Month: May 2018

What to do with days when things just aren’t going right?

2 Comments

What to do with this day when things aren’t clicking and time keeps ticking?  When things refuse to fall into the designated places you had for them?  When it feels like it’s completely squashed before it starts?  So many plans lay up ahead but the weight and the feeling and the pressure of it all leaves one with a sense of unaccomplishment and unfulfillment.  Taking a look outside and it seems to be that everyone else is getting on with this day and doing but the fight in here, right now, and the press that comes with it, it just doesn’t seem to want to work out.  All the gears for all the mechanics of this day are present, in place, and spinning, but they are just not grabbing correctly to move what we are trying to accomplish forward successfully.

What to do with this day when there seems to be conflict and strain with one another?  When relationships don’t hug the way you want them to hug or love the way you want to be loved?  When misunderstandings, assuming, and yes, even one’s own personal views on a matter put barriers between the spirit of fellowship and love.  When hurts causes one’s steps to move ever so fragile as if on eggshells, fearing the disappointment and disapproval of someone else?

What to do with this day when rogue feelings break away from the pack you had planned for the day and invade and try to rob you of the potential joy that lay up ahead in the hours to come?  Thieves of insecurity.  Thieves of shame.  Thieves of feeling woefully torn.  These thieves come with many hideous and damaging names.  The day was brand new and fresh at the start, but that didn’t stop these unwanted parasitic nuisances from latching on and tainting it with the feelings of mess-ups, adversity, pain, and disappointments from your yesterdays.

So, what to do with these kinds of days when our plans, or people, or feelings just don’t want to cooperate with the vision you had set for it?

Give it to God!  That one answer tells us how to deal with it, the proper response to it, and what to do with the rest of it.  This is not some Christian rhetoric or cliche.  It is a solid truth that we can stand on and base our faith on.  We give it God.

The very real truth is that at any given time on any given day we will all or have all experienced one or many of the daily upsets listed above (and sometimes even more than these).  It is all a part of life; a part that can really throw us off kilter if we don’t process it right and deal with it in the right way.

Therefore, when everything is going absolutely bonkers, sometimes without rhyme or reason; when nothing within our power or control is working, we give it all to Him who has all power and control.  Not as a mythical genie creature whose bottle we rub to have things or people turn out the way we want them to.  But, as releasing it to His majesty and sovereign will.  It’s saying, “I trust you, God.”  Whether this day turns out how I configured it or not, my plans, my people, my times, my heart, my feelings – they are all in Your hands.

God is not only the Creator of all the universe and the Author of all mankind, but He is concerned about your daily needs for each individual day as well.  All the areas that need filling, all the upsets that need dealing with, all the plans that need to be taken care of, and all the worries that bog us down – He’s concerned about it all.

But, as we release the day to Him we must also realize His best answer for us may be to not move everything or anything into the places where we see fit.  Sometimes, His best answer for what we are going through with this day to let us learn from it, experience it and still maintain trust in Him.  That no matter how it goes forward, no matter what we feel in the process, no matter who we are dealing with and how we are dealing with them – He still sees it all, knows it all, and has it all in His loving and powerful hands.

So, when days like this come, we give it to God, step back, and just trust Him.

Here are some verses and prayers to hold in your heart when the days just aren’t going right for you:

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Father God, I acknowledge that I don’t know everything about this day, my future, or even how to properly respond to it all.  I pray for Your leading to show me the right path to walk that my life might be pleasing in Your sight.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Father God, the end of all things may be vague to me or even remain a mystery.  Help my heart to hold on to the very real fact that you knew me from the beginning and you know how my story ends; that if I am in Your hands, then I am in Your plan.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Father God, my tears and confusion for the day, You see it all.  Help me to know that it is not all in vain.  Let my confidence be in You and Your love for me above all else, knowing that for every sadness, there will be joy.  That when You restore, for every sorrow that was sown there will be reaping of happiness and peace.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

 

 

“Despite It All!”

2 Comments

Despite my failings,
my shortcomings and shame.
Despite my choices
from which heartaches did rain.

 Despite the coldness
of my sometimes failing heart.
Despite the right path
of which I did depart.

 Despite the apples
on the tree.
Despite the way
my sin views me.

 Despite the world’s
proffered delicacies.
Despite the lies
on which I did feed.

 Despite it all,
despite the mess.
Despite the feeling
of total brokenness.

 He brought me out;
and for His glory,
restored me wholly,
magnifying His love story.

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit,” Psalm 51:12

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

“Interruption of Peace”

Leave a comment

God blesses.  He’s the author of all that’s good and lovely.  The enemy, on the other hand, opposes all the wonderfulness that God has in store for His people.

Have you ever noticed that God brings you to a place of sanctuary in your life, a place to make things right, restore, and grant rest to the weary world traveler?  Then, the enemy swoops in quickly to try to undo the blessedness of God.

FYI, that’s his job.  He comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).  The moment God brings you to a place of rejuvenation, a place where you feel you access grace and peace, the enemy deploys hatred, confusion, and anything it takes to disassemble what God has put together for us.

