The Difference

What is the difference between going through life alone or going through life with your Creator? Let's start with this one simple concept. If you have children, would you prefer that they pushed you away, ignore you and did life on their own terms or would you rather they drew near to you, respected you and gleaned wisdom and a good heart from you? I think the answer to that question is clear. Well, that is how God feels about you. He doesn't want you to push him away, he wants you to draw near to him. Just as we shepherd our own children the LORD wants to Shepherd us. He wants to be our Father, our Daddy and he wants his Son to be our Lord, Savior and friend. He desires for us to be saved so that his Holy Spirit will dwell in us, guide us, comfort us through this life.

No longer do you have to wonder if there's a God out there listening to you. He hears you, he sees you and he loves you. No matter what you're going through or ever will go through he will be The One who will hold up the ceiling from crashing down on you. He will be the one that rescues you when dangerous surround you. He will be the one who gathers you up into his arms where you can rest your weary soul, your tattered mind and weary body. He will be the one that will guide your way and be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.  

*We must learn that when bad things happen it is not God.* Satan is the author of sin, death and lies. He is described as prowling the earth like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and influencing the world system to turn people away from God. 

Jesus describes Satan in John 8:44 as a "murderer from the beginning" and "a liar and the father of lies," stating there is no truth in him. So, *the first thing you have to cement in your heart and in your mind is that God is not the one to blame.* God is the one that wants to get you through all that this life on Earth throws at us. Then, we have the hope that it speaks of in First Thessalonians 4:17, ""For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 

If you choose to invite God into your heart, accepting that Jesus died on the cross for you and that you cannot save yourself but only the blood of Christ offers salvation, then, the promise of first Thessalonians is the Hope that we live for. The life here on this Earth is hard but we who have the Lord embrace eternity where there will be no more sickness, no more shame, no more tears or sorrow. 

So, to make it through this life and into the next we will all need a Shepherd and a Savior. Say the simple prayer below with a contrite and true heart and you will be a child of God. Our loving God wants to help you get through this life until he comes for us. Please don't try to do it alone. Simply accept this beautiful gift of love and salvation.

LORD,  I'm asking you to come into my heart and spend time with me. Forgive me my sins. Show me who you really are and how much you love me. I cannot save my own soul but you can save it because you gave your life to purchase it. You took on the punishment of death so that I wouldn't have to. Thank you for that sacrifice. Be a constant light before me so that I don't fall away from this relationship. In Jesus name, Amen

Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I encourage you to find a Bible teaching Church and go. If a coal stays close to the other coal's it will keep burning. But remove the coal from the huddled coals and it will go out.

You are such a Square ⬜

Yes! A mature Christian is a square! We live lives with purpose, direction, stability as long as we keep our eyes on our Lord. Can you imagine playing a game of chess or checkers where the pieces were round instead of having a flat side at the bottom? Unless there's a divot to stabilize a round object (like a Chinese checker board), a round object will just be at the mercy of any whim, twitch, tilt or uncertainty etc. 

The only one able to hold a sphere perfectly in place is God. I believe in our immaturity we are sphere-shaped. However, as we surrender to the hand of God who is the artist of all life, he will chisel and sculpt us into beings that are no longer at the whim of every tilt. He will shape us into sculptures that are beautiful yet stable. He will square off a foundation for us so that we can be moved to our places of purpose and serve him with confidence. 

Does God just take us against our will and do this work? No he doesn't. We were created with free will and we can choose to be a rolling Stone who just reacts to wherever the tilt takes them. Or, we can live a life of purpose. A life that not only blesses us but blesses others. With a firm foundation chiseled by the hand of our loving God and a heart in us that longs to do his will, the grand designs of God can then begin to take their shape.

Are you willing to let God chisel and design you as you remain still with patience and trust? 

James 1:6, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

First Responder

When someone is mean to you, what is your first response? When tragedy strikes, what's your first response? When an injustice happens to you, how do you immediately respond? More often than not we let our emotions lead the way because we have not allowed God to train us as first responders. Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior is a learned expertise. Skilled operators at any job don't let their emotions guide them. Their training kicks in and their learned skills are put into immediate action. We're told in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, that the armor of God is available for us to wear everyday. 2 Timothy 3:17 says, "All scripture is God breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." Do we try too often to be spiritual paramedics without the proper training? I fear the answer to that is yes.

