Okay, before I write this post I thought I'd let y'all know that I have been trying to accustom myself to more spicy food and hot sauce since I am going to work with Mexicans this summer, so right now my mouth is on fire. AHH!! More water, please!
Anyway, back to seriousness. Have you ever been in a slump? You know, one of those times when everything feels hard and hopeless. first you just feel bad, then it starts to show up in your actions. It's seen on your face. It's visible in your posture and heard in your tone of voice. It carries into how you go about your normal life, and it can even affect your health. This past weekend I was in one of those slumps, and it was no fun.
And you know what I found out? It can be overcome very easily and quickly. The number one reason for these slumps is doubt. Our thoughts cause our actions and our feelings. The feelings didn't just pop out of no where, they came because I was thinking wrongly. The solution to the problem isn't to magically change my feelings, it is to consciously change my thoughts. I must recognize that I am believing lies about God's character - I am believing that He's not really good, not really sovereign.
So here's the simple solution: Think right. Do right. Feel right. Repent of believing lies and not serving God with joy like we're commanded to, and cry out to God to help you do what's right. Then when you think something that's not aligned with scripture, replace it with truth found it God's word. Then act on it! And then, guess what - the feelings will follow!
Now this solution was simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It takes a while for the feelings to catch up with the thoughts. You have to start thinking and doing right before you feel like it. But I promise you, there is joy when you do!
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" 2 Cor. 10:4-5
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Passing through deep waters of trial...
Words fail me right now. All I can say is that I am going through something unbelievably painful. I am shocked, sort of in denial, and grieved to the depths of my soul. But I do not doubt God. I have seen God be more faithful than ever before, and have never been more sure that every letter of His precious word to us is truer than true, and that He is all He says He is. I am convinced that I am His child and more grateful than ever that He has chosen to save me. Yet, I still am suffering. What's more, I am watching others suffer. Please, please pray for me and all the people involved.
"Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. ... Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me. Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily." Psalm 69:1-3, 14-17
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2
Scripture is an incredible wealth of comfort. In the midst of all this, I can truly say "God is good!"
"Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. ... Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me. Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily." Psalm 69:1-3, 14-17
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2
Scripture is an incredible wealth of comfort. In the midst of all this, I can truly say "God is good!"
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
All things
Romans 8:28 says,
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose."
That's a promise.
But, we all face situations in life where we think, "Surely, this can NOT be good!"
Well, that may be true. But read the verse again - slowly. Does is promise that every single thing that happens will be good? No, it says that everything will work together for good. What's the difference?
Let me explain.
Suppose you came to my house around supper time one evening, completely famished. "Christy, I am starving, can I have something to eat?" you say.
I reply, "Sure! I'll get you a cup of flour."
"Umm... eww?! That doesn't sound very good."
"No? How about a teaspoon of salt - that has more flavor."
"No, that wouldn't be any better?"
"What about some baking soda? That will really wake you up!"
*Blank stare*
"Oh, and then we'll wash it down with a big cup of Crisco oil... mmm. Finally, you can drink some buttermilk."
"Christy, all those things sound absolutely disgusting! Why in the world would anyone want to eat them?!"
"Well, how about if we mix them all together and make biscuits?"
"Ohhhh...."
You see, when you look at your life, you may see a bunch of bland-tasting flour, sickening oil, and bitter baking soda. You may wonder, how is God going to use all this for good? But God has the recipe; you don't. Lately I've been challenged to just trust that He's going to use every single thing to make something amazing out of my life. Even when I can't see, by faith I will believe that all things work together for good to those who love God.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The good, the bad, and the painful!
Hey everyone! I've had a great week! This post will be long, but bear with me!