It’s not a strange thing, even if it hurts, to feel under attack when being blessed by God.  These interruptions of peace are designed to throw you off your spiritual game; yet in Him, we are assured that we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).  We have the overcoming ability to rise above troubles and to claim the peace God so freely gives.

The Bible declares, “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blessed His people with peace” (Psalm 29:1).  Peace is a divine blessing.  It’s something that is the right of every child of God to have.  Although our outward circumstances may not favor that sentiment, it’s the inward man who is to stand up in faith, believing every word of God to be true, that fights and upholds the right to that God-given peace.

“He promises peace to his people,” (Psalm 85:8), and that’s something we shouldn’t easily let go of.  We sing the songs that tell of the promises of God for us, but we have to do more than sing them – we have to claim it, own it, and diligently fight day by day to possess it as our own.

How do we do that?  We are told, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee,” (Isaiah 26:3).  The place where the interruption of peace is hardest fought is in the mind.  When hurt and confusion begin to penetrate that tranquil soil of promise, it sprouts weeds of dysfunction, distrust, and terror that were not meant to be there.

But, when one’s focus shifts from what is right before the eyes to beyond the surface and refuses to let go of that promise of peace, those seeds of faith will germinate by His heavenly grace and become fully mature fruit in your life.

It’s all about what you decide to let be dominant in your life.  Your focus can either be your weapon or your enemy.  It can either help you look past what is currently before you, or it can be your stumbling block that doesn’t let you get over this hill.

Here’s the thing.  You get to decide for yourself which one it will be.  Faith is not passive – it’s very much active.  You are the one who has to fight for it.  You are the one who has to refuse to give up on God’s promise for you.

Interruptions of peace will come, but how far it gains access is up to you.

Text Free Image by Sven Lachmann from Pixabay

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc, to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

“Hurts and Disappointments and Troubles – OH MY!”

2 Comments

 

Anytime we hear a three-worded phrase followed by a quick, “Oh my,” our minds automatically associate with that old 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.  It’s when Dorothy and her companions are readying themselves to go into the dark, dense forest when their chant of possible woes begin that tell of what may lay ahead and come to prowl.

The Bible tells us there is an enemy that’s on the prowl.  He is described as a “roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” (1 Peter 5:8).  He is never full and always looks for destruction and he seeks to block the pathway of those trying to reach that glorious city.  And no, we’re not talking about the Emerald one, but that city called heaven.

Hurts, disappointments, and troubles are things we can run into during our sojourn in this life and things the enemy seeks to magnify in our lives.  David likened it to times of walking through the “valley of the shadow of death,” (Psalm 23:4a).  It can be a fearsome place with many traps and travails scattered about the pathway.  But, unlike the fear that took over those venturing into the dark forest, David declared, “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me . . .” (Psalm 23:4b).  For David, it wasn’t about the dark forest and it wasn’t about the valley of the shadow of death.  For him, it was all about Who was with him in the midst of it all.

And, the “Who” that was with him was the same God who declared, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5).  The same God who sits high above the earth and His train fills the temple, Isaiah 6:1.  The same God who is ever mighty, ever omnipotent, everlasting, and never failing.

This is the same God who is Jehovah Jireh (Genesis 22:14), our Provider in the time of need.  He is God Most High (Psalm 97:9), always in charge and always reigning sovereignly over all.  He is always above and never beneath.  He is always with and never without.  All dominions and powers must and will bow down to Him.

God is the Creator who spoke the universe with all its cycles, atoms, particles, and life into existence.  With His power to speak anything and everything into being, comes also the strength and authority to heal.  With His ability to fashion the things uncontrollable to men such as the winds and the waves, He can speak, and bring forth peace out of chaos, and make them be still.

You see, when David gave his recitation of the Lord as his Shepherd, he was doing more than putting cute words together.  He was making a bold declaration of faith, choosing to believe in and focus more on He who was with him than all that’s going on around him.

This is the strong key to the faith we need to successfully deal with things that may be hiding in the dark forest or the low valleys of our lives.  Hurts, disappointments, and troubles are something we will all have to face from time to time.

But, oh my!  When they meet the God I know; the God I serve!  The God whom David expressed such bold confidence in!  The God who is indescribable in His holiness and majesty because it goes beyond what we can comprehend; and yet, describable by His characteristics of love, mercy, and grace.  The only God of all heaven and earth . . .  When they meet Him, He can change their roaring course.  He can subdue their evil uprising.  And, He can take over and overwhelm their destructive nature, all the while, surrounding and protecting His people with His love, security, and readiness to stand with them and for them.

While we are on this side of glory we are going to have unpleasant things to face.  But, oh my – when we see Jesus, every trial, trouble, and evil way will dissipate and all that will remain is our God and those who are tied to Him in a covenant relationship through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Until that day, remember, no matter what you are dealing with today, if you are a child of God, you are not alone.  He’s there.  He’s here.  He’s right beside us.  His Spirit dwells in us.  God is walking with us and holding us through every dark forest and every valley of the shadow of death.

Isn’t that wonderful to find out – oh my, you are not alone.  Lean into Him with trust as He walks with you through this journey.