The older I become I reflect back on times where I thought I knew it all. I feel so embarrassed of the times I talked too much when someone simply just needed a listener. I shutter at some of the advise I gave that was human and not spiritually inspired. There were times when someone just needed to be held but I blabbered on with nervous chatter. Or, how about when someone needed to share but I shared my experiences over them to show that I knew how they felt. They just needed for me to listen but I monopolized the time. You see where I'm going with this. All I can do is thank God that he works all things out for good for those who love him. Each time I recall one of those times I stop and say a prayer for that person because I know that God is faithful to redact through his Holy Spirit anything that wasn't profitable for the kingdom. He is more than able to turn our good, yet flawed efforts into something that he can use.

How can we be better prepared to minister to those in need? First and foremost, pray. Pray before, say prayers during and continue praying. Secondly, just listen. Be kind, tenderhearted and non judgmental as you just keep listening. Thirdly, look up scriptures with them. Write down what they're struggling with and then across from it write down a scripture to battle it. Comfort them and live out the Fruits of the Spirit in your life which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Lastly, listen to God as you pray for them. He will lead you into effective prayers and even acts of service. 

Bottom line, Get behind the Spirit of God and follow directions. We were given two ears and only one mouth which is God's way of saying talk less and listen more. Follow the prodding of the Holy Spirit and don't neglect training yourself up in the word of God.

*Psalm 119:105, "God will be the lamp unto your feet and the light onto your path." 

*2 Corinthians 1:21... "It is God who enables us to stand firm in Christ" 

Go and love as Christ has shown us....

John 13:34–35: Jesus tells His followers, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

John 15:12: Jesus repeats, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

Ephesians 5:2: Paul writes, "And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us..."

1 John 4:11: John writes, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

*Galatians 5:13-14, "... through love serve one another..."

*Ephesians 4:15 calls believers to grow up into Christ in every way.

*1 Timothy 4:7, where the Apostle Paul writes, "Rather, train yourself to be godly" (or "train yourself for godliness"). Paul immediately adds in the next verse, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things."

*2 Timothy 3:16-17 notes that all Scripture is breathed out by God so that the servant of God may be "thoroughly equipped for every good work."

*2 Timothy 2:15 tells believers to do their best to present themselves to God as one approved, "a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

We never know when someone is going to trigger our pain, humiliate us, falsely judge us, arise our anger, and make us react with defensiveness, profanity, nastiness, judgement...Just be prepared and God's Grace will be sufficient for when we need it.

*“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9. 

What have some of your first responses been? What inside of you gets triggered? Is it God's love or is it buried resentment and bitterness? By allowing God to clean out our buried pain and to teach us his way to love, people will begin to see and want to know this God that we serve. We will stop wounding people with our reactions and by training to be first responders we can start being an example to people of our gracious Lord. Then, instead of missed opportunities there will be an abundance of Glory stories!

Zoom Lense

I have often written about the topic of focus. Where we need to focus to have a healthy relationship with God and others. To keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. However, this morning the Lord put on my heart to take another look at this topic. Focusing is not only where we cast our eyes, it is also like a zoom lens. We can focus tightly in on something or pull back and see a full panoramic view. Oftentimes, we get so focused in on something happening that we lose sight of the big picture. 

I'm an artist and it is crucial to stand back and get a wide lens view of a piece that I'm working on. So often I can get engrossed with a tight focus as I'm working on a painting. If I don't step back, I won't get the proper perspective, composition, balance of values... 

This is a definition of value from Google: 

"In art, value means the lightness or darkness of a color, tone, or area. It is one of the core elements of art and is separate from the actual color (hue). Key Uses of Value: Creating Depth, shifts from light to dark, makes flat shapes look round and three-dimensional. Guiding the Eye: High contrast (placing very light elements next to very dark ones) creates a focal point that draws the viewer’s attention. Setting the Mood: Soft, light values can feel open and calm, while heavy, dark values can feel dramatic or mysterious. Value Scale: Artists use a step-by-step grayscale gradient—ranging from pure white to pitch black—to measure and plan their tones.

