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When Life Gets Complex by Martin Wiles

Teaching students to identify a simple sentence is usually an easy task, but understanding compound and complex sentences is more challenging.

Simple sentences contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought. Compound sentences are made up of two simple sentences connected by a coordinating conjunction. But a complex sentence is well….complex. It hosts an independent clause (sentence) and a dependent clause. Both have subjects and verbs, but dependent clauses are dependent on independent clauses, making them more difficult to understand.

As complex sentences are difficult to dissect, so my life sometimes appears the same. What comforts me in those periods is that God created everything through him (Jesus), and nothing was created except through him (John 1:3 NLT).

There have been episodes in my life when I’ve thought, “I just can’t figure things out, and I’m not sure God can either.” It wasn’t any one particular thing that was extremely difficult (simple sentence), it was just that there were multiple things bouncing around simultaneously. (I had myself a complex sentence. It may have even been a compound complex sentence.)

While my life occasionally seems complex to me, God hasn’t lost control or the ability to give me control over it if I simply respond appropriately. Life only gets complex if I leave God out of the equation by living as if he doesn’t exist or by not asking his opinion when there’s more than one sentence involved.

I’ve learned through many life experiences that God is big enough to handle any situation-whether it’s just one or a combination of several occurring simultaneously. If God can create a universe and hold it together, he’s capable of holding your life together as well. Trust him instead of your own ingenuity when life gets complex.

Prayer:  Eternal Creator, when life baffles us, prompt us to turn to the One who can dissect our apparent dilemmas.

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  1. Mary SaylerMay 9, 2013 at 6:33 AM

    Excellent metaphor! Thanks, Martin. Other poets and writers in our Facebook group will identify with this too, so I just highlighted your title on the Christian Poets & Writers blog - http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com/ God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnnaMay 11, 2013 at 11:37 AM

    I agree, that is a great metaphor.

    I remember struggling with compound and simple sentences in school. I also hated diagramming sentences. ;) Otherwise, I really enjoyed English. I especially loved reading and would devour whatever book I could get my hands on. :)

    ReplyDelete

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