Numbing the pain never goes to the source of the real issue to make us healthier. It only silences our screaming need for help.
Why doesn’t Jesus work for me?” is never the right question. Instead, when circumstances shift and we feel like we fall short, we should ask, “How can I see Jesus even in this?
Friendships are like plowed open fields ready for growth. What we plant is what will grow. If we plant seeds of reassurance, blessing, and love, we reap a great harvest of security.
Maybe you’ve been entrusted with this. Not cursed with it.
He is jealous for you. He is jealous for me. The fullness of His love and lavish acceptance is the only match for the rejections we will experience. And He absolutely doesn’t want us making other relationships the false gods of our worship. As we seek love and acceptance, God doesn’t want us to test Him; He wants us to trust Him.
Labels start out as little threads of self dissatisfaction but ultimately weave together into a straightjacket of self-condemnation.
Getting filled with Him first so I could love and give and serve out of an overflow rather than relying on my own strength.
Ask Jesus to help you fully understand the joys of obedience. Also, ask Him how you can be a woman fully committed to obedience without slipping into a legalistic approach to life. We must always remember our goal is pursuing revelations of Him. Our focus can’t be just following rules but following Jesus Himself.
Hold fast to Jesus and remember: This breaking of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you. Strengthened not with the pride of perfection but with the sweet grace of one who knows an intimate closeness with her Lord.
God isn’t afraid of your sharp edges that may seem quite risky to others. He doesn’t pull back. He pulls you close. His love and grace covers your exposed grief. And step-by-step leads you to a new place of victory. A sweet place your soul is so glad to be in though you never would have chosen the hard path on your own.
I’ve tasted the deep satisfaction of God and I know all other things are but cheap imitations. And I don’t want to be enamored by the lesser things wrought with momentary pleasure.
God gave us emotions. Emotions allow us to feel as we experience life. Because we feel, we connect.
It’s easy to live loved when I feel loved.
We are amazingly similar to the children of Israel. We spend half our lives looking back at our own Egypt with selective memories, longing to have our comfort zone back. Then we spend the other half wishing our days away for a dreamy future in our own promised land.
Unrealistic expectations are things the other person isn’t able or willing to do for me. I have to let go of these.
With the full assurance God is okay with me even when I’m not okay with me. And I realize, I can’t hold on to the desire to run and at the same time go where God wants to lead me.
Hoping doesn’t mean I put myself in harm’s way. It doesn’t mean I ignore reality. No, hoping means I acknowledge reality in the very same breath that I acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
God made us For Giving. God made you For Giving. God made me For Giving.
So, while there are still good things in this world, the world is no longer a perfect reflection of God’s goodness.
I don’t know all the details entangled in this issue. But You know all. Therefore, You, God, are the only One who can handle all. There are a lot of things my flesh is tempted to seek – fairness, my right to be right, proof of her wrongdoing, to make her see things from my vantage point – but at this point, the only thing healthy for me to seek is You. You alone. I’m going to be obedient to You and let You handle everything else.