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[EmoSamurai]

guys i have had such a hard time....i got a new haircut where it is short and skpiked in the back and long in front and everyone thought i was rebeling....then i was wearing long sleeve shirts because i tink they are comfortable and everyone thinks i am cutting all th freakin time when i am not....and now my mom allows me no privacy....the only privacy i get is in the middle of the night in the lonely darkness....guys i am really strating to completely doubt my faith and my actual beleif in jesus and god....every single time i am happy, as soon as i become happy something destroys it.....guys plz advice and prayer.........

[Mitsukai]

Hmm...well first off, it's nice that you have people that care about you.

Not everyone has parents that give a darn.

Be glad your family does not want to see you cutting, or rebelling and hanging with the wrong crowd.

As for the lack of privacy, oi, what a bummer.

If you play it cool I'm sure your parents will chill out given some time.

And as for your personal happiness, life is what you make it.

You can choose to get uber depressed any time things do not go your way, or you can take a stand and decide to fight for your joy.

When I say "fight for your joy", I do not mean actually fighting the people that are causing a problem btw, I am talking about an inner conflict, within the realms of your mind.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Then spend more time with your parents so they know you're a responsible person.

[rsnumber2]

I will pray for you. I think, though, that their is some conflict within. I pray that the Lord give you confidence in yourself and your actions. I am by no means belittling what you are going through. I have been there myself. I believe your spirit of repression and doubt is not from God. And therefore can be sent away. We will pray for you, but you will have to be a contributing party. It will take patience, time, prayer, study, and commitment, on your part.

[holysoldier5000]

Your faith should not be based on your happiness. If it is then what kind of faith is it? Faith is believing in the things we do not see and trusting in a higher power even when we cannot feel that higher power all the time. When riding on a metro and the train goes through a dark tunnel do you jump out? No, you trust in the conductor to drive you through the tunnel. Faith is trusting in the God of the universe, even when you don’t feel like trusting. The reason is that we trust not in our emotions but in the truth. God is true, He is real, and His power is shown everywhere. All you have to do is take time to trust. Finally, those who see you as rebelling maybe revealing something about yourself that you do not see about yourself. Perhaps you have subtly slipped into crass attitude and come across nastier then you really are. It is easy to slip into self-centered thinking: a thinking that makes each and everyone of us mean, crass, selfish, and unkind. The point is that you learn to see when you slip into this self-centered think and learn how to climb out of it. There are few people who think ill of someone who is “kind.â€

[Tenshi no Ai]

Your faith should not be based on your happiness. If it is then what kind of faith is it?

*nods* Although God wants the best for us, it doesn't always make us happy. Everyone gets their doubts from time to time (well not everyone, but it is common), but you just have to remember back on why you believed. So what if you change your looks a bit and people think differently of it? That'
s why it's a hard issue when it comes to judging others, since it's not always what people assume. And I mean, for me there's always times where I have so-called "bad luck" but it never stops me in my faith. Praying...

[Sheol777]

Your faith should not be based on your happiness. If it is then what kind of faith is it?

Amen

Ever hear of the prophet Jeremiah? He made a career out of being sad. How about Lamentations? LAMENT-ations. It is written in a style that was used in a funeral dirge during that time.

[Mitsukai]

Amen

Ever hear of the prophet Jeremiah? He made a career out of being sad. How about Lamentations? LAMENT-ations. It is written in a style that was used in a funeral dirge during that time.

That does not mean that God's will for your life is for you to be sad, btw.

I personally believe that the Lord wants to see His children happy.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

That does not mean that God's will for your life is for you to be sad, btw.

I personally believe that the Lord wants to see His children happy.

But he also understands the need for us to be sad and upset. It's how we learn.

He grants us happiness with the final reward.

[freerock1]

Lifting you up in prayer. And like holysoldier5000 said (and others have echoed), your relationship with God is not based on how you feel. It's based on Christ's death and resurrection. He did all that was needed for us to have a relationship with God, and the fact that He gave His life doesn't change depending on how we feel. All we have to do is believe that Jesus died and rose again, and confess Him as our Lord.

Hope this helps.

[Mitsukai]

But he also understands the need for us to be sad and upset. It's how we learn.

He grants us happiness with the final reward.

What final reward are you referring to?

[holysoldier5000]

What final reward are you referring to?

There is an eternal promise of a reward in heaven.
About rewards in heaven…

Matthew 5:12 - Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Earthly rewards, fame, and acclaim do not count with God. In the eyes of Christ, it is not so important what others think about you. What is important is what others think about Christ and Him alone. Even when you are in pain from persecution, regardless of its form, you can rejoice because of what is ahead of you. Your fame, your acclaim, and your rewards on earth are of no value compared to our rewards in heaven. Gaining a reward in heaven is why you can feel joy in your heart no matter what you have to face or endure in your daily life. No one is sure what these rewards are, but we have the promise from Jesus that our good deeds will be rewarded.

[Mitsukai]

There is an eternal promise of a reward in heaven.

I'm quitting this forum, but I'll just throw this out there.

Christians often do not understand how powerful they can be, and they underestimate the plans God has for their earthly lives.

We aren't supposed to go through this life wearing sackcloth and ashes, with a song of despair on our lips.


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Rom 8:28

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Rom 8:37