I Can't Take it Much Longer

"What am I doing in the meantime, Lord?
Hoping, that's what I'm doing—hoping You'll save me from a rebel life, save me from the contempt of dunces.
I'll say no more, I'll shut my mouth, since you, Lord, are behind all this.
But I can't take it much longer.
When you put us through the fire to purge us from our sin, our dearest idols go up in smoke.
Are we also nothing but smoke?
(Psalm 39:7-11 The Message)

Oh my gosh!!! Have you ever felt like you could not take one more minute of the pain you are enduring; not one more moment of the suffering? I came across the psalm recently and was moved to tears by the phrase, "But I can't take it much longer. When you put us through the fire to purge us from our sin."

I was thinking about the word purge. Humans are the only animals on the planet that shed tears of emotion. I recently read that tears of emotion are filled with a toxin, a by-product of stress. This may be why many people report feeling better immediately after crying.Have you ever purged your emotions? Lately, I have been crying a lot. I cannot recall one day in the last month that I have not shed tears of sorrow, pain, frustration, and even anger. As I think on it though, I'm realizing that perhaps I am purging; ridding my body of the stress that I just cannot hold onto any longer.

God is so amazing, so completely fulfilling that he even created a built-in escape hatch for us. Sometimes, we can be like a pressure cooker and fill ourselves with emotions and angers and other stressors until we're stuffed, pulling at the seams. God gave us that little release button, tears, to ease our suffering, to allow us to release some of the steam we've accumulated. He loved us enough to know before the first tear was ever shed, before the first fight was ever had, before the first pain was ever felt, that we'd need a way to release these emotions.

Go ahead, cry if you need to. God gave us the power to do so. We may feel like He is making us walk through the fire alone, but He is right there beside us, holding the tissue box in case we need it.

Lord, I am just in awe of how complete you truly are. You knew before I ever took a breath, that I would need a way to release these emotions that I cannot seem to put into words. Lord, you are my everything and I can never thank you enough.

by Pat Ducker
So many of us enjoy taking pictures of our families, friends and this wonderful world around us--a photo to capture a moment in time. We all love to see each others photos. This is the place to come and share them. We will have weekly prompts to encourage our creativity and challenge us. We will also select a "photo of the week" from the photos shared to showcase for all to enjoy.

My hope is that this will be a fun and safe place to share our photos and learn--a place to encourage one another and express ourselves through photography. Some of us may have more professional backgrounds; but most of us just love taking pictures. All are welcome and there is opportunity for all of us to learn from one another. So what are you waiting for? Grab your camera and start capturing that specail moment to share!

"Photographs should be more than just a copy of what our eyes see
A good photo stirs our emotions, it moves us, it draws us closer to the subject and causes us to pause a moment and take it all in , not only seeing the image with our eyes but feeling the emotions of the subject photographed".