How to Find the Strength You Need to Overcome Your Challenge
Weeks into staying home due to the novel coronavirus, many of us need strength to stay positive, to overcome stress, and to make the most of this unprecedented time. Discover six biblical ways to receive the strength you need to overcome your challenge.
Uncertainty, changes in schedules and routines, the unannounced end of many of our norms brings emotional stress as we face many challenges.
What kind of strength do you need today?
- The recovery was long and hard. My friend Amy worked hard to regain physical strength and mobility. Many days, simply walking up a few steps took every ounce of strength she possessed.
- In the aftermath of a parent’s death, Janie needed emotional strength to grieve a great loss that seemed to swallow hope in her life. Strength to carry on was part of her daily prayer.
- Facing a myriad of challenges on the job, John seeks relational strength to lead well and hold his tongue when conflict erupts among his team members.⠀⠀
The Bible has much to say about finding strength to overcome challenges and hard times. One of the promises of God that strengthens my soul is tucked into the book of Isaiah.
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Yet those who wait for the Lord⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Will gain new strength;⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
They will mount up with wings like eagles,⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
They will run and not get tired,⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
They will walk and not become weary.—Isaiah 40:31⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We all encounter times when we need strength we can’t muster on our own, despite our hard work and best efforts.
As I read these words the prophet Isaiah penned so long ago, God brings a question to my thoughts.
How many times have I asked for strength
but didn’t settle my soul to wait for the Lord?
Ouch. The impatient part of me hates to wait. I’d much rather just get right to the answer or the solution. How about you? And yet, in this promise waiting is part of God’s process of giving new strength.
Our need for emotional stamina.
How about emotional strength? That is the type of strength I need more than the others. Somehow all the other needs for strength carry an emotional burden as well.
Strength to hold fast to God’s word and continue in faith adds grit to our ability to persevere through disappointments or challenging times. There is an emotional component to every challenge we face. Before we know it, our emotions begin to shape our faith and drain our energy.
Waiting is a spiritual discipline.
In many ways, our world is waiting. Waiting for strength, hope, and healing during these days when pandemic has created a new normal for a season.
This waiting word is powerful: to hope, to look for, to eagerly expect, to bind together, to be collected, and to linger for. God is our strength giver, the sustainer of our soul.
What a beautiful picture of lingering for the One provides what we need to keep going, to not give in, or to give up. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The gift of “new strength” is born of our need, relying on God to provide. It is the gift that comes when we seek the right source, rather than try one more thing to make ourselves strong.⠀This message runs counter to every self-help philosophy so prevalent in this world.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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God promises to give us strength when we wait for Him.
- Strength for our weariness.
- Our weak-hearted moments.
- Our fatigue and exhaustion.
- Our frustration that fights with faith.
Waiting for the Lord is a spiritual discipline that can happen in a variety of ways.
Six ways to wait for God’s strength:
- Waiting can be a prayer said, sung, shared, or silently formed in the ache of our souls. Pray for strength and God’s provision.
- Waiting can be a physical or spiritual posture. Bowing down, leaning on, pushing in, or simply choosing to be still are postures of putting our attention on God.
- To wait for the Lord often involves the act of letting go of our expectations, our want-to’s and our what-about-me’s that tempt us to fight for control. It is the act of laying down our rope in our spiritual tug-of-wars with God.
- Waiting is a decision of faith. We make the holy choice to trust God even when we don’t know the outcome, the answer, or maybe even the question. It is the act of remembering God’s heart even when we don’t understand His plan.
- Sometimes waiting is a simple grace of being willing. We take a deep breath and turn our attention to something else, giving God space and time to work.
- Waiting can also be very active as we just do the next right thing. It is the everyday holiness of being faithful in the little things again and again. Active waiting make one more choice to hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. We press on like runners nearing the finish line.
The promised outcome of waiting is new strength. We look for strength in so many ways, but the soul strength God gives is something new.
Something other.
Something better.
To renew, recover, to grow, to sprout up, and to change for the better. This is just a glimpse of heart of God providing what we need. God gives strength to soar with eagles and to run without growing weary.
