Sunday, January 8, 2012

January 8, 2012

Do you ever wonder when the challenges of life will stop?  Are you weary or have you just lost passion? The world has a way of zapping us of our energy and enthusiasm for life.  Many people face challenges they never expected: divorce, lost children, death, and unemployment.  Europe's banks are in trouble, there is unrest in the Middle East and of course, there is war.

People are facing an extremely hard time today.  No one can count on today being the same as tomorrow.  We are on a roller coaster and only God knows the direction.  You can find comfort in God or worry about it, inevitably we just don't have control.  I speak from experience.  I have been a worrier my entire life, much to my dismay.  I hate it and have suffered because of it.  I dreamed of death from a very young age and in those dreams I lost very important people to me.  As I grew to be a woman this pattern increased in it's intensity, especially after I had children.  I was always on that chain of uncertainty and the main question that ran rampant was, what if I lost them?  When you worry as intensely as I did, you have hives, stomach problems and migraines.  It's not pretty and it took me a long time to understand that when I worried; it was a sin.  I also found that it stole my joy and strength.  You can't worry like that and not want to control everything around you.  And of course, the Lord had to beat it in my head, I wasn't God and I wasn't in control.  Although I have done better recognizing when I have stepped in and left God out, I still struggle.  Oh well, I don't mind being a work in progress and neither should you.

I still worry and fear about losing those I love.  When this happens, I ask God to forgive me and to give me strength to overcome my worry.  You may not think worry is a sin but it is.  It takes our focus off of the God that said, "I am" and puts it on ourselves.  We are not God, so if you struggle with worry, take the time to ask for forgiveness and then look for Scripture that will bring You back to God and His thinking.  This leads me into a Scripture that I have prayed many times in my life.  I find that the words in the Bible are far more powerful than when I just pray, although I know God likes that too.  When you pray Scripture, you are calling out to the Holy Spirit and as you know, God is so very powerful.  There isn't a word in the Bible that is not supposed to be there.  It is the only text you should ever trust and the only one that has ever given me peace.

Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV:

     Do you not know?
        Have you not heard?
     The LORD is the everlasting God,
        the Creator of the ends of the earth.
     He will not grow tired or weary,
        and his understanding no one can fathom.
     He gives strength to the weary
        and increases the power of the weak.
    Even youths grow tired and weary,
        and young men stumble and fall;
    but those who hope in the LORD
        will renew their strength.
    They will soar on wings like eagles;
         they will run and not grow weary,
         they will walk and not be faint.

We grow weary and lose hope when we worry about tomorrow.  When our circumstances are good, we have passion and we are strong.  But when life throws us a curve ball, we worry and grow weary.  We become faint at heart and we stumble.  This Scripture says, "even young men grow weary."  We all do!  That's why our challenge today is so great.  Our men are growing weary and so are we.  Is there anything we can do about it?  Of course, we need to rise up and ask the LORD to give us strength.  

Picture an eagle.  If you haven't seen one lately, get online and google, eagles.  They are incredibly large birds.  When they are in the sky, you can see them for a mile.  They soar on the wind; they are beautiful and very majestic to watch.  "They will soar on wings like eagles." (Isaiah 40:31)  Whenever I fall into the pit of despair, I call on God to let me soar on eagle's wings.  It takes me from my worry and lack of control, into the realm of Heaven.  I would rather be concentrating on Christ then thinking about how much life has taken from me, wouldn't you?

My prayer today:

Oh LORD, how majestic you are.  I find myself picturing what it would be like to soar on eagle's wings and it brings such joy to my heart.  Thank you for painting wonderful word pictures that help us understand how truly great You are.  We ask today that You would give us a true understanding of Isaiah in our daily lives.  Help us not to stumble and give us strength where we are weak.  I pray that we would have a passion for You and give us sight to only look at today.  Keep us there Lord, so that we don't grow more weary.  Give us a heart for others and remind us how great You are!  I pray that You would have women take from this site what they need and if there is anything not of You, that it would fall on deaf ears.  Thank you for feeding us daily and for reminding us that we are nothing without You. We love You Lord.  I ask that You would continue to grow us in the knowledge of You and reveal to us how we can be warriors for your army today.

Until tomorrow....

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