1 Peter 5:7 (AMP)
7 casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].
I want to remind you that God is deeply concerned about your troubles, and it honors Him when you choose to have faith and trust Him instead of giving in to worry and fear. If you are battling anxiety, ask yourself whether you are taking responsibility for things God never intended or handling situations in a way that God never asked you to handle them. We often become burned out because we are taking on things that God never ask us to shoulder.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It is my prayer that instead of desperately striving to to feel like our little lives are under our control, that we would sit back, relax, and know that our God has it all under control and that He is faithful. In His presence, we can become detached from the crazy going on around us because instead of focusing on our circumstances, our souls are becoming more deeply rooted and grounded in the eternal rather then in the temporal.
Nothing in this world can touch the peace we have in Christ. Let's seek God's face so that we will have His perspective for our lives. These Brandon Heath lyrics come to mind, "Give me Your eyes for just one second, Give me Your eyes so I can see, Everything that I keep missing" Let's ask God to give us His eyes so we can see our lives from His perspective today. I am so thankful that we serve a God who we can trust and cling to even when our days are frazzled and confusing. The Prince of Peace gives us an inner calm that is not dependent on what is going on around us.
We can be encouraged in the midst of exhausting seasons of life because the God we are depending on has overcome the world, so we can too- by His strength. Psalms 105:3b-4 (NIV) "3 Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." Let's retrain our minds so that right when our stress levels begin to rise, instead of turning to our electronic devices for contact or distraction, we automatically look to the LORD and His strength and seek His face with joy in our hearts. Let's unplug from electronics more often and just drink a cup of coffee or tea while pouring out our souls to the God who loves us so much that He died to save us. He deserves our undivided affections, and He is faithful when we depend on Him. This verse is both an invitation to enjoy the comforting presence of the Lord as well as a gentle reminder that we can come to Him for the strength we need each day.
Let's choose to live in the power of the Holy Spirit today instead of giving in to defeat and discouragement. We must make it our steady choice each day to rely on God and on His grace in our weakness so that we can be victorious. As we spend time drawing closer to God in prayer, we will become closer to Him and more connected to Him for all that we need. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Instead, let's joyfully expect to see God's power at work in our lives!
This is exactly what's been on my mind. I feel that it's important to draw ourselves closer to God. And stop being so distracted to worldly things. This I'm very guilty of. Put more into God. He's is there to help us thru trying times. It's us who lack in trusting and relying on him. The last couple weeks I have been trying to feed my spirit with his words. And I'm feeling good. Thank you for your post. Just another conformation for me. Xoxo
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome how God makes sure we are listening when He talks to us. Today both Lucas' and my devotionals were about living in God's power, and to make sure I listened, He sent me to your blog. Thank you for this amazing post today.
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