Are you ready to overcome your challenge?
On days when discouragement depletes my positive attitude, I long to soar with the graceful ease of an eagle. Too often I exhaust myself flap-flap-flapping my wings in efforts to get off the ground.
Look with fresh eyes at this beautiful picture of the abundant love of God at work in our lives. Friend, no amount of Wheaties for breakfast can empower us to carry this kind of strength.
Strength for the soul is a glorious gift of a gracious God.
- Undeserved.
- Unmerited.
- Unmeasured.
- Unleashed.
Are you waiting for God to strengthen your soul today? Together let’s embrace this precious gift of strength that comes when we need it most. Will you join me in praying for God’s healing strength over our world today?
Easter Will Not Be Cancelled: Remember the Unstoppable Joy of the Resurrection
In all the cancelled events, remember the unstoppable joy of Christ’s victory over death. An Easter devotion for women to strengthen your soul during the Coronavirus.
Sun shines warm on my face. The dogwoods and azaleas bloom with a riot of color that announces the wonder of spring’s new life and reminds me of the resurrection power of Easter.
Colorful chalk drawings of children decorate driveways. I marvel at the juxtaposition with the headlines of the newspaper folded on my table. All that is wrong in the world, economic issues, political tension, the spread of the novel Coronavirus, and stats on the current number of world-wide deaths burden my heart. And then I remember.
Easter Still Comes
On this morning, just a few days before Easter, I remember that Jesus died for all of this and more.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.- Isaiah 53:4-5
Did you know that the Hebrew word for “grief” in this passage extends beyond the hard things that grieve our hearts? The unstoppable joy of Easter is because Jesus bore our malady, anxiety, calamity, disease, grief, and sickness.
In light of a pandemic, even as the entire earth groans under the weight of fear and sickness, Easter still comes.
When so many things are cancelled—work, school, church, graduations, weddings, trips, and conferences, let’s celebrate the glorious reality that Easter isn’t cancelled.
Nothing and no one can hold back the good news of Easter, the victory over sin, death, and disease that the resurrection of Jesus accomplished.
It is finished.
And it will never be cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled.
This year we have a rare and precious opportunity to celebrate Easter from a difference perspective. In the shadow of death, we remember and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with fresh faith.
Victory over death and new life in Christ.
Let’s band together to remember what has already been done. Death has been defeated.
Eternal life is gifted to us by faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.–Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB
In this holy moment, celebrate the joy of life in Christ.
Recognize God’s hand in our lives, His presence in our days, and His power at work in our hearts. Wake up to the wonder of Easter every day.
More than a story.
The first Easter morning was so long ago that we are often tempted to think of Easter as a story rather than a revolutionary truth that changes everything.
[tweetthis]The new life of Easter is truth to embrace and celebrate every single day.[/tweetthis]
That long ago morning, women rushed to the grave of the crucified and buried Jesus. Hearts broken with the angst of grief. Sorrow weighed heavy and hope seemed like an impossible dream.
The truth is that so many in our world feel this way today.
The women entered the tomb to see that the body of Jesus was gone. Two men appeared, asking a question that echoes throughout eternity,. . .
“Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.–Luke 24: 5-9 NASB
In the confusion and grief of the moment, God sent a miraculous message to these faithful women. How often do we, like the women at the tomb, need to remember our Lord is very much alive.
Today our world needs the miraculous message of God.
- Jesus is not dead.
- God is not absent.
- Jesus has conquered sin and delivered us from the power of death.
- The joy of salvation cannot be cancelled and it will not be stopped.
As we celebrate Easter, let’s remember His words.
Let’s not bypass the instruction of the angels at the tomb: Remember what He said.
These women who loved Jesus had not only heard Him teach the Scriptures, but they heard His personal words spoken through relationship over time.
How many conversations had they had with Christ over the years? How many memories? How many messages had He spoken to their hearts? In these conversations, Christ had explained what would happen with words that didn’t make sense at the time.
- Now they remembered.
- Now they understood.
- Now they ran with unstoppable joy to report the incredible news!