The balance or unbalance of value and your painting can either bring a settled peaceful feeling to the viewer or it can bring a disturbed feeling of unbalance. 

The key to creating this in your painting is to be able to zoom out and let the painting speak to you in it's entirety. Detail is important but overall composition is what draws the viewer in."

This concept can be perfectly applied to our lives. Do we have balance? Do we have healthy insight? Are we able to zoom out of situations creating a distance for a broader point of view? Can we zoom in and see our behavior in a situation and take responsibility for it? By asking and allowing God to do this in your life, It opens up a whole new viewpoint and growth pattern. It enables us to mature so that we can not only take responsibility for ourselves but we can also extend grace to other people just like Christ did for us. Taking a wider view allows us to see how a situation is affecting everyone and not just us.

Years ago I read a metaphor written by a new age author. (Although I do not adopt that philosophy at all, I know that we can glean wisdom from many things. Yet, salvation is only found in Jesus Christ). Anyway, the author produced an image of four people coming from four different paths upon a cobra. The first was a mother with her child and upon seeing the snake she clutched her child up close to her, turned and ran. The second was a snake charmer. He pulled out his instrument and began to mesmerize the snake and make it dance. He received joy from that and then he carried on. The third person was a scientist. This person studied reptiles. Those that were harmless and those that were poisonous. He observed the snake as he made sketches and took notes. Then he went on his way. The fourth person was not experienced in this land. He was bitten by the snake but someone came along and got him to treatment so he wouldn't die. The moral of the story is that there was only one situation but four different viewpoints. One learned caution and fear while another learned playfulness and joy. The third learned knowledge and the fourth learned to be aware. 

What I took away from this story was that there can be a problem between two people or two groups of people. There's one problem, one situation but everyone has a different viewpoint. We as humans cannot fix things because we're also dealing with pride... Only God can see the beginning the middle and the end. Only God can see each heart. And it's only the love of God that can teach us to forgive. When we have a situations where there is unrest and battles between factions, it would do us well to step back and open the lens of our heart wide to see how everyone is feeling. Broaden our view to see what God says through his word and his actions as to how we should posture our hearts, calm our minds and act. We can also zoom in and look at the micro expressions on people's faces and see pain that we couldn't see from a distance. Anger roots from hurt, fear and frustration (Dr. Phil quote :) The two biggest pains in life are rejection and betrayal. How could we ever see what God wants if our view is through a lens of pain and anger. 

Settle down, talk to God honestly and I mean honestly. Scream, cry, kick... I encourage you to read the book of Habakkuk in the Old testament. In his shorts three chapters he shows us how to be brutally honest with God as we cry out why, why, why! Then, God basically tells him to journal what he's going to tell him. The third chapter shows us that Habakkuk went from a man who was devastated, hurting, confused, angry, to a man who settled into a heart of joy as he trusted God with the whole situation and with the future. 

In closing, what I'm trying to share is an insight that we should not lock our eyes and hearts in stubbornness. We should adjust our perspective and be open to what God sees in the whole thing. We can sit in it for a long time as we wallow in our pride and demands. Or, we can surrender to "the One", Jesus, who surrendered his life for our sins. Why do we find it so hard to do for others what Christ did for us.

Is God "in" the way or is he "The Way"?

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 

This morning I was meditating on this scripture. I realized that we possess zero holiness. The only holiness that we have is Christ in us. As we walk through life we have to let Jesus make the way. We need to follow him so that his presence always goes before us. We must constantly learn his beautiful ways of love and allow those lessons to transform us into his likeness through his Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes though, when situations get out of control and our feelings become overwhelming and hot, we tend to think that God is in our way. He's just too slow!!! We want to push him aside and go tell that person exactly how we feel as we plead our case. We want our words and feelings to bring about justice, fast. However, that's not how it works. If we choose to make Jesus "the way", rather than choosing our way, then we will walk in holiness because he is what people see rather than our emotions and irrational actions. We allow the Lord to restrain us and we stand behind him so that we walk in the fragrance of his love, grace, mercy, patience and wisdom.

