Rest for Our Weary Soul

God is our Savior in the valley, as well as on the mountaintop. When we feel overwhelmed by life’s issues, spending time alone with God is the perfect place to find rest for our weary soul.

Rather than to allow the cares of the world to weigh us down and to give us a negative attitude, we can rest in the love, peace and joy of the Lord in every circumstance.

God plants opportunities for joy in every situation He allows. It is all a matter of our focus. Even death, ill health, a bad marriage and any other negative event has a positive side if we change our focus about it.

They say that “every dark cloud has a silver lining”; and God is eager to reveal it to us. I love to abide in the “quiet place” of my inner spirit, where the Spirit of my Lord and Savior dwells.

God’s wants us to walk in His Spirit, but that takes courage. He wants us to learn to forgive our shortcomings and to use our God given talents and abilities to their fullest measure for His service.

God has a perfect plan for our lives. As we walk in it, He blesses us abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think (Ephesians 2:10, 3:20-21). While we use the gifts He gave us for His glory, we enjoy His unique calling for our life (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Prayer:

Father God, as You open doors for us that no one can close, help us to be all that You made us to be. Help us to willingly follow the direction of Your Holy Spirit in our thoughts, words and deeds. Remind us that, like the mountains, You created us to rise into the heavens.

You have a wonderful plan for our life; a plan filled with love, joy and peace through our Rock, Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 29:11). Remind us that our salvation does not come through human effort, but through accepting Jesus as our Savior and our Lord. Thank You for sending Jesus to pay the debt we owe for our sins.

Thought for the Day:

As long as we navigate life by God’s Spirit, we will succeed in every area where He leads us.

Life's Treasure Chest

Read: Rom 8:34-39

“…Be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”  James 1:2-4 TLB

Sometimes, the life we encounter on this “blue marble” we call earth is overwhelming! We craft clearly laid out plans and goals, but in spite of our preparations, events often careen out of our control. We rarely end up seeing the total realization of our dreams. We often fail to triumph over obstacles too high for us to scale. In spite of these bitter disappointments, however, God tells us that His grace gives us sufficient strength to face our trials and weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).

After 60 years of walking through life’s interruptions, I discovered that there are actually clues to hidden treasure within each difficulty we face. God brings these assets from deep within each one of us as we put one foot in front of the other on our arduous journey through life (Matthew 13:44). There are keys to buried riches contained in each trial and tribulation that comes our way (2 Corinthians 4:7). The proverbial silver lining in every cloud and pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is just waiting to be discovered.

Our God of hope fills us with abounding joy and enduring peace every step of life’s way (Romans 5:13)! He abundantly rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). His Word and Spirit reveal even more hidden treasure, when we seek Him through His scripture and when we place our trust in Him. God also promises that when those who love and obey Him pass over the threshold of heaven, we will all receive the treasured crown of eternal life (James 1:12).

We may not have this world’s goods, but our life both now and in heaven contains an enduring treasure that rust and moths cannot ever destroy (Matthew 6:20).

Prayer:

Lord, help me to treasure every second of life and to see You in the midst of every event. Help me to look at my trials as You see them, and to look for the miracle, which You hide within each one. Keep me from looking too far into the future, which I cannot predict anyway, and to seek You one moment at a time.

Thought for the Day:

The real treasures in life are found in nature, literature, music, art, family and enduring friendships; but primarily in the gift of a personal relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

Trusting In God

Read: Job 5:8-26

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” - Peter 5:7

My church counselor told me that I am experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, even though I never set foot in a war zone. He equated my childhood with a war zone; and he said that what I considered normal as I was growing up was definitely abnormal for the normal person J He told me that since I never knew what would happen to me from day to day, I learned to face the fear by disassociating or by getting angry to protect myself.

In thinking about his diagnosis, I realized there just might be some truth in his conclusion. For so many years, the unknown entities of life caused me to wake up in constant fear that something bad might happen to me that day…yet, again. I viewed life as a potential catastrophe! I felt like I had to control the circumstances in my life so I would be safe. I did use disassociation or anger to protect myself whenever anyone hurt me or was trying to make a decision that affected me, without discussing it with me first.

Thankfully, God taught me a replacement exercise for living in fear. I picture a little child and an adult within my soul. We face each other and raise our hands heavenward, lifting to God every one of our cares and concerns, knowing that He cares for us and that He will make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28).

At times, my soul does not want to relinquish every care to God. God made it very clear to me, however, that I needed to surrender all of me to His will; not just my rational mind, but my irrational fears as well. I have learned to stand there with my hands raised until I feel a release in my inner being, which means that my fear is now replaced by His faith. God also taught me that I do not have to trust people who continually let me down; but I can trust God, because He is always trustworthy.

I love Job’s advice (Job 5:8-26). He proclaimed that God controls the universe; therefore, our only hope to experience true joy in life is to connect with God and to walk in His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. God changes our attitude, so that we can actually laugh at calamities instead of fearing them.

As we walk in the Spirit, we start to look for the silver lining in every black cloud. We look for the seed of the miracle in every negative experience. We end up living a long, fulfilled life in service to God, until the day He chooses to call us home.

Prayer:
Lord, help me to remember that You have a plan for everything that happens to me. Keep me focused on Your provision and care rather than on the potential harm lurking just around the corner.

Thought for the Day:

God’s love takes the teeth out of the bite of adversity!