Remembering what Christ said enabled them to understand a situation beyond their human experience. Remembering and understanding gave them powerful news to share with the others.
Three simple actions.
The women remembered, returned, and reported the news to others.
Celebrating the resurrection and remembering what Christ has done isn’t just for our benefit. It’s not just for our faith, and not just for our moment.
The good news of Easter is for returning to our lives, homes, communities, and people. The resurrection is for reporting what we have experienced–the power of Christ’s resurrection that saves us from the power of death.
This Easter when the world suffers through a pandemic, we can remind others in their moment, their need, and their hard places–helping them to remember what Christ has said. We can remind them that Jesus is risen. We can invite them to celebrate the victory that stopped death in it’s tracks.
He is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Who can you share the good news with today?
More Easter Posts to Inspire Your Heart
- Easter Will Not Be Cancelled: The Unstoppable Joy of the Resurrection
- Inspire Your Heart to Hope + Printable Easter Poem
- The Good in Good Friday: 17 Powerful Verses on the Resurrection Life of Christ + Printable List
- 4 Worshipful Ways to Remember the Resurrection Every Day
- Six Powerful Lessons on Love and Humility from the Last Supper
- Family Traditions Create Special Memories
- Days in Jerusalem: Pictures of the Wailing Wall and the Garden Tomb
- Pictures of Days in Jerusalem–a Recent Trip
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5 Powerful Choices to Free Your Heart from Fear
Friend, do you need a few practical ideas of ways to process emotions and stay in the present? A few truths to strengthen your soul to live well in this unusual season?
When the winds of uncertainty blow, hold fast to the certainty of God. As we witness the suffering of many, doubt, worry, insecurity, and anxiety can creep in uninvited.
Purposeful choices to trust God during this pandemic make a mighty impact.
Life looks different than it did a few weeks ago. As we turned the calendar of February to March, the terms Covid-19 and Coronavirus crept into our conversations. Like thunder rumbling in the distance, the storm seemed far away.
As the virus extends its fingers beyond far-away borders the situation continually evolves. With schools closed, event’s cancelled, work-places closing doors, the reality of a pandemic ushers in many changes to daily life.
The world seems both bigger and smaller at the same time. A global pandemic feels inconceivably big, fostering a distinct temptation to live in fear for the future.
When the world is shaken, our soul needs to stay focused on the stability of God. Practical ways to trust God can help us to stay focused even though rhythm of our days is different.
The other day our state Governor proclaimed a stay at home order until June 10. To be honest, my first response was a physical wave of claustrophobia at the thought of not going anywhere for months.
Our Best Choice to Overcome Anxiety
Reading the news I forced myself to take a deep breath and made the choice to trust God in the moment.
I stopped to pray, “Lord, I choose to trust you. I rely on you to settle my emotions and make me brave in this time of unknowing and uncertainty.”
God reminded me of words He highlighted to me during my morning quiet time of Bible reading:
Purposeful trust and releasing our emotions–these are choices that free our hearts from fear.
As we process change and loss, it’s important to not mentally live in the future…that nebulous place where “what ifs” stir up anxiety and dread.
My feelings didn’t fall in line immediately, but making small actions–pray in the moment, take a walk, drink water, and choosing to accept the moment as it is are practical choices that help me to overcome anxiety for the future.
These are small brave acts of faith to walk in victory and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Friend, practice these power-packed choices to process emotions and stay in the present during these uncertain days. Which of these faith choices strengthens you today?
I am praying these intentional acts of faith will become your practical stepping stones to peace in the midst of uncertainty. You can find these practices and many more in my book, Holy in the Moment.
5 Powerful Choices to Free Your Heart from Fear
- Choose to trust God in this moment. Faith is activated in each small-but-significant choice to trust God in the moment. When you feel worry, sadness, or frustration, take a deep breath and ask God for the faith you need for this moment. Turning to God in prayer is choosing holy in the hard. Believe God has given you the faith you ask for and take a step forward.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).