We cannot be holy on our own. We must crave the humility of Christ to be alive in us. Asking him daily to strike down our self-righteousness. In Ephesians 4:2, it says, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."  He is holy and if we have him in our heart and allow him as our Lord to stand before us, as his Holy Spirit indwells us. Then, the Father will see us through him, our neighbors, friends, family and even our enemies we'll see the beauty of Christ in us. That is when lives are changed.

I think good advice would be that before we speak or act we take a step back. We invite the Lord to stand in front of us. We should ask him to awaken the beautiful gifts that his Spirit inhabits us with ; Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Then, no matter what the circumstance, everyone will see the holiness and love of God displayed through us.

It's true that God's justice comes slowly. I was praying one day and he told me, "I'm not changing toilet paper rolls here, I'm changing hearts. And, stubborn, self-righteous hearts to boot."  :)  In our anger and confusion we so often plead our case to God that we are right and they are wrong. But I promise you if you slow down and take your emotions out of it, asking God to reveal his kind of Love to You, he will do it. It takes a lot of surrendering on our part. It takes patience, humility ect... But then that moment will come. You will see yourself at the foot of the cross and what he did for you and you will realize in that moment that's what we are called to do for others. Jesus, who is the only one that had the right to be exalted, humbled himself.

It says in Exodus 14:14, that the battle is not ours but the Lord's. He goes before us and fights our battles and we are called to just be still and know that he is God. Whatever this life brings toward you be sure to jump behind Jesus and trust. Don't push him aside and allow your emotions to react. Think of what a beautiful image it is to have your King standing before you and you are confidently standing behind him in the wake of his love and power. Put down your weapons of words, self-righteousness, anger... And take upon yourself the Spirit of love. If Jesus could do it for you, then, you have no excuse for not loving and forgiving.

P.S. Forgiving doesn't mean that you have to be present around someone who has abused you. Forgiveness with boundaries is wise.

"No weapon formed against you will prosper."  Isaiah 54:17.

Practical Preparedness

You want to know how amazing God is? I woke up yesterday morning and during my devotional time this particular scripture stood out, "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? I thought to myself that I could just keep reading but something encouraged me to pick this scripture apart and look at it more closely. I began to meditate on it and soon I recalled a memory: [The catastrophic collapse of the San José copper-gold mine in Chile occurred on August 5, 2010, trapping 33 miners approximately 2,300 feet (700 meters) underground. The workers were stranded for exactly 69 days before being safely rescued on October 13, 2010.For the first 17 days, the miners were entirely cut off from the surface with unknown fates until a drill broke through and a note was discovered confirming they had survived in an emergency shelter. An international rescue operation was then launched, leading to their eventual extraction.]

Can you even imagine being trapped deep inside the earth for 69 days! Seventeen of which you had no hope of even knowing that someone knew you were there, if they were coming to rescue or if you were just going to be buried alive! It's said that the faith of a few men kept them hoping. 

Even when buried in darkness whether physically, emotionally or mentally We always have a hope as Christians. The Lord is our light and our salvation - whom shall I fear? Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). The word of God, which is Christ himself is our light and our hope. 

The level of despair and the unknown of whether the rescue of these workers would cause a collapse or even be successful must have been a level of stress and anxiety that few of us know. Two men stood out as leaders and encouragers [1. Luis Urzúa (The Organizational Leader)His Role: As the shift foreman, Luis Urzúa is widely credited with saving the men's lives by keeping them unified and organized.How He Encouraged Them: During the first 17 days when the world thought they were dead, he used a strict democratic voting system to maintain order. He rationed their tiny two-day supply of food so it lasted over two weeks, mapped out the tunnels for structure, and kept the men focused on survival rather than panic.The Ultimate Captain: True to his leadership role, he was the 33rd and final miner to be rescued from the depths.2. José Henríquez (The Spiritual Encourager)His Role: Nicknamed "The Pastor," Henríquez was a drill master and evangelical preacher who became the emotional and spiritual anchor for the group.How He Encouraged Them: He kept morale high by leading the men in prayer twice every day. He used his deep faith to counsel the miners through crushing anxiety and fear, reminding them to hold onto hope when everything seemed impossible.]

