAT THEY DISCRIBED YOU BELIEVE IN THERE POWER AND FEEL THAT YOU HAVE KNOW NEED FOR GOD AND BEGIN TO START CONSULTING THEM FOR ADVICE AND LETTING THEM CHOOSE YOUR PATH FOR YOU. ( HEY BUT THAT'S ANOTHER DISSCUSSION AS WELL) BUT TO ANSWER YOU ? THERE IS A DIRECT CORALATION WITH THE PATH YOU CHOOSE AND HOW YOUR LIFE TURNS OUT.

[quankanne]

So what do you think, are the constant struggles and difficulties an indication that we are following down the wrong path with our lives? Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?

 

not necessarily – I think those struggles are a means to learning something I needed to learn, but didn't pay attention when things were easier. Think back to the simplest lessons learned: getting burnt while carelessly playing with matches, hitting your finger with a hammer while attempting to nail an object, walking barefoot through a yard full of weeds. You find a lesson in those incidents, one you easily remember because you've already experienced the negative outcome.

 

some difficulties are designed to help us know our inner strength, other renew our relationships with those people who minister to us in our need, and others teach us the gifts of love or compassion or hope. Again, sometimes those things learned are better remembered because we experienced them.

 

even those folks whose lives are on the correct path still suffer needlessly. Just think of Job, from the Bible. The guy loved God above all else, but God agreed to let the devil test Job's faith. As bad as it got, Job's faith never wavered, so even though he stayed on the right path, he still faced his trials.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say in my round about way is that it's not so much about what has happened or is happening to you, but how you respond to that.

 

congrats on re-connecting with the "girl with the distinctive hairstyle" -- it sounds this relationship is your something good that follows the something bad stuff, and from what you've shared in the past, I'm truly happy for you, D-Dog.

[ThumbingMyWay]

Originally posted by wizdom

KIND OF WHAT PHYSICS TRY TO DO BUT REALLY THEY ARE RECIEVING WISDOM FROM THE DEVIL.

 

 

just curious what you mean by this?

[Jayhawks]

So what do you think, are the constant struggles and difficulties an indication that we are following down the wrong path with our lives? Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?

 

I think if all our choices were made for us then what have we learned in this life. You need to experience the bad things to embrace the good. In other words, if you never knew hunger you wouldn't know when your sated.

[Devildog]

Alot of excellent thoughts here on this subject. I don't disagree that pain and suffering are a part of life. I guess what I am really wondering about is if these dark times in our life are an indication that we are on the wrong path. A sign that perhaps we are not doing what we are meant to be doing.

 

Oh, and ALPHA, it's more of an Oracle than a crystal ball I have in my corner.

[westernxer]

Originally posted by Devildog

I guess what I am really wondering about is if these dark times in our life are an indication that we are on the wrong path. A sign that perhaps we are not doing what we are meant to be doing.

 

What are you currently doing (or not doing) to feel like this?

[laRubiaBonita]

Originally posted by quankanne

Think back to the simplest lessons learned: walking barefoot through a yard full of weeds. You find a lesson in those incidents, one you easily remember because you've already experienced the negative outcome.

please tell me the lesson learned by walking through weeds?

[quankanne]

please tell me the lesson learned by walking through weeds?

 

stickers and little critters that like to bite bare feet, so you think twice about not wearing shoes or flops when you got through them again

 

(I probably could have phrased that better in my initial post, eh?)

[Devildog]

Originally posted by westernxer

What are you currently doing (or not doing) to feel like this?

 

That's just it. I'm not experiencing as much hardship and difficulty in my life as I have in the past. I am no longer with my XW (the wrong one) and am pursuing something with this other woman ( the Oracle approved and prophecized one). Since that change occured, while I still face hardships and difficulties, my life seems to have turned a corner.

 

Perhaps when we have reached that point where it seems like if it wasn't for bad luck we would have no luck at all, we need to take stock of the choices we have made in life. I do believe things happen for a reason, that we have some predestined course, which I believe we have a major part in shaping before we even get started. Our choices can affect that course, and the further we stray from the course, the worse things get.

