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Remember God’s Faithfulness

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/45776/day/4

How do you handle disappointment? I know that I used to have a saying that I used frequently (in my Eeyore days) that if it hasn’t gone wrong yet, it will, just wait. Oh, my! Now I have a new mantra…Wait! God is still working! Things may look gray right now, but the Sonshine is on its way!

How you handle disappointments depends on your focus. If you are focused on the bad things that are happening, then you are more likely to be disappointed with anything that happens that is not the exact outcome you wanted. But if you focus on God’s faithfulness in the past and His ever-present love for you, you are more likely to face challenges with a firm belief that God will see you through whatever it is and the lesson you learn will be something you need for your future or to help others in the future.

How did my mantra change? Slowly, as God worked on my attitude and helped me to see things more clearly from His perspective and not just my own. Sometimes, I slip and start to slide back into my Eeyore attitude, but the Holy Spirit quickly reigns me back into line with God’s Word and helps me to get back on the right path again. Filling my heart and mind with God’s Word, being thankful every day for the small things, and looking for God’s faithfulness in the middle of bad situations helps me keep my focus on Him.

What helps you to handle disappointment?

Anxiety or Peace

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/45776/day/3

Every day, I have to choose whether I will deal with life’s daily challenges with anxiety or peace. I know that some days are more difficult than others to choose correctly and sometimes I get started on the wrong foot, listing to God all the reasons that I should be anxious instead of the reasons why I know He is there and that He is my peace. We have to make a conscious choice to focus on God’s presence with us, knowing as I have said many times, “Nothing is going to happen today that God and I cannot handle together.” The saying is in my mind. And I am working on getting it deep into my heart, with the knowledge that God’s presence is with me all the time, but especially in the hard times when I need Him most.

Need a Vacation?

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/23192/day/6

Everyone looks forward to getting away for a while, escaping the humdrum of everyday life. But I have found that when my husband and I get away, we take the humdrum stuff with us. My husband still listens to news like it’s his source of life and reports the things he considers important to me diligently. I have told him numerous times that I don’t watch the news for a reason, but he has decided that it is his obligation to keep me informed. So, I just listen without commentary. Anyway, the news goes with us. The challenges we face in life before we go away don’t disappears; they are just placed on a back burner and continue to simmer there. I like the advice in this column that tells us to be thankful and know that God is right there through it all. Being thankful is a choice, just as focusing on the things that make us need a vacation to begin with. If we could just keep our focus on the “author and finisher of our faith”, we would be much better off and more likely to be thankful first and complain later, if at all. God listened intently to the whining complaints of Job’s friends and how they blamed Job for all his own troubles. Then, God listened to Job and his complaints about how he had been faithful and still suffered. When God answered, it was not to tell Job that he had valid points and should have been able to complain. No, instead, God reminded Job of who He is and His sovereignty. Job recognized God’s control all along and pointed out to his friends that God was still his Lord in spite of his circumstances. If we could only get to the point where we can be thankful regardless of our problems and the world’s pressures on us, I think that we wouldn’t be feeling as much pain in our dilemmas and we would be able to be thankful all days in all ways. Vacations are necessary, but they shouldn’t be to get away from problems. I think they should be used to get closer to God and to ask Him to see our problems with His perspective.

Knowing What Direction to Go

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/45776/day/2

It’s hard to know what choices to make sometimes, so the best thing to always do is pray, follow the leading of the Spirit, and take a step forward. If it is the wrong step, God will let us know so that we can get back on the right track. If others ask us for advice, the best thing we can do is pray with them and ask for God’s wisdom and guidance. We don’t have a crystal ball or anything similar, but we do have the Holy Spirit who will lead us to help others if that is what God wants us to do. We always have to be careful not to step out in our own wisdom and give advice from our own mind and heart. It’s okay to tell the person that we will pray about it and get back to them when the Lord gives us an answer. It is never okay to lead someone in the wrong direction, even if the intentions are good, and shrug it off when things don’t work out for them. We are the called and the chosen, not the know-it-alls of the world. Let’s act as though God can use us and He will, in His timing and for His purpose, not to glorify us but always for His glory.

Reaching Out the the Lonely

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/45776/day/1

I was once this person, the lonely one who didn’t understand the busyness of the world while I was suffering all alone. But God reached out and showed me that I was not alone…He had been there all along. And He sent others to talk to me and affirm that they would walk alongside me even in strange places with my husband deployed thousands of miles away. Now, it is easier for me to notice people who are sitting alone, who are not engaging in conversations with others, and it is a thing I strive to do, just to let them know that I see them and I am there if they want someone to listen. Sometimes it isn’t what you say that matters to the person that is lonely; it is just taking the time to be there, close and ready to hear their heart when they are ready to speak.

Jump! You Can Do It!

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/44313/day/7

We have all stood on the edge of the unknown, afraid to move forward and knowing we cannot go back. God has already prepared the way for us, but we have to take that step into the unknown, out of the comfortable and into the arms of our Father who is ready to catch us. Jump! God will always be there to catch you when you step out in faith as long as you are acting according to His will.

Giving Thanks Is a Decision

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/23192/day/3

We make a lot of choices everyday, some of which are automatic and others require thinking about it for a while. The choice to be thankful should be automatic, but I must confess that some days, I struggle to show my thanks to God. Maybe things aren’t going the way I think they should or my world is a little topsy-turvy. Whatever is happening in the circumstances of my life is not a good reason to ignore all God has done and is still doing in my life and to take time to be grateful to Him for everything. This devotional is thought-provoking in that it says we can hinder God in acting on our behalf by our failure to be thankful. I will have to ponder that for a while. God will still continue with His plan, but I may not be as active a participant as I should be because I failed to be thankful. I want to be all in for God and His plans for me regardless of outward circumstances. The circumstances will change (it just happens as part of life) but only I can make the choice to thank God in the midst of them and be grateful that I have a life to be thankful for.

Falling Apart of Falling into Place

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/44313/day/2

Perspective, perspective, perspective. How you look at things is how you approach them to try to solve them. A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to see a Christian movie in town and as we were leaving the theater complex, we had to stop at a red light. Looking across the way, my husband got very concerned because there was a caravan of emergency vehicles, lights flashing and totally stopped. I saw the same thing my husband did, but with a different perspective. I could see that the vehicles were stopped on the right shoulder of the road. To my husband, who has cataracts and really needs surgery that he refuses go get, the fire truck, which was the vehicle in front of all the others, was totally blocking our lane. I assured him that was not the case and he would see that when he actually turned and could get a better perspective. He argued with me a minute or so, but when he turned, he got quiet because I was right. I saw things the way they actually were, not the way I feared they would be.

Sometimes, I am like my husband when I am approach problems or challenges of any kind. I see them as totally blocking my path instead of actually not being in the path at all. I know that God can change circumstances, but I don’t really expect that to be the norm in my life. My perspective is one of independence and planning a solution myself instead of leaning into God, especially for the big things. I know that I really need to have a God’s-eye view of the situation and, using His perspective, I can see things more clearly and have a better idea of how He wants me to approach things. I can’t sit at the red light forever waiting for the big truck that isn’t even in my way to move. I have to move first and then I will see things more clearly and with the vision of how things really are. Trust means stepping out and having your perspective get clearer as you move closer to God.