I have been challenging myself a lot lately in this area of my life. Staying positive and focused on the goals while walking through the mud puddles of my life. It's always much easier said than done, but it's in the intentional "doing" that we learn the most about ourselves I think.
I mean I've learned that some things stress me out way more than I ever thought they would. I've learned that if I continually focus on the impossible of the situation, I quickly get overwhelmed and can feel at times defeated. I've learned that if I do not get adequate time sitting at the feet of Jesus and growing in my relationship with Him, I can DEFINITELY tell in my day, my attitude, and my decisions.
So I've made it a practical point in my day, that IF I begin to face the impossible, or feel overwhelmed by the inevitable... that I simply stop and take a breath, and remember that God may not change my circumstances, but if I keep ahold of His hand, ALL things are POSSIBLE.
This has been a great source of comfort the last few weeks...or years of my life really. I'm definitely trying to be more intentional about remembering it now though! Ya know my heart has been very heavy lately for some of my "friends/people that I know" who are really struggling right now with confusion and a lack of hope. They often talk about how bad they are hurting in life and they don't know what to do to get back on track. They don't understand why life is so hard and why it is so unfair. The hard part is, they have been exposed and told about the TRUTH of Jesus, but they continue to CHOOSE to live life without Him. And we know that until you make your own choice to TRUST in Jesus, there's nothing anyone else can ever do, to make your life right and give you real peace.
This has been another great reminder to me that I DO have hope. I CAN have peace. I just have to run to Him instead of away when life gets hard. I know that without holding tight to His hand I will be lost. I cannot do life alone, I am simply not strong or smart enough to make it on my own. I NEED Jesus. And when I start realizing just how amazing He really is and how much I really need Him, suddenly... nothing in my life that I'm going through really is that big any more. It doesn't mean that I won't get overwhelmed at times but it's in "those moments" that my faith is put to the test and that is a GOOD thing.
We all like to talk about our faith in God, but it really has no merit until it's been put to the test right? Hard times of muddy waters force my faith in action. Will I continue to walk in what I know is truth despite the uncertainty of the worldly outcome? Or will I cave in and just sit in the mud pit for awhile and wonder where God is? The truth that we all come to realize is that...God doesn't remove the mud puddles from our lives does He? His job has never been to make our lives easy by removing all the heartache this world offers, but rather He simply promises us that we will NEVER have to go through it alone. He is always by our side. We can most definitely push Him away, but He is always reaching out His hand to us. It's really our choice.
Sometimes the puddles are there by our own making. I know this truth all too well, and it's not a part of God's plan that I go through it but He will allow it because I had a free will to make the choices I did to create it. But if I reach out my hand to Him and bring Him back into the center of my life, He will help me get through it and come out stronger and wiser on the other side. And sometimes those puddles are just there because we live in a world full of sin, and even though we may not have done anything to cause it, it happens because all sin has consequences and affects other people who don't deserve it. That's the problem with sin. Sin isn't fair. But the thing about God is, He is still right there with us, hand extended to help us wade through it to the other side.
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| THIS IS ME :) BACK THEN, MUD WAS JUST MUD. ;) |
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