- Not every moment is good, but believe God is good in every moment. When the world feels too big and the drains of the day too difficult, remember God is still in control and He is still good. Ask Him to open your eyes to his goodness in the midst of your situation. Shift your view from dwelling on the problems to practicing the presence of God in the difficulty.
“All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25: 10 AMP)
- Believing God is a decision rather than an emotion. Process your emotions. Recognize, name, and experience them, but don’t allow your emotions shape your faith. Make the choice to believe God is working though you may not feel it in the present moment.
“I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 NASB).
- Make the most of this time. Build with what God has given you at this time. It’s so easy to mourn what we are missing, what we don’t have, what’s not going to happen. The grace of acceptance frees us from the grip of fear. “Lord, help me to make the most of this day” is a simple prayer to focus on the blessing of the present moment.
Ask Father to open your awareness of practical ways to enjoy, invest, rest, build, clean out, or engage with God, yourself, and others during these unusual days.
- Watch for ways God provides. His grace is sufficient for our need in this moment. Ask God for what you need in this moment–patience, rest, faith, calm, optimism, or flexibility. Rely on Christ and watch to see the ways God provides.
- Grace to stay focused on faith rather than give into fear.
- Grace to choose peace over stress.
- Grace to grieve losses and disappointments.
- Grace to love and to live well as we stay home.
- Grace for healing and health for this hurting world.
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:32-34).
[tweetthis]We can’t control the future, but we can choose to look for God’s blessings and provisions for today.[/tweetthis]
God’s provisions come in the simple and the significant. A thought, a settling of your soul, a kind word, strength to persevere, energy to get off the couch. . . in the profound and the ordinary God is working in our daily moments.
[tweetthis]Push back the overwhelm of the global pandemic with the intentional choice to rely on Christ in this moment.[/tweetthis]
How is God providing for you and your family today? Let’s purpose not to worry about what we cannot control, what will happen, how long it will last, and all the things.
Stay focused on loving your people well today, trusting your Father today, finding peace in the Spirit today.
Deal? Let’s do it!
You can read more about powerful choices to trust God and overcome fear in my book, Holy in the Moment. What simple choices are giving you the power to find freedom from fear today?
Want to band with other women making simple choices to trust God in the moment? Request to join the Holy in the Moment Community Group on Facebook.
5 Simple Ways to Overcome Fear with God’s Power During COVID-19
In these topsy-turvey times, the ones that barged in with little warning and tilted the world off center, we need to hold fast to the strength of God’s Word. Do you need encouragement to overcome fear with God’s power during the coronavirus?
I wrote this post before the terms pandemic, COVID-19 or Coronavirus were part of my daily vocabulary. Today as I ponder what to write, God shows me these words are deeply appropriate for this time of world-wide fear.
When we feel weak, housebound, or fearful these are sacred moments to trust God on a deeper level. They are also times we long to hear God’s words and embrace His promises.
The Power of God’s Word in Our Times of Distress
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.–2 Corinthians 12:9-10
As many times as I have read 2 Corinthians 12:9, I’ve never stopped short on these first few words: “He has said to me.”
Paul prayed three times for God to remove something difficult in his life. Something painful and debilitating–a thorn in his flesh.
When we pray for our needs, we long to hear from God. During the COVID-19 we have a new perspective on our needs.
Fear can run rampant as we face a new reality.
We seek strength, healing, and God’s power in the midst of a global pandemic.
Hearing from God Strengthens our Soul
These simple words are so precious: “He has said to me.” There is the intimacy of relationship and the acknowledgement that Jesus hears and responds.
In these hard days, isn’t that what we long for–to hear from God? The spiritual practices of reflective Bible reading and prayer open our hearts to hear from God. Sequestered in our homes, reading God’s Word is a powerful use of our time to overcome fear and to receive God’s strength.
Time in God’s Word gives us the truth that sets us free–we can trust Him with our fears and weaknesses. He reminds us that He is our sufficiency, our “enough” for our need. These words are a declaration and promise to strengthen our soul with faith we need to persevere through pain, panic, and problems..
How counter to the world’s way of responding to weakness. And how counter to the old patterns of my flesh that just want to fix the problem and feel better. Paul learned to place a greater value on God’s presence than the problems he faced.
