A close friend of mine had to accept something really difficult this week. Like me, he has four men in his life whom he goes to when big decisions have to be made. They don’t know each other but they all follow Jesus. They very rarely give him the same advice but this week they all said the same thing. They softly told him that the girl he was once poised to propose to, who has recently told him to leave her alone, has gone for good. They told him she was no longer his beloved. They told him the time has come to man up and accept the painful reality.

When he told me about this he was crying and smiling at the same time; like a crazy man. I told him he looked like a crazy man and he soon stopped crying. I tried to express my deepest sympathy for my friend but he then placed his hand on my left shoulder and said: “Alex, pipe down for a second, because I have learnt something wonderful today which might even make a blog for you”. I laughed and told him it would never make my blog but to tell me anyway.

He said: “Alex my brother, accepting this rejection has been horrible. However, I am guilty. I bought the great lie which haunts every man who gets told it’s over by the woman of his dreams. I believed that my life experience bag I carry in my heart had been depleted. But that’s not how God works brother. I took a good long look at my heart and though it has been dump tackled onto the concrete, the bag inside is full! Its full!!! There are lessons in there which were not there before I met her and they are imperative lessons I needed to learn to become the man I was born to be. Lessons on what love is, what romance is, what sacrificial loving looks like and most importantly how to trust God’s unique plan for my life. And I trusted him when I was with her so I can trust him now I’m single. He hasn’t changed Alex. He isn’t worried about my future so I shouldn’t be. He filled my bag with priceless lessons through meeting, dating and losing my beloved. The sun will rise tomorrow brother, and I will be able to use those priceless lessons in my day. I need to man up and leave her go now.”

Tears were now streaming down my face as I smiled back at my friend. (But he didn’t tell me I looked like a crazy guy.) There is no formula to deal with loss. But there is truth. I think Jesus was right when he said the truth will set us free. And he didn’t just mean free from sin. I think its more than that. I think truth helps us to cope in a mess despite the temptation to sink.

Consider these wonderful truths in the book of James 1 v. 2-4. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

The bags in our hearts are being filled by God through the good times and the bad. And what is it for? It’s for God to see us on our last days on this planet and say those words to us: “My child, you have persevered and you are now mature and not lacking anything.”

My friend told me if I could do a shout out to Mark and Lucy who helped shared the above verse with him. I told my friend I was a serious journalist and not some punk who allowed trashy shout outs to litter my precious blog.

Peace.

These days the idea of sitting alone in an overpriced coffee house or leaving the office during my lunch break makes me feel unwell.

Let me give you an example:

I pulled into services between Stoke and Preston last week after the craving of a sugary can of sin got the better of me. I took a book in with me to take my mind off decapitating one of the twenty six drivers who proved they must have bribed the driving instructor during their test.

As I walked passed the sun-scorched outdoor-seating area just off the M6, something inside me snapped. It took me about 0.675 seconds to head back to my Fiat Punto and merge back into the death race.

I could not even take 10 minutes out to be alone with my life.
The spirit of the Grouch hath fallen upon me.
I had become terrified of stillness.

As I headed home to Preston my mind became polluted with two thoughts;

1. I am not the man I used to be.
2. I did not become the man my friends and family expected.

These big hitters almost tempted me to park up in the hard shoulder and weep for a day but I held it together for an hour.

As a man, I look for the quickest and most efficient method to fix things. However, the flip side of this, is when the answer to a problem is not blatantly obvious, my default reaction is to get as far away from that problem as possible.

Why is it I go through seasons of having great joy in my daily life and times when blinking is the highlight of my day?

Consider the sobering words of Jesus;

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10 vs 9-11

When I draw close to Jesus during my day, his promise is that I will receive fullness of life.

Isn’t it funny that when my day is void of prayer, thanksgiving, and Christian community, I start becoming the man I’ve always hated.

I lose my temper with drivers who make mistakes, I give one word answers to people asking perfectly logical questions and the joy of watching a sunset seems about as tempting as tarmac on toast.