The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? A stronghold is a highly defended, secure place of refuge, protection, or safety. In the scariest most unpredictable places, we are called to believe in God's word. No matter what the outcome, he is with us through it all. He is surrounding us, and under his wing we have refuge. 

What happened to me next was nothing compared to what these minors went through but it gave me an insight into this scripture. During my devotional in the morning the winds were kicking up and becoming extremely strong. Soon they became violent and You could feel the whole house shaking and branches flying off of trees and hitting the house. It was relentless and it wouldn't give up. Soon it was ripping huge trees out by the roots and they were falling in our yard. Two of the trees took down the electrical wires by the road. We called the electric company but it was going to be a long time before anyone came. We had no electricity and it was dusk so we scrambled for our emergency supplies, batteries and set up some emergency lighting around the house. We called a friend of ours who literally got in his truck during the storm and came over and helped us get the generator started.

On a much smaller level the Lord was our light and salvation last night. I kept my eyes on him and not the storm as I trusted him and he in turn gave me peace. I looked at my home as The stronghold of the Lord. A highly defended secure place of refuge, protection and safety. I didn't trust in the structure but I trusted that God's mighty wing was over us.

I encourage everyone of you to know the word of God. Spend time reading it and memorizing it. Write it down and post it around your house. Because when things get scary It usually comes upon us fast and furiously. During earthquakes which I am fully experienced in because I lived in California for years. You realize there is nothing that is secure when you're going through one. All you have is God. What used to be solid, stable and reliable suddenly looks fluid. Just like drowning, your hands just go through the water and there's nothing to stabilize you. God's word is solid, it is the light in our darkness, it is our salvation, our stronghold and our hope. Please don't wait until something fearful and unstable happens in your life. Store up the treasures of God in your heart and in your mind now. So that when you fall it will be into his arms and you will know that you can survive it because of his grace, mercy and love. His word, his promises, his character and attributes will be pillars that will hold you up when you feel like crumbling. 

Isaiah 43:2, ""When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."

Insight: Our enemy the devil knows that he cannot convince people that there is no God because it's very clear in Romans chapter 1 that God has given evidence all around us of his existence and that no man has any excuse to not believe. So the enemies tactic is to convince us that there's no hurry. To put off reading the Bible, to not store up God's powerful promises and proclamations in our hearts and minds.... Do not be fooled!

Draw near to God now and he will draw near to you. James 4:8.

Prisms through Tears

I may have written about this before but it's worth repeating. We were on vacation in Mammoth California one time and we were all excited to go hiking the next day. However, we woke up to a rainy day. Just like rain can keep you from the majesty of heightened senses by keeping you indoors. Tears can blind us from God's blessings and joy when we withdraw.

We made a decision that morning to venture out anyway. It ended up being the most spectacular day! The rain had made the rocks shine with all the colors in them. You know when you take a regular rock and it just looks dry and kind of ugly but then you put water on it and you can see it's glory. It's the same thing on our days of tears. We can stay hidden in our sorrow but if we choose to see God in our situation it's the same as when the rain falls upon the rocks. The rain makes the dry earth look like a rich myriad of browns against the soaked leaves that are now glittering from the raindrops. The rocks reveal all the hidden colors in them and the smell of the rain in our senses makes everything seem alive. We can have that same experience when we look through our tears.

What we experienced that day was magnificent. We made a choice to see past the rain. We looked beyond what we thought was a hindrance. Just like when we feel down or depressed we can make a choice. We can focus on our sorrow or we can focus on the anointing from God through our tears. Through our tears God's promises and blessings become more clear and alive.  We are choosing where we are going to put our focus. A day that can seem dull and dark can become vibrant if we focus on God. In that stillness, if we seek him in it,  he will reveal the hidden blessings, no matter what our circumstances are. 

