Surviving the Storms of Life

Life hands us lemons; and mental health experts tell us to make lemonade out of them. We are drowning in circumstances, and we are supposed to take time out and have the presence of mind to "make lemonade".

Wave after wave of misfortune strike. It's hard to breathe. We despair of hope at times. As we sink into the abyss of life, God calls out to us to cling to Him as our life raft.

God's love and hope help us to float as we put our faith in His faithfulness (Romans 5:5). He works out even the most dire of circumstances for our good (Romans 8:28).

Without Christ abiding in us, we often turn to bars, drugs, vocation, people and places to change our circumstances. This rarely helps. We cannot trust in the riches of this world, because they are here today and gone tomorrow.

It is only when we fully surrender to God's plan for our life that we experience joy when devastation surrounds us. We trust in our living God, because He always gives us all good things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).

We all need faith and love; but without hope, they are impossible to attain. When our expectations are for God alone, trusting in Him helps us to experience deep abiding hope (Psalm 62:5).

God is able to do so much more for us than we can ask for or even imagine, because of His mighty power that is working within us (Ephesians 3:20).

He gives us his peace and hope as we walk in His precepts and worship Him with our whole body, soul and spirit (Jeremiah 29:1; Deuteronomy 6:5; Mathew 22:37). We find rest for our world-weary soul in God alone, who is the only true hope for this lost and dying world (Psalm 62:5).

Prayer:

Father God, throughout life, we diligently place our full hope in the assurance of Your love for each one of us (Hebrews 6:11). We trust You for the provision of our daily needs, our earthly safety and the needs of our soul and spirit as well.

You are the anchor of our soul and You keep us steadfast during any stormy swells. You remind us that we will enter the veil of Your Most Holy Place for eternity (Hebrews 6:19). Keep us ever faithful and help us to fulfill Your purpose for each moment of our day.

Thought for the Day:

Due to the grace we receive when the revelation of Christ was birthed in our heart, we are faithful and sober and keep our hope in Christ until the end, when He will come in all of His glory. - 1 Peter 1:13

Healing from Trauma - Part 1

 

Trauma in our life, starting with the birthing process, takes a toll on our soul. There is nothing we can do to stop suffering from happening, except not to take unnecessary chances.

Yet, life still manages to knock us down time and again. Over the years, I experienced my fair share of distress. I learned to pull myself up by my bootstraps and carry on in spite of them.

I fancied myself as an invincible Molly Brown, who is one of the famous survivors of the Titanic catastrophe. I fiercely fought any foreseeable force, which tried to upset my equilibrium.

No matter how high the tide rose around me, I never let my head sink below the surface of the water. A time or two, the thought occurred to me that I should just let go and float with the current.

My soul was not prepared to do that, however; because I still had enough emotional and physical strength left to protect myself. Then, the love of my life decided, after 22 years of marriage, that there was no option for us, but divorce.

I had no education, few job skills and no alimony. The straps on my boots were totally worn off. I was too tired from the waves of life to tread water any longer. I finally reached the point in my life where my only recourse was to let go and let God.

I laid back and floated with the current, watching as God moved mountains for me. He provided a place to live, several jobs to pay my bills, a new church family with recovery classes, and physical and emotional support from my children, parents, brothers and their families.

God taught me that there is never any need for anxiety and stress, because He is just a prayer away. We can let our needs be known with a thankful heart for all God already did in our life, and then look for the seed for a miracle within every trial (Philippians 4:4-7).

Prayer:

Father God, I am so sorrowful that I did not surrender to Your love and faithfulness when I was much younger. I would have spared myself so much anxiety and suffering from negative experiences and emotions. I am grateful that You never gave up on me, but continued to allow trials to come my way, so that I would eventually learn to let go and trust You.

Teach me to obey, so I will experience fewer trials as a result of my reliance on Your strength, rather than on my own. Remind me to walk in Your Spirit and make me effective for work in Your Kingdom.

Thought for the Day:

Surrender every area of life to the Creator of life and to the Author and Finisher of our faith. 

- Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 12:2

God's Wondrous Love

There is nothing in the created world or in the supernatural world, which can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). God's love is not one dimensional; it is four-square.

It has height, depth, width and length, and is an abundance of all-encompassing love. God's love fulfills our life and endows us with non-paralleled, unfathomable gratification (Psalm 107:43).

We not only know about His love in our mind, but we can also feel it and experience it through His wondrous gifts and blessings, which He showers on us each and every day.

God's love accompanies His presence within our Born Again spirit. We bask in His fullness each moment of the day, and we walk in His Spirit throughout our lifetime (Galatians 5:15-25).

Even though our King Jesus sits on His throne at the right hand of our Father God, He also lives in us by His Spirit (Mark 16:19; Colossians 1:27). His love frees us from fear and anxiety (1 John 4:18).

We maintain our faith in God's faithfulness, and we look for the seed of a miracle in the midst of every trial. We know without a doubt that He will work out everything for our ultimate good (Psalm 118:1; Romans 8:28).  

We prove our love for God by obeying His commandments (John 14:21-23). They are not constructed to restrict our life, but to keep us healthy, joyful and in the center of His love.

The fruit of our obedience is an open door between us and God, so that His love pours over us like a waterfall every day of our life. Our joy is full, because Christ dwells within us (Psalm 16:11; Colossians 1:27).

Prayer:

Father God, in the abundance of Your love for us, we live in contentment regardless of our circumstances (Philippians 4:11; Ephesians 5:20). We gratefully count our blessings, which never end, rather than taking them for granted (Psalm 103:2).

We surrender to Christ in us and enter into Your rest. We resist the human tendency to interrupt our joy, shatter our serenity or rush the fellowship of our time in Your presence (Hebrews 4:10). We effortlessly float in the river of Your love and allow Your Spirit to move us along according to Your will and purpose for our life.

Thought for the Day:

When we realize that nothing this world has to offer is more fulfilling than the gift of love from Calvary's cross, we fall on our face in repentance and then rise up to worship our living God.  - John 3:16-17