When Jesus says,“Follow me,” it’s not an invitation to drag our divided heart alongside us as we attempt to follow hard after God.
I needed a go-to script for this situation. So, I lowered my head and prayed, “God, I am at the end of my strength here. This is the moment I’ve got to sense Your strength stepping in. The Bible says Your power is made perfect in weakness. This would be a really good time for that truth to be my reality. Help me see something else besides this temptation looming so large in front of me it seems impossible to escape.
Shallow desires produce only shallow efforts.
I want the flowers but not the work. Isn’t that the way it is with many things in life – we want the results but have no desire to put in the work required?
Things of this world all eventually reveal what incapable anchors they really are.
Self-rejection paves the landing strip for the rejection of others to arrive and pull on up to the gates of our hearts. Think about why it hurts so much when other people say or do things that make you feel rejected. Isn’t it in part due to the fact they just voiced some vulnerability you’ve already berated yourself for? It hurts exponentially more when you’re kicked in an already bruised shin.
It’s not about you becoming anything. Your soul was made to simply be with Me. And the more you are with Me, the more you will stop fearing what the world might take from you. With Me you are free to be you. The real you. The you honesty called to at the very beginning of this journey. The you whose core is in alignment with My truth. The you who doesn’t fear imperfections or rejections, because grace has covered those in the loveliest of ways.
My reactions testify to the kind of relationship I have with Jesus and the effect He has on my heart.
His pain in the garden became power in the tomb! His crucifixion on the cross became the defeat of death. His broken body became the resurrection hope for the world.
I may not be gentle by nature, but I can be gentle by obedience. If – and only if – I equip myself with predetermined biblical procedures that I can rely on when I start to feel the great unglued coming on.
No amount of outside achievement fixes inside hurts.
The biblical way to be preserved is to be pressed. And being pressed can certainly feel like being crushed.
If I understand balance, I will eat to live – not live to eat. I will enjoy nourishment, not gorge on empty calories. I will eat until satisfied, not eat to be satisfied. As Romans 6:19 says, I will make right choices that honor God and lead to holiness rather than constant indulgences that lead to defeat.
Rejection steals the security of all we thought was beautiful and stable and leaves us scared and fragile and more vulnerable than ever.
Do you know how much drama and heartbreak I could have avoided in my life if I would not have set into motion what needs to remain still? Every time this has happened in my life, I can draw a straight line to decisions I made from a hardened heart.
We must tie our identities to our unchanging, unflinching, unyielding, undeniably good, and unquestionably loving God.
Weak moments don’t make weak faith. Weak moments make us even more aware of our need to press in to faith.
What if the worst parts of your life are actually gateways to the very best parts you’d never want to do without?
Don’t buy into what the scale says or doesn’t say. Trust the effort you are putting into getting healthy. And keep going! Not only are there changes going on in your body that you can’t see, there are changes going on in your spirit – with your discipline, your courage, and your willpower. Keep going!
God loves me too much to answer my prayers at any other time than the right time and in any other way than the right way.