I learned to survive life by
adopting an "unsinkable Molly Brown" attitude. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Brown)
Every person alive experiences some type of abuse from someone, in some area,
at some age, time and circumstance or another.
Living with a rage-aholic dad and
emotionally distant mom as I grew into an adult, recovering after natural
disasters, losing many of my "treasures" by repeatedly moving from
one place to another during marriage, divorced by my husband of 22 years, etc.
all gave me a huge sense of insecurity about life.
I could count on no one, but
myself; and I realized that I needed to prepare in order to survive even the
worst of circumstances. I continually pulled myself up by my
"bootstraps" and lived to face another day.
I clung to my defense mechanisms
of bombastic anger and codependence in my endeavor to control life. These
choices actually caused more trouble for me and those closest to me than they
helped.
God finally brought me to a place
of so much loss that I realized I was failing miserably in my attempts to
control life and to prevent any further hurt to my body, soul or spirit.
Through surrender, we realize
that all things, even the most negative and horrendous event is as God ordained
it to be, unless we caused our circumstances by our willful disobedience or our
failure to walk in His Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25).
The Lord taught me to "Let
Go and Let God"; to live in the moment; to readily admit my faults; and to
make apologies when needed, because I would not be consumed by shame if I did.
Surrendering to God's will allows
us to enter God's rest, to luxuriate in His love and peace, and to put the
weight of our current trial in His heart - letting go of all of the worry and
stress.
I even bought a heart-shaped box
and I write down all of my worries and physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually
and literally deposit them into God's heart. This shifts all of my faith and
energy from control to surrender.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for
teaching me to enter into my spirit and to face life through Your Spirit rather
than through my soul - my mind, choices and emotions. You instructed me to put
a boundary between me and my current circumstance, which would allow me the
freedom to journal my thoughts and feelings and to find Your perspective on
what is happening in my life.
You taught me to embrace trials
rather than to resist them, because You plant a seed for a miracle in each one
of them. You are constantly teaching me patience through my suffering, which is
making me more perfect, complete and in need of no good thing, because You are
giving me the mind and perspective of Christ to victoriously survive the issues
in this world (James 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 2:16).
Thought for the Day:
We will not allow life to
distract us to the extent that we forfeit God's grace and mercy; so that we may
live in His joy and peace, rather than to wallow in worry and unrest.
