GOD'S ANSWER FOR WHEN LIFE CLOSES IN

Life; satan; is ever present in this world; waiting to destroy the very best in you that God has created.  When the troubles in life weigh you down there is a way to find peace and joy; and it is in the very God who loves you so very much!

When you feel burdened and soul weary repeat these words of Psalm 46:10.  Be still; don't react; don't fear what is before you at any difficult moment...first of all BE STILL and KNOW that God is in His heaven and all is going to be all right for you if you live in His beautiful comfort.

I remember a particularly painful time in my life not so long ago.  My heart was absolutely broken and my soul was in pain.  I felt so very small and ineffective.  I happened to be near an ocean on that particular day.  My husband and I were spending a few minutes at the beach before we boarded a plane to return home to our Colorado mountains and I sat down with the view of the waves crashing to the shore.  The sound was repetitive and strong.  The waves were beautiful and ever coming in...wave after wave.  In that moment of despair I prayed to God to help me find peace; to help me know it was going to be OK.

At that moment my Father; who loves me more than I will ever understand; gave me the peace I was asking for.  As I watched those waves coming in over and over it struck me that He is SO great; He is SO much BIGGER than our earthly sorrows.  He made this ocean.  He set the waves in motion; waves that are always there crashing over the land and moving back out; only to come in again.  It hit me in that moment that God is always the same; Malachi 3:6a "I the Lord do not change"...He is our ever present calm in a sea of sorrow that life can bring when satan plays with our minds, our souls, and our hearts; wanting to destroy us. GOD can bring all things back to it's intended rhythm if we will only let Him! Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

 

We as Christians have a promise from our Father that we will never be alone.  Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” These are powerful words that we so often move over so quickly...never stopping to let the full effect wash over our sore hearts and souls.  Imagine if your parent said this to you...would you feel better?  How much MORE does God love us?  His love is perfect and sure and ever there just waiting for us to hold on to!

We can DO some things to bring comfort in times of trial and sorrow.  Our God did NOT leave us empty handed.  We have practical things to do.  First of all we need to sit down and be still...think about the things in life that bring pain and fear and sorrow.  Are they actions of others that bring us to our knees?  If these people in our lives are destroying the best parts of us it is OK to put those away from our hearts.  We can walk away from toxic people. The gift you can give to them is to pray for them. Don't let others take away the joy that God gave you! God built into us a survival reaction.  It's when we do not listen to the Holy Spirit; a gift from God, that we get in trouble.  We say to ourselves that we should be able to deal with this person or behavior; we should think about their souls.  True; we should be thinking about souls, but there comes a time when Jesus said to shake the dust off of our feet. Matthew 10:14 : If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet."
IF those people are bringing us closer to sin; and we have given the seed of the word(I Cor. 3:6-7); and it has had no effect that we can see, what are we told to do? Matthew 7:6 ""Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you."

 

When we are overburdened and life is too heavy and we are drowning in life's troubles we have a perfect example in Jesus!  What did He do when he needed to rest?  He went away and prayed to His Father when He was on this earth. Luke 5:15-16 "Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

 Can you imagine being bombarded like Jesus was? We have all FELT bombarded by life from time to time. The point is; when life got too much; our Lord got away and was quiet and prayed...WE HAVE THAT GIFT!  We have the avenue of prayer to the one who made us, to the one who loves us more than anyone on this earth...HE WILL NOT GIVE YOU A STONE...PRAY...take some time to get away and re-fill your soul.  GOD WILL NOT GIVE YOU A STONE! Matthew 7:9-11 "⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!"

One of my favorite verses is found in Philippians 4:6-9 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Think about this promise; this gift.  We aren't being chastised for being anxious.  Our Father is

reminding us that He is there; that we can pray to Him; that He will give us the peace that we do not understand! AWESOME!  And, a request...a WISE request...We are to think on those true and noble things...those things that are pure and right...THAT is the example; THAT is the THING we are to do...and the promise, the gift is peace! God is bigger than our sorrows; HE IS THERE...LET HIM BE THERE.  That is the gift; THAT is what we do when life closes in. 

GOD BLESS!