Paul learned a deep level of soul-contentment in the hard places of life. Don’t we all need powerful levels of Christ’s strength and provision as we navigate the challenges of a global pandemic?
Paul understood that his weakness wasn’t something to fix, defeat, deny, or avoid. Rather, he discovered the very weakness that plagued was actually an opportunity to discover God’s power in a personal way. A real way.
A way that changed lives.
Friend, we have this same opportunity today.
The Jesus way rests in the grace of Christ’s sufficiency.
What I learn from God’s word to my heart today is that soul strength comes only from relying and receiving from Jesus.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#prayforcovid19″]Trust is the action of my soul that sets grace in motion in a time of global need.[/tweetthis]
Every need is an opportunity for God to provide.
This word “sufficient” means to be possessed of unfailing strength, to be enough, to defend against danger, to be satisfied and contented. Just what we need every day, but especially these days.
Let’s choose the Jesus way of responding to the things that sap our strength and ignite our fears. Together let’s pray for the power of God to meet the mounting needs of our families, communities, nation, and world.
5 Ways to Overcome Fear with God’s Power During Covid-19
Consider the following ways to apply 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 during the coronavirus. Applying God’s Word is where the spiritual meets the practical–especially in our times of weakness.
1. Read your Bible. Take time to SEEK and LISTEN to His words in Scripture.
2. Shift your mindset to view fear and weakness as an opportunity to experience the power and strength of Jesus.
3. Receive His grace that gives strength. Trust Him to be your supply to overcome fear and to meet your needs.
4. Embrace the truth that when you are weak, Jesus is strong in you. Believe it. Declare it. Remember it. Live like it is true.
5. Pray for God to release His power to heal and miraculously provide in this problem that is so far beyond our capacity to contain. May His strength to manifested on the earth through His people.
Be blessed, my friends, and stay healthy and safe. May you experience God’s sufficiency and power in your life. And then give what you’ve received to those around you!
How can I pray for you today? Leave a comment or send me a message. I am honored to pray for each request.
Linking up at #RaRaLinkUp.
When You Need to Slow Down to Receive God’s Best
“Are you running at a breakneck pace to try and achieve what God wants you to slow down to receive?”—Lysa TerKeurst
This question made me stop to consider the condition of my soul. Good questions trigger us to reflect on our lives.
Over the past two years, I have pushed hard with both traditional and independent publishing work. Holy in the Moment is my first book with Abingdon Press, and I also run a publishing imprint for Planting Roots: Strength to Thrive in Military Life.
Though I worked with love, faith, and determination to grow platform, increase reach, develop new content, and market my book effectively, I often felt pressure to perform. I wrote about this in my last post, When You Catch Yourself Seeking Your Worth in Your Work.
I was also busy with an ambitious travel schedule, a part-time job, family, blog, speaking events, and non-profit editing and formatting of four books.
When Passion Becomes Pressure
Last fall I teetered on the edge of burnout. Discouragement infiltrated my emotions as I tried to juggle too many good things. When you put too many good things on your plate, something will have to give.
I felt I hadn’t earned the right to say “no” to any possible opportunity. I’ve only recently recognized insecurity and fear simmering beneath good intentions.
God enabled me to accomplish many beautiful things in the midst of brisk pace of life. There were countless blessings, great experiences, and wins–it was a wonderful year on many levels. I’m deeply grateful for each blessing.
Over time, there was a cost to juggling too many good tasks.
- Emotional: discouragement, weariness, and frustration began to infiltrate my attitudes.
- Practical: my home became a frustrating mess (at least to my comfort level). My office was such a wreck I didn’t even want to walk in the door.
- Physical: back pain from lack of strength training and long hours at the computer impacted my health.
- Spiritual: a subtle shift in motives impacted spiritual freedom in my work.
Slowing Down to Receive God’s Best
Some blessings we have to slow down to receive God’s strength for our weariness. We need God’s best to thrive in this life.
Deep work of the soul cannot be accomplished while we rush through life trying to do all the things that the “more is better” lie compels.