Last Thursday I went snowboarding, as usual. Surprisingly, it was not a very good day. At the start of the day I was very tired, and I continued to be throughout the whole time I was boarding. I probably shouldn't have been snowboarding, because when you're tired you can't focus, and therefore you fall and get hurt. Anyway, I decided to go to my lesson in spite of my debility. I was learning rails. After trying the easiest one (which was a straight box, for those of you who ski/snowboard) a few times and not succeeding, I was totally worn out. But, I was NOT willing to quit! I also didn't want my instructors to consider me a wimp :P. So I tried again. Buuut... I was totally not ready for it and my toe side slipped off, causing me to fall forward and smash my shin REALLY hard! Deciding not to finish out my lesson, (for the sake of my safety and sanity) I headed down to the lodge with my instructor. I didn't really feel like snowboarding the rest of the day, and I only ended up going out a few more times. But still, I have to agree (for the most part) with this flair -
The nest day I had an appointment with a TMJ specialist. I think I've told most of you who read my blog about my TMJ, but in case there's someone who doesn't know what it is, it's where someone's (mine, obviously, in this case) jaw slips out of joint making the muscles have to strain, and causing a lot of pain in my jaw, neck, and head. It's been bothering me for several years now, and after trying 3 different physical therapists, the doctor recommended we see a specialist to tell us what we should do. I was hoping he would be able to recommend a definite fix, such as surgery, or wearing a brace for a certain amount of time, or something of the like. Physical therapists usually give you lots of exercises and rules that are very hard to keep up with. I wanted something easier. The specialist told me that my main problem is that I tighten my jaw up and am too stressed, which I have to agree. I'm very "type A" and tend to stress about everything. He said that really, all I needed to do, was learn to relax my jaw, along with some stretching and using heating pads to relax it. I was disappointed at first; I was hoping for something that wouldn't require a lot of work on my part. But, it's actually quite simple to maintain and it has made a lot of difference!!! I am SO thankful!
I have also been realizing how much I need to be trusting God. I am always putting unnecessary stress and pressure on myself because I don't trust God! He has been so gracious in teaching me about His love. I was struggling a lot in my spiritual walk - I was understanding God's holiness without understanding His grace and mercy. He is incredibly holy and righteous - we can't comprehend what it is to not sin. If it weren't for Christ's death, we would be doomed to the ultimate, unimaginable damnation. Jesus, however, took all of that on HIM. That is SOOOOO HUGE!!!!!! We are the one's who DESERVE every bad, horrible thing, every curse, everything awful. He was spotless, holy, and had never ever made a tiniest mistake. He had never NOT been in perfect communion with God. But yet, HE took the horror of the cross on himself. The awful physical death he endured wasn't nearly the worst of the cross though... the horror of it was the rejection He received from His father. Can you ever imagine how horrible it would be to hear God curse us, and reject us, and throw us out of His presence?! Now think... that was JESUS!! He endured something so awful, when He deserved the very best. WOOOWWW!! I can't stress this enough. Sometime you should listen to "The Cost of Not Following Christ" - a sermon by Paul Washer. It is SO good! If you want it you can ask me for it or look it up on Youtube. Anyway... back to the unimportant topic of me being stressed... ;) I has not been focused on God's forgiveness and loving kindness. I was afraid to make even the slightest mistake, and when I did I felt like dying. God reminded me, though, of all of His love, and that lifted a huge burden off of me. I have not been so stressed this week, and it has been wonderful!
There isn't much to report about the rest of this past week, it's been good though. I've been learning about weather in science and it's really cool! We've been studying clouds. I love it when my life is orderly, scheduled, and predictable. This week it has been exactly that, and I've loved it!
Oh, and another thing... I really beat my shin up that day snowboarding! It was swollen for a couple of days and had an enormous colorful, bruise. I've been doing everything possible to make it heal faster this week, and wow, it makes a difference! I've had small surface bruises that took just as long to heal. There's still a big bruise on my shin, but it's not nearly as big, and it's just a light one on the surface now. I'm glad, too, because I wouldn't want to go snowboarding tomorrow if it was still bad.