In our busyness when we feel energetic we can bypass the beautiful things that God bestows on us. The deeper things are revealed through tears. The deeper beauty and richness of his love for us is clearer. By choosing to focus on God in those times it enables us to see his comfort, his kind and gentle presence, his ability to bring beauty out of ashes...

I recently realized that I never really knew how to rest. I only knew fight or flight and that kept me in a constant wired state in my nervous system. I just came through a dark time and I sought God which enabled me to see his light, his love and his comfort. I allowed those insights to teach me how to be strengthened in my faith and to truly learn how to rest in him. I learned how to be kind to my parasympathetic nervous system. I actually learned how to see myself like God sees me. Through a lens of kindness and gentleness. We so often allow shame and guilt to rob us of the blessing of rest. This time though, I embraced that beautiful insight from God and just like the rain brought out all the colors of nature, he revealed his beautiful character in my life. I rebuked negative thinking and negative words and begin to speak his powerful words over me. I knew scripture very well but he showed me that there's a difference between having it in your head and allowing him to make it come alive in your heart. 

I encourage you to see your tears as rain. Let them open up prisms of God's light. As he lets his light shine through your tears you will be able to see colors and depths of his character and love that you would never be able to see in the absence of tears. Allow him to reveal to you the beauty that is hidden in our sorrows. The most incredible gift from God is to be able to praise him not just on the sunny days but also on the tearful days. 

He knows sorrow and suffering on a level that we will never understand. But what comfort it brings when we are in that state knowing with full assurance that the man of sorrows sits with us to comfort us.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God". 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Prayers In Darkness

Just like a child who is outside playing with friends, riding their bike, skipping rope, playing ball... Then, all of a sudden a storm arises. The sky turns black, the winds pick up and the rain starts coming down hard. We as adults sometimes experience the same scenario.  We're going along feeling perky and happy and next thing we know, a cloud of depression moves in, someone we love gets sick or passes away, we contract a flu virus... And just like that our sunny day turns dark. Our skipping and playing turns into soreness and sadness. What do we do? 

If something happens where we can realize an endpoint, that can give us hope, because we know that whatever's happening is going to end. We cling with all of our strength to God and his promises and when the momentary trial comes to an end we feel good that we didn't lose our faith. 

However, there are times when the trial is not momentary and our faith weakens. We become weary and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Has God left us? If we depend on our emotions then it could absolutely feel like he has left us! But if we depend on his promises then we know that there's no way he would ever leave us. 

Matthew 11:28-30, " “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.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18, " Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Lamentations 3:20-25, "My soul is downcast within me. But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

    “therefore I will hope in him.”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

    to the soul who seeks him." 

There will come times when our natural energy or optimism will not be enough for us. We will have to lean heavily on God the Father, his Son and the Holy Spirit. God's promises will be the mast that we cling to when the storm hits us and we are in the middle of a sea of turmoil in complete darkness. 

I encourage you not to let life hit you like a bunch of bricks falling from the sky but to be prepared. Read your Bibles and highlight and rewrite scriptures in your journals that the Holy Spirit speaks to you through. Let them comfort you and pass them forward to those that you know are going through something. 

Anguish is such a spiky and poisonous word. No one wants to go near it or have any part of it. But sometimes we are called to go through things. Jesus went before us and like I said he will be with us through everything. Don't lose heart. 

1 Peter 4:12, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test you [that is, to test the quality of your faith], as though something strange or unusual were happening to you." 

Not only am I going through this right now but I can think of quite a few people as far as Christian friends and acquaintances that are experiencing this darkness and at even a much deeper level. This is not even to mention the stories that I read on social media. People are suffering and not just what I spoke about above but terrible persecutions around the world. I'm sorry this all sounds like such a downer but we are called to pray for one another. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for the unsaved and what they're going through without having a Savior to lean on. Pray for your enemies because hurt people, hurt people. Pray for a hurting and lost world.

Psalm 34:18-19, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. "

Psalm 91:4, "He shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge; his truth shall be your shield and rampart. 

Praise God for his divine protection, comfort, hope, faithfulness and love.

Ecclesiastes 1:3-8, "there is a time for every season.."

The sun comes out after every storm.