Rejoicing in times of trouble
Sometimes when life is swirling around us and it seems that one problem is compounded upon the other, we start asking God "why". When things turn drastically from bad to worse I often find myself asking God "What is the purpose for this? I know you have a plan, but what is it? I don't see it". Often it feels like a back and forth pull because you feel like yes you trust God but you still want to be able to SEE the answer and sometimes you will see the answer but often you won't.
We walk by FAITH not by SIGHT.
So often we can't see what lies ahead but we have to trust God, and remind ourselves, that he has always taken care of us in the past and He WILL continue to care for us the rest of our lives into eternity. God's love is everlasting and he loves you more than anyone else ever could, He will never leave you or desert you, THAT kind of love is a love that you can count on. Trust in that love and that God won't let you struggle forever.
I think a lot of times we feel like if someone is bad is happening in our lives that we are being punished for something we must have done wrong and there are consequences of sin but if you Love God and you have that desire to please God, then these trials and troubles in your life could be a way of making you stronger.
Our true character isn't shown when everything is going our way but in the toughest times. Where don't get our way. When we are in pain. When disappointment and doubt surround us. THAT is when our character is shown and flaws are exposed.
And that's OKAY.
God uses that trouble and those flaws to teach you and make you stronger. It's not a punishment, It is encouragement. It means that God loves us so much that he wants to help us become ALL that we can be to accomplish the beautiful plan that he has for our future.
Just stop and think about it, when someone around you is I trouble or is making bad life decisions....If you love them, do you leave them alone? Or do you want to help them and you encourage them to make the RIGHT choices. That desire within us to want to help people grow and mature and learn is an emotion from God Himself.
When troubles come our way, don't be discourage. Rejoice! because God is leading you through the trouble, through the darkness. He is holding your hand. Hold tight, don't let go and walk with God. He want to show you something
Trust him to lead you.
and don't worry, He made the entire universe, He knows where he is going ;)
Deuteronomy 20:1-3 - When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Psalms 27:14 - Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
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There are some days where things just don’t go your way.
When those little inconveniences and hassles mount up on top
of other stresses in your life and you just have a bad day.
Today was that day for me.
To start off my day I’m sick, it’s been raining all day, I’ve
gained about 10 pounds (which I was reminded of today when I received my new
swimsuit in mail—yeah that so does not fit), and then slip in a large puddle of dog pee that my dog
decided to leave in front of my bedroom door.
I was sick, overweight and had dog pee on my feet and pants. I then felt
defeated and rather depressed. All I wanted to do was sit in front of the TV.
and eat cake batter (and I did which just made me feel worse). By this time I remembered I had to feed my
daughter’s fish. I went to her room and as I picked up the bag of fish
food-POOF!! Fish food everywhere!
The bag had been left often and dehydrated dead flakes of
fish food fluffed all around my daughter’s bedroom and the clean laundry was
now fish-flake covered laundry. These are the days you just want to stop and
say “Why did this have to happen” or “why me”. It was after I started
scampering around fluffing her stuffed animals off outside that the self-hating
thoughts start to come like “did I do something wrong that I’m being punished for?”
Or “If only I was cleaner and organized
this wouldn’t have happened.” And so on and so forth.
So I turned to my source of encouragement, Christian radio.
I then went on a
cleaning rampage wiping, shaking, and sweeping
up all the fish flakes while at the same time with the thoughts of “why me” swirling
in my head. Then all of a sudden I realized
something about my day.
All of the things that happened today had to do with my
WEAKNESSES. I always worry about my immune system because I get sick easily. I
am an emotional eater and eat when I’m stressed. I have an extremely queasy stomach
when it comes to dog pee, and especially pet food. I CAN NOT stand the smell of fish food. These
are my weaknesses and I am well aware of them. All of these things happened in
the same day. Why? Was it really a punishment for something I did wrong?
I believe it was NOT to
break me down but to build me up. I think God is slowly challenging me in my
weak areas to make me stronger and teach me how to handle them better. Sometimes
Challenges in life aren’t just about the big things, but the small day to day
things that can make you or break you. The little inconveniences that get under
your skin are sometimes the ones that bother you the most. So maybe “bad days”
are just days where God is trying to build you up and make you STRONGER in
those weak areas.
So how did I respond?
I cleaned up the room to the best of my abilities with a
good attitude, and I thanked God for the blessings in my life while I did it.
If we can learn to praise God even in our weaknesses I believe it only makes up
stronger and helps overcome those weaknesses.
After all I must say after wiping up fish food for half an
hour the smell really doesn’t bother me as much. Who knew could learn so much
about life from stinky fish food!
2 Corinthians 12:9 - And he said unto me, my grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
KJV
03/18/2014
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