Over all I guess it's been kind of a painful week... I hurt my shin, I've been working on my jaw pain, (which, by the way, hurts more when you first start to relax it. It's been pretty painful this week but will get better, I hope.) and I've been learning spiritual lessons, which are always painful at first. But pain is not always a bad thing. Tomorrow I'm going snowboarding, and then I will be at snow camp from Fri.-Sun. That will be SO fun! God is so good to me!! Thanks for readin'! :)
Last Thursday I went snowboarding, as usual. Surprisingly, it was not a very good day. At the start of the day I was very tired, and I continued to be throughout the whole time I was boarding. I probably shouldn't have been snowboarding, because when you're tired you can't focus, and therefore you fall and get hurt. Anyway, I decided to go to my lesson in spite of my debility. I was learning rails. After trying the easiest one (which was a straight box, for those of you who ski/snowboard) a few times and not succeeding, I was totally worn out. But, I was NOT willing to quit! I also didn't want my instructors to consider me a wimp :P. So I tried again. Buuut... I was totally not ready for it and my toe side slipped off, causing me to fall forward and smash my shin REALLY hard! Deciding not to finish out my lesson, (for the sake of my safety and sanity) I headed down to the lodge with my instructor. I didn't really feel like snowboarding the rest of the day, and I only ended up going out a few more times. But still, I have to agree (for the most part) with this flair -
The nest day I had an appointment with a TMJ specialist. I think I've told most of you who read my blog about my TMJ, but in case there's someone who doesn't know what it is, it's where someone's (mine, obviously, in this case) jaw slips out of joint making the muscles have to strain, and causing a lot of pain in my jaw, neck, and head. It's been bothering me for several years now, and after trying 3 different physical therapists, the doctor recommended we see a specialist to tell us what we should do. I was hoping he would be able to recommend a definite fix, such as surgery, or wearing a brace for a certain amount of time, or something of the like. Physical therapists usually give you lots of exercises and rules that are very hard to keep up with. I wanted something easier. The specialist told me that my main problem is that I tighten my jaw up and am too stressed, which I have to agree. I'm very "type A" and tend to stress about everything. He said that really, all I needed to do, was learn to relax my jaw, along with some stretching and using heating pads to relax it. I was disappointed at first; I was hoping for something that wouldn't require a lot of work on my part. But, it's actually quite simple to maintain and it has made a lot of difference!!! I am SO thankful!
I have also been realizing how much I need to be trusting God. I am always putting unnecessary stress and pressure on myself because I don't trust God! He has been so gracious in teaching me about His love. I was struggling a lot in my spiritual walk - I was understanding God's holiness without understanding His grace and mercy. He is incredibly holy and righteous - we can't comprehend what it is to not sin. If it weren't for Christ's death, we would be doomed to the ultimate, unimaginable damnation. Jesus, however, took all of that on HIM. That is SOOOOO HUGE!!!!!! We are the one's who DESERVE every bad, horrible thing, every curse, everything awful. He was spotless, holy, and had never ever made a tiniest mistake. He had never NOT been in perfect communion with God. But yet, HE took the horror of the cross on himself. The awful physical death he endured wasn't nearly the worst of the cross though... the horror of it was the rejection He received from His father. Can you ever imagine how horrible it would be to hear God curse us, and reject us, and throw us out of His presence?! Now think... that was JESUS!! He endured something so awful, when He deserved the very best. WOOOWWW!! I can't stress this enough. Sometime you should listen to "The Cost of Not Following Christ" - a sermon by Paul Washer. It is SO good! If you want it you can ask me for it or look it up on Youtube. Anyway... back to the unimportant topic of me being stressed... ;) I has not been focused on God's forgiveness and loving kindness. I was afraid to make even the slightest mistake, and when I did I felt like dying. God reminded me, though, of all of His love, and that lifted a huge burden off of me. I have not been so stressed this week, and it has been wonderful!
There isn't much to report about the rest of this past week, it's been good though. I've been learning about weather in science and it's really cool! We've been studying clouds. I love it when my life is orderly, scheduled, and predictable. This week it has been exactly that, and I've loved it!
Oh, and another thing... I really beat my shin up that day snowboarding! It was swollen for a couple of days and had an enormous colorful, bruise. I've been doing everything possible to make it heal faster this week, and wow, it makes a difference! I've had small surface bruises that took just as long to heal. There's still a big bruise on my shin, but it's not nearly as big, and it's just a light one on the surface now. I'm glad, too, because I wouldn't want to go snowboarding tomorrow if it was still bad.
Over all I guess it's been kind of a painful week... I hurt my shin, I've been working on my jaw pain, (which, by the way, hurts more when you first start to relax it. It's been pretty painful this week but will get better, I hope.) and I've been learning spiritual lessons, which are always painful at first. But pain is not always a bad thing. Tomorrow I'm going snowboarding, and then I will be at snow camp from Fri.-Sun. That will be SO fun! God is so good to me!! Thanks for readin'! :)
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