- Time to breathe.
- Time to clean up and clean out.
- Time to exercise.
- Time to refocus and regroup.
These are a few of the ways I’ve slowed down to receive everyday grace for spirit, soul, and body.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#perfectionism #selfworth”]Slowing down feels counter-intuitive. Saying no is a little scary.[/tweetthis]
Shame creeps in with the lie that I will be left behind if I don’t accomplish all the things the world says are “must do’s all the time” for authors. It’s more than a little insane to tell you the truth.
I’m choosing the holy and whole, entrusting my moments to God as well as my work. I lay down the strange cocktail of insecurity and perfectionism on the altar of faith.
This winter I’ve taken time for my soul to catch up with my body and for my heart to heal from the pressure of the expectations I placed on myself.
And it is good.
Recover Your Soul’s Strength in Christ
How about you, my friend? Are you feeling the stress of trying to do all the things…all the time?
Do you need to create space for your soul to breathe? Are you striving to achieve something God wants you to slow down to receive?
I ask these questions because they are important, and they are easy to bypass in the pursuit of all the good opportunities before us.
Here are a few steps to evaluate what’s happening in your soul today:
1.Look beneath the surface of your schedule to identify your why. Why are you doing what you do? What are you hoping to accomplish? Are your motivations helping you or have they shifted to something that drives you?
2. Listen to the messages in your emotions. Have vulnerable emotions started to crowd out a positive attitude? Are you consistently feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or discouraged? These vulnerable emotions alert us to shifts in our motivations. They can also point to lies that keep us in a state of stress.
3. Ask God to show you his desire for your heart and your schedule. Let him show you where you might carve out margin in your schedule. The greater responsibility of leadership you carry, the greater your need for solitude, prayer, and listening to God.
4. Release your expectations. It’s easy to default to the patterns of our flesh in order to meet a need, achieve a goal, or solve a problem. Surrender opens the door to working in faith and freedom as we enjoy working with God rather than striving for God.
5. Evaluate your commitments. Have you said yes to so many good things that you cannot accomplish your best thing? Are you sacrificing necessary parts of your life to accomplish your goals?
6. Trust God as you refine your motivations and adjust your schedule as needed. If your priorities have shifted, make the necessary changes to make time for the things that matter most.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.—Matthew 6:33
I will still work hard. I’m looking forward to speaking for upcoming events. I’m excited to work on new projects.
I will be intentional to guard my heart and be more careful about boundaries, margin, and motivations. Is this your challenge too?
Let’s encourage one another to. . .
- Entrust Jesus to be the keeper of our soul and of our schedule.
- Commit to pay attention to our inner yes’s and no’s that can shift our motives in the daily push.
- Work in the freedom of the Spirit rather than strive according to the flesh.
As we practice choosing God’s best, I suspect that we will look back in wonder at what God will do. Which one of these steps is most helpful for you today?
Leave a comment and share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.
Unexpected Blessings of Discouragement
Discovering God’s best when things don’t turn out like you plan.
I love the first few weeks of January, when the year is new and the calendar is not yet filled with plans and commitments.
I have taken some time to notice and embrace the lessons, challenges, and blessings of this past year. In the pausing, I recognize the unexpected blessing of discouragement. Blessings I didn’t see coming.
It has been a journey I didn’t plan to travel, but I am better for it. It has been a time of discovering God’s best even though things didn’t always turn out like I planned.
Trace your personal trends over a year.
Long ago, a mentor taught me the importance of being mindful of what God has taught and carrying those lessons into the New Year with intentionality. Reviewing the year is a powerful way to maximize spiritual growth.
Taking time to trace my personal trends last year, I saw that discouragement was an unwelcome intruder more often than I realized.
- Doing more didn’t always result in tangible results.
- Many days it felt like running in place rather than reaching my goals.
Maybe you’ve had some goals that didn’t work out like you planned.
It’s not fun, it?
When we work hard but can’t measure progress, it is all too easy to give place to the “Not Enough” voices that steal our confidence and derail our motives.