[Outcast]

I don't think that's how it works. As Quankanne pointed out, even folks supposedly in God's eye still had troubles. Besides, you're only at the very beginning of a relationship when life always appears rosy. You could just be having a run of good luck. Be thankful while it lasts because these things often don't.

[quankanne]

Our choices can affect that course, and the further we stray from the course, the worse things get. … Since that change occured, while I still face hardships and difficulties, my life seems to have turned a corner.

 

your outlook appears to have changed because of that one simple, but effective, change in being with this new lady. Because you have a sense of hope, it may be easier to identify your journey as getting back on the right track, whereas when things were truly crappy, the journey seemed like being on the "wrong road." Maybe it's less about right and wrong, and more about perception of the situation you face?

[wizdom]

You have some good point. I didn't say that taking the right path was always easy many times it's harder than the wrong one b/c it takes self disipline an continually dieing to your flesh. Like you said, Job he found favor in Gods eyes and the Lord still aloud him to be tested. God will bring us through the fire so that we can prove our loyalty to him but once those periods of test and trials are over and we remained stedfast our lives are blessed beyond description and like my Lord says he delights in giving us the desires of our heart. we first have to delight ourself in him and make him number one before he will give us the desires of our heart.

 

Back to the person who posted the first question if you want to take advice from a (oracle) or someone who recieves her power and insight from the devil then feel free. she is not a prophet because a prophet does not lift them self up. she may not claim to deal directly with the devil but her wisdom isn't coming from God. So ask where is it coming from? It's nice that your life seems to be going on the right track and she may be the one that you are ment to be with, and all though God does work in mysterious ways he would not send an oracle (physic) to tell you this. It goes against everything he stands for and if he did it would prove God to be a liar, and God is not a man that he should lie. So I think you need to go read your Bible and examine the things this person is telling you and see if it lines up with the Word of God.

[Outcast]

Oh don't be a PITA, 'wizdom'. BTW, did you notice you put 'wiz' as in 'wizard' as in 'from the devil' (according to you) in your username? Better change it before God strikes you down.

 

Just because we don't understand things doesn't mean they are 'from the devil'. It's not impossible in terms of physics to be able to read thoughts or predict the future. In fact, eventually it will all be proven to be perfectly natural so chill. It's the poor little cavemen who didn't understand things that attributed strange wonders to gods or devils. Rational people understand that science has an answer for most 'wonders'. Not that I don't believe in God, but I also believe that it's possible for some people to do things that others think 'supernatural'.

[westernxer]

Originally posted by Devildog

I do believe things happen for a reason, that we have some predestined course, which I believe we have a major part in shaping before we even get started.

 

What you're describing is karma... brownie points stored up in a past life that spill over to this one, thus determining our rewards and punishments.

 

My belief is that things are gonna happen regardless... once you step out that door it's open season. Let the chips fall where they may, because the strong will absorb any pain and grow from it. The weak will simply use it as a crutch to garner human compassion, oftentimes to excess.

 

Do you not believe that bad things happen to good people?

[alphamale]

Originally posted by Devildog

Oh, and ALPHA, it's more of an Oracle than a crystal ball I have in my corner.

well, yes, Oracle does have a damn good database product. But WTF does that have to do with destiny and the correct path??

[wizdom]

