When the world hates you...

Ever have those days when you feel like you're living on a completely foreign planet and that no one else speaks the same language as you? That was my day today! I felt like everyone I ran into was A) angry at the world, B) oblivious to everyone around them, and C) just plain mean! I had the overwhelming feeling that the the entire world hated me. Today was definitely one of those days that I had to meditate on the Word constantly to keep me from saying and doing some not so nice things. What amazes me is that in the midst of feeling like the world was against me, God once again sent His Word to comfort my heart. As I got home this evening the Holy Spirit led me to John 15:18-19:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

It's funny how God doesn't always answer you the way you're expecting Him to when you are going through a hard time and are crying out to Him. In fact, he almost always does it the way you least expect. The one guarantee is that He will always answer. It i up to each of us individually to be listening and expecting the answer, and we are better off if we don't expect the answer to come the way we want it to. God is the creater of the universe, If I held that title, I would probably chose to be a little creative when answering prayer as well!

As much as I want God to swoop in and make the world "go away" and make everyone else "like" me, I know that instead I must fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith (Hebrews 12:2), and in doing so I am sure that God will strengthen me and help me; He will uphold me with His right hand (Isaiah 41:10).

So even when I feel the world caving in on me and I selfishly don't feel like dealing with it and don't feel as though I deserve any of it, I will remember what Jesus said in John 16:33: ... In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.