Password Hack?

I could not get into my google account earlier, and of course my natural reaction is to think someone hacked my account. I'd like to think there's nobody out there that really cares that much, but I get the feeling it doesn't matter who you are to these agents of chaos.

I'm not just spouting out some nonsense with this "agents of chaos" stuff either. I've known people that seem to thrive uncreating (Newspeak word). I used to work with a guy, when I worked campus safety back in college, who would turn the nameplates on classroom doors upside down. I also seem to currently work with a few of them.

There are other agents of chaos in our lives, especially besides people, that excel in creating havoc in how we perceive our world. The Bible actually says, and we seem to forget this all the time, that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of darkness. Somehow though, it's easier to blame other people for our problems. Easier to see their problems written all over the place. Easier to push our problems to the background in favor of this practice, and choosing any other distraction when the time comes to sit quietly thinking about who we are, and what we need to do for improvement.

There's a couple things that are on my mind tonight. A) We only have today. We cannot bend the future or past to do our bidding. We cannot change either, and therefore are charged with the great responsibility of doing the best we can with our present circumstances. Much of how we enjoy our day, for instance, is tied into how we perceive others, our circumstances, and whether we allow either to control how we react to life. Those two things are something we have little control over. Other people will (count on these words) fail you, and end up saying something that could potentially hurt you in the long term, or simply ruin your day. Also, circumstances are unstable. They have the ability to spin out of control in a matter of seconds and minutes. The sooner we can come to terms with how little we can control the world around us, the sooner we can concentrate on the important thing: How we react to these things, and even before that, how we head off the tailspins within us before they start.

The other thing I've been thinking about is something I wrote at work yesterday:

We care too much, as followers of Christ, about what other people think and care concerning us. There are a few things to think of in this area: A) Unlike Jesus, we can't read people's minds to know what they think of us. Even when He knew, though, did He take offense at what they were thinking concerning Him? Did He get defensive? B) Jesus let people ensnare Him and use false witnesses against Him, but through it all did not take a stand for Himself. Even when Pilot asked Him if He was the Son of God, His only answer was "I am what you say I am." The case I am referring to was a time when He chose to remain silent, accepting the blame for things He didn't do so prophecy could be fulfilled, but the crucifixion wasn't the only time when He chose to live this way. I'm going to investigate this further, but I know there is an important lesson within that we need to learn. Namely: Stop taking offense at things people say to, and about you. Bear your cross, and take your pain to God, and the faithful friends and family who love you. Don't react to what is thrown at you until you've given it thought and prayer. Learn how to let the Holy Spirit be your guide.

Upon reading through those words again, I now remember something Paul said, and would like to paraphrase it a bit: "I take joy in being ridiculed, persecuted, despised, and spat upon for his name's sake."

We are God's children. We're not beaten down, defeated nobody's. We have natural talents, but above all we've been given the ability to love those around us, through whatever they do to us. We need to live every day like it is the only day we've been given.

I know we've all heard it before, but it's something somebody needs to keep reminding us. What say we begin to remind ourselves of these things, and live up to our namesake.