It Just Won't Stop! I Feel Like I'm Drowning!!!

Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and my God!

~Psalm 42:11

 

Ever feel like that punching bag for a prize fighter?  Ever feel like that your circumstances are trying to drown you?  Ever feel so fed up that you're ready to walk away?

 

When we feel like life is funneling us through the passage filled with broken glass and rusting barbed wire, and the only thing between our will to continue through to the other side and our desire to just give up is a very thin layer of skin...what do you do?  Then you see someone who seems to have all the good things in life seemingly being handed to him on velvet pillows on golden trays.  How do you feel now?

 

When life kicks you over and over and no matter how hard you try, you just seemed to keep getting kicked, what are we supposed to do?  

 

Here are some practical things you can do: 

• Recognize that everything that is happening is for a purpose.  Like it or not.
• Talk with God, openly and HONESTLY, about what you are thinking and feeling.  If your words come out as tear drowned sobs, God knows what you're talking about.  If your words come out as angry shouts, God knows what you're talking about.  If your words just won't come at all, God knows what you're talking about.
• Be HONEST with your loved ones about what's going on with you, and seek their help.  The absolute worst thing we can do is put on the "I'm Okay" mask and lie about how we are doing and feeling.  Remember, God didn't put us here to be alone.
• Accept that what you want or hope for might not be the plan that is best for you.  Be flexible (especially if you expect others to be flexible). Your answer might not be the same answer God has in mind.
• Learn to look at the situations from multiple perspectives.  Ask your loved ones for their HONEST perspective.
•  Understand that you are NOT alone!
• Be prepared to TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF IT!

God allows some things in life to happen to us that can overwhelm us so that we can remember that HE is the one in control of all things.

On The Other Side

 Then the devil left Jesus. And heavenly messengers came and ministered to Him.

~Matthew 4:11

It's not easy having to learn new things, is it? But we have to learn new things throughout our lives. 

We learn new life skills from experiences like: 

     *  sidewalks have invisible speed bumps, teaching us to be careful.

     *  when you are pressed for time, the slowest person ever will get in your way, thus teaching us to either be patient if we are paying attention.

     *  when someone is hurting, we learn what to say and when to shut up.

We learn more difficult skills through experience if we are willing.  

     *  When dealing with difficult people, we learn to stand up for ourselves even when our insides have turned to jelly.  

     *  When we deal with persistent salespeople we learn to say "No Thank You" and walk away.

     *  When we are hurting and feeling weak, we must learn to let others help us and minister to us.

I like helping people. I like talking with people who need counsel.  I like being able to minister to others. But I am not so good being on the other side of that.  Recently, my Bride and I have been enduring a situation that was draining us and stressing us, yet together we are learning that we are not alone, we are loved, and we will become stronger.  And this from learning to let others minister to us.

Did you know that even Jesus had allow Himself to be helped? After dealing with 40 days of no food, Jesus was exhausted and weak from hunger.  THAT is the very moment when the enemy decided to take action.  And he still does that today; when we are mentally, emotionally, financially exhausted and at the end of our endurance, THAT is when the enemy will attack us through other people.

Jesus relied on God for strength and endurance.  WHEN Jesus had endured and came out of that battle in the right, God sent His own angels to care for Jesus's needs.  

Jesus had to stand strong through the battle, and God gave Him the strength, and then gave Him the comfort when the battle was over.  Jesus, who helped so many people had to learn to let others help even Him.

My bride and I are being taught two lessons from this time in our lives:

     1.  God is in control.

     2.  We must be strong in this battle and do what is right, even if we don't like it.

    3.  When the battle is over, God will minister and restore.

Ever Feel Overwhelmed?

 "Little children, you are from God and have overcome the world, 

for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

~1 John 4:4

What happens when you have something out of the ordinary happen?  Let's say you are struggling to make it from paycheck to paycheck and one your way to work smoke starts gushing from under the hood of the car.  While you are standing on the side of the road wondering if your day could possibly get any worse, the rain starts and your umbrella is at work.  When you finally manage to get a ride home, you walk in drenched and dripping all over the floor when your child decides this would be the best possible time to start throwing up. You know the day, the one where if you don't drink, you seriously consider taking up drinking as an occupation.

Think about this for a moment:  Our enemy's job is to make us ineffective, since he cannot take God's children from God's hand.  And one of the ways he makes us ineffective is to overwhelm us.  Sun Tzu, who wrote "The Art of War", stated: “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”  So you see, if our enemy can overwhelm us, we take our focus off of God, and even doubt God, and we do not even consider the enemy's true intent.

My prayer is that, when (not if) the storms begin to rage, we will learn to cling to the God who speaks the storms into submission and calms the raging seas.