God often uses our struggles to reveal deep places of the heart, the root causes of those struggles.
It is a journey of a different kind that uncovers blessings we may not recognize at first glance.
An inner journey that takes time.
Through a season of soul work, God led me on a journey that is different from the destination I planned. My vision included worthy goals such as weight loss, consistent strength training at the gym, increasing productivity, and growing my business to a specific level.
My plan was about doing more. God’s plan was about being more. . .
- pure-hearted in my motives
- free from the approval of others
- content to receive what God gives
- humble to let go of expectations
- dependent on Jesus
- emotionally honest with myself
- trustworthy as a servant of Christ
- willing to wait for God
Freeing us from the hidden dynamics that drive us is an unexpected blessing of discouragement.
Before freedom can come, God helps us become more self-aware of the subtle pressures beneath the surface. God both heals our hearts and prepares us for new things coming in this deep work of the heart.
Truly, laying aside the old self and learning to live out of our new self (Ephesians 4:23-24) is a layered journey with the Lord.
It is a process over time rather than a destination we make in a single trip.
Seeking the approval of others is one of those old ways of living that easily barges in and overshadows my good intentions of serving God with a pure heart. Searching for worth and value from my work is another old way of living that God is healing.
Don’t rush the journey.
The persistent struggle between flesh and spirit is a daily part of the Christian life.
Holy moments are for recognizing when our insecurities drive our actions.
- So often we want to rush to the result without going through the experience.
- We want the growth but prefer to bypass the instruction.
- We desire purity but balk at the refiner’s fire.
Holy moments happen as we admit to ourselves that we really cannot fix what is broken, despite our best efforts.
Embrace the struggle.
God meets us in these tender places of honesty; the way things really are at this time. We muster courage to name our reality accurately.
A difficult and emotional process, God’s healing work is sometimes like the pain of a loving parent removing a splinter from a child’s hand.
We don’t want to hold still, snatching our hearts away in fear of pain. Despite the discomfort of the process, the result heals pain caused by something that’s not supposed to be there in the first place. Lies God never intended to lodge within us.
Healing can be a beautiful, unexpected blessing hidden in discouragement.
Ruth Haley Barton recognizes that “the demands of long-term leadership usually push us to a place where our patterns are clearly revealed” (Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, 50). It is a journey of becoming “safe enough with God and ourselves to say, Yes, this is who I am. We are able to surrender who we are–our limitations, our clinging and grasping and possessiveness, our selfishness and our fear. This is not a yes that says, I will remain the same.”
This is a yes that recognizes our soul struggle and says to God, “Whatever it is that most needs to be done in my life, you will have to do.”
This just might be both the most honest and most productive prayer we can pray.
Wandering in the wilderness of the many ways we try to fix ourselves, we stay stuck even though we are busy. Circling the same struggles, we wear our souls thin in the relentless pursuit to get somewhere but seeming to arrive nowhere.
These are the paths that lead to the unexpected blessing of embracing our limits.
Can you relate? Maybe you have traveled similar trails that lead to sacred pathways of transformation.
When overwhelm is a gift.
I am discovering that there are times when the too-much of overwhelm can be a gift. The honest recognition of our limits and vulnerabilities exposes the deeper questions beneath the surface of our awareness. Becoming aware of our condition is another unexpected blessing.
Barton continues by pointing out how we “try really hard to do something about what we are now seeing.” With the razor-sharp clarity of describing her own journey, she shares the point is not to fix ourselves, but to finally “let go of old patterns that no longer serve us…the adaptive behaviors” that get in the way of the “life of love and trust and being led by God that our hearts long for. To give ourselves to this process, we must trust that our true self is hidden with Christ in God, to be revealed as God sees that we are ready to live into it (53).”
God’s timing vs. our plans.
These are the soul journeys that take us deeper, farther, higher, and wider as we are ready.
- They come on God’s timetable, often on the heels of our greatest wins.
- They come at inconvenient times but arrive when we need them most.
- This journey doesn’t take us to the lesser places we thought we needed to go in order to prove our worth, to feel safe, or be successful.