First off I put Wizdom because wisdom was already taken. Second there is only one creator of this universe and that is God. We did not evolve from anything we were created from His spoken word. I personally don't care how much Science is out there to prove something if it does not line up with the world of God to me it's null and void. Don't you know that there is a war going on between God and Satan for the souls of man. Or do you not believe you have a soul either. there is only two places our souls could possible go once we die Heaven or Hell. either you believe or you don't. But my God says that one day every eye shall see and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So you see God wins but you best believe that satan is fighting extra hard to take as many people to hell with him as he can. Hell was not created for humans it was created for the devil but when adam and eve sinned we lost our innocence that God intially created us with and we were filled with a sinnful nature thus now having a need to be reborn spritually so that we can live eternally with Christ. Satan will use so many tatics to get you to believe anything other than what the Bible says. Why do you think there are so many religions. If he can't get you to completly deny God's exist in your case he will get you hooked on a religion that contradicts the word of God. our human body is alone enough to prove the existant of God. NO man or evolution could have designed a vessel so distinct and everything having a purpose and function the very fact that we can lose a kidney and still live if awesome in it self he made sure we could survice even if we lost one. all i can say to you is study the word of God not a religion becasue if you heart is not completly harden to God you may see that he is real and that satan is real and that there is a war going on for you soul. i don't know about you but i choose to be on the winning side. it's just like when you were kids and you played kick ball you wanted to be on the team who had the best players because you knew they were going to win. The bottom line is you can either serve the god of this world satan or the God of all creation God. If your not serving God your serving satan even if you not a Satanist. Why would you choose to serve someone that someone else created. God created satan at one time he was an angel. he was one of the most beautiful angles but he got concieted and thought that he could be exalted over God and he was kicked out with if memory serves me right 1/3 of the angles i.e now demons. I could go on and on about this topic and if you do just reply.

[westernxer]

It's obvious you believe in God, but do you believe in paragraphs?

[wizdom]

I DO BELIEVE IN PARAGRAHS AND GRAMMAR BUT I AT WORK AND I HAVE TO TYPE FAST SO AS LONG AS YOU CAN READ WHAT I AM SAYING THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. I SEE THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT WHAT I SPOKE ABOUT SO YOU RESORTED TO TALKING ABOUT MY PARAGRAPHS. GROW UP BETTER YET READ THE WORD OF GOD. YES I WILL USE THE NAME OF GOD 500000000 TIMES IF I WANT TO. WHAT IS IT TO YOU.

[A Fly onThe Wall]

I'M AT WORK TOO

 

All caps is shouting .. and rude

 

For a man that has only made 7 posts.. 2 of which were rude insulting comments you have no ground to satnd on.. Move along little guy..

 

GET BACK TO WORK

[Tony T]

"So what do you think, are the constant struggles and difficulties an indication that we are following down the wrong path with our lives? Are things easier and our lives better when we are on the correct path?"

 

We are always on the path we are supposed to be on. If we weren't, we wouldn't be there. Many paths we take are meant to teach us lessons. Other paths are meant to teach us once again the lessons were were taught previously but decided not to learn. We choose our own paths by our free will. We choose the people who come into our lives and we are free to terminate any and all relationships which are unproductive. Even if we become disabled, we are free to choose productive ways to live within our limitations or we are free to feel pity for ourselves and wallow in sorrow.

 

Constant struggles and difficulties are an indication we are on a path of learning and growing. Life is always like that. When you're green you grow, when you're ripe you rot. However, if the struggles don't get easier, we're doing something wrong. We then need to change paths. But no matter what, we are always on the correct path for any given time in our lives unless we are mentally challenged...and even then, that's the path that nature intended for us.

[wizdom]

its funny how everyone jumped on my paragraph and grammar but has nothing to say about what i wrote about. are you guys feeling convicted in your spirit so your finding the first thing you can to complain about. i'll just type in a lower case maybe that will make your poor little hearts feel better. reply to what i wrote get of the the text. really is it that serious. and i am not a he i am a female. so if your not going to talk about the discussion at hand go to another chat room. thank you you think i,m rude why cuz i'm speaking the truth. i really don't care what you think about me i responded to the post because i thought it was a good topic but it's obvious that your more worried about my caps lock button.

[Craig]

wizdom I'd be angry too if I was stuck in a job that required me to use all caps.

 

Your anger aside, what would Jesus say about the manner in which you conduct yourself while talking about God?

 

Maybe you aren't on the right path? You are creating a situation where people form a dislike of you and your message based on behavior that is considered by many to be rude.