The Lord is my helper. What can man do to me?

As Christians, we have the promise that God will care for us and provide protection in the darkest circumstances. Thank goodness! We know that what goes on while we walk this planet is temporary and we can see a VERY bright light at the end of the tunnel. After all, we have an eternity to look forward to in the presense of our Creator and King.

But what about hurting, lost, frightened people like Britney Spears?

Yes, I've become overly fasinated with her many dilemnas in the past several months. As I mentioned, in a previous entry, I am not simply following her story, but I have made a commitment to pray for her and her family. I am astounded by the horrible, nasty things people say about her. If I had to read those painful comments on a daily basis, I, too, might go a bit crazy.

Now imagine, you have her life but with no Savior. That's her life. As far as I know, she has not embraced Christ as her Savior. She is still seeking mystical substitutes. Without God, she is wide open to the attacks not only from people, but from the evil one. Talk about a double whammy! She may have shaved her head to silence the "voices." Who knows? We don't.

However, what we know for certain is:

1. This woman is in a mental ward.                                       

2. She has lost her children and her children have lost their mother.

3. She has a number of people surrounding her that appear to control her life to some degree. People that may not have her best interest in mind.

4. She has chosen to compromise her body, mind, and spirit, for destructive, adultress relationships. As we know, this behavior can only lead to more heartache.

5. She recently went through a painful divorce and rather than grieving, she took to the Hollywood Scene instead.

6. She regularly turns to shopping, eating, and  partying as a "source" of comfort.

The most recent photo of her crying on the curb revealed more than any words possibly could. This girl looks wounded, confused, terrified, and hopeless. You've all heard the "eyes are the windows to the soul" cliche,' well, Ms. Spears' eyes have revealed a soul in torment.

So, what is the world doing? What the world so often does when someone is in trouble ... torments, teases, and takes as many shots at her as it can. Let's not look at our own behavior (sin) and instead let's focus on those who are in more trouble than us.

Are we better than Britney? anyone else?

Jesus told us to take the plank out of our own eye before we helped (yes, helped) remove the speck from someone else's. That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Let's get real! We all have issues. Imagine if the world could read your thoughts. Ug! Not something I'd like to reveal many days.

This whole judging, critisizing, and waiting for someone to fail way-of-life is making me sick. What if we all chose to pray, speak kindly, and offer support to those in need? or at the very least, just kept our mouths shut. After all, our mothers had the right idea when they reminded us: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

In other words if you're not part of the solution, quite simply stated -- you are part of the problem.

In my life, I've experienced abuse, pain, heartache, and many horrible circumstances. Some indeed resulted from  my own poor choices. Others did not. Regardless, being torn down by others (which I, too, experienced) only made things worse -- much worse. I can't tell you how much a kind word, a hug, or just a smile meant during my traumatic years. Today, God is able to use all that I went through to help others. He wants us to stand up for the "underdogs" and bring hope to a hurting world.

I challenge you to ask yourself: Am I contributing to the "problem" or the solution? Do I stand and gossip at the watercooler abour Britney or my coworkers? Do I spend hours on the phone telling friends how we need to pray for so-and-so and then list all their failings? Yes, we Christians do that. We somehow rationalize that if pray after hashing out all the gory details we are justified. What do you think? Do you read Hollywood Gossip Rags and then make rude and downgrading comments, too?

In the Book of James, God instructs us to beware of the little piece of flesh floating around our mouths. I'll give you another clue ... it's pink. That one part of our body can cause so much pain. And, unfortunately, once it spews, its mess. There is no magic eraser to clean up after it. The damage is done. We have a responsiblity to keep that powerful weapon in check.

Phew! I'm feeling a bit convicted right about now. Because as always, my message isn't just for you, precious reader, but for me. Every area I cover in this journal is an area that I, too, have or continue to fall short in. God wants me to stand up and be part of the solution. And believe me, I've created my own set of problems. Today, I'm choosing to speak life and blessings rather than curses leading to death.

Now, it's your turn ... what do you choose? Do the right thing -- choose life. And may God bless you richly and beyond measure.