And these are the places where in the loving care of God we grow deeper and move forward in ways we didn’t know we needed before the journey began.
Maybe the most powerful blessing of discouragement comes when God takes us where we most need to go.
About those goals . . .
On January days of making resolutions and planning for a new year, I understand in a fresh way that my goals are not necessarily God’s goals. Humility is another unexpected gift of discouragement.
Some prayers don’t receive the answers we hoped for. We sometimes misperceive God’s yes as no, His not now as not ever. To share a phrase from my beautiful friend Sarah McKinney, sometimes flourishing feels like failing.
God will attend to our soul even at the expense of our best-laid plans.
His ways are higher and truer, and they are just what we need. This is the unexpected beauty of brokenness that leads to holiness, wholeness and grace.
Yes, in so many ways, by God’s grace my soul traveled miles from where I started last year.
This year my goals are different in kind.
They are desires of
- being more than doing
- resting in work rather than working to rest
- faith that banishes fear of failure
- freedom before expectation
- want to over should do
- humility instead of the backwards pride of discouragement
- impartation over information
Because of the unexpected blessings of discouragement, I am ready for something new.
Something fresh, holy and whole.
Something that I cannot yet see, but sense simmering within.
These are the unexpected blessings my soul longs for with this prayer, “Whatever it is that most needs to be done in my life, You will have to do. Make Your desires my desires. And I’ll trust You to take me where You want to go.”
Amen.
Let it be so.
What unexpected blessings have you received lately?
Hope to Light the Dark this Christmas
Everything looks different in the glitter of Christmas lights.
The lights of Christmas spark hope in my heart.
Tucked away in each of our hearts is longing for the light of Christ, experiencing the gifts of hope, peace, and joy. Created to shine His light, we ache with frustration as we find ourselves jammed tight in an over-crowded schedule of commitments and expectations, especially this time of year.
Light shines joy and love throughout the Christmas season, but it is also the power of God at work overcoming the darkness. Has the pace of life threatened to eclipse the true light of Christmas, as worshipping the Christ-child becomes one of many loved traditions of the season?
Honestly, some days it’s a struggle to make time for the holy in this blessed holiday.
In the beginning, before time began to tick, before land separated seas, and before love lived in the hearts of men, the Word was with God.
And the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. —John 1:3 NASB
Good news breaks the chaotic confusion of darkness with words that radiate life-giving power and presence of Christ.
In him was life and the life was the light of men. —John 1:4 NASB
Life and light in this sacred equation go together. The beginning of life and the beginning of light. And the world have never been the same. The light of men, Christ is the light that breaks the power of death.
Jesus is life, the eternal life. And He is the life-giving light in the darkness of this lost and hurting world. The word life holds so more than the facts of biology. This God-life offers us the blessing to enjoy true life that comes from Christ. It’s energetic, fresh, and strong, bringing the vitality of God into the way we live and act. It is the essence of His very life.
During Christmas, difficulty and hardship often mingle side-by-side with celebration. Truly, darkness comes in a variety of forms. When storms rage, we are caught off guard when the lights go out. We loose our bearings.
Disoriented, we grope and grasp, trying to find our way. It’s all too easy to depend on ourselves to light the way–the how’s and the why’s of trying to somehow survive the confusion of the dark.
Darkness blankets hope with the heavy weight of difficult days. Hurting relationships, depleted finances, lost dreams, or broken hearts, life has no shortage of situations weary us under the weight.
Deep in the dark, we strain to see the choice to make or which way to walk. Reaching into our thoughts and emotions, shadows of anxiety, depression, grief, bitterness, or fear reveal our need for the light of hope.
On our dark days, whatever the cause, we long for the light. Difficult times can be especially hard at Christmas. Echoes from ages past, the prophesy becomes reality the blessed night Christ was born.
The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. —Isaiah 9:2 NASB
The beautiful truth about light is the darkness cannot overcome it. The darkness can never be so deep that the light of a single candle cannot push back the darkness. And there is no deed too dark that the purifying light of Christ cannot bring the saving grace of forgiveness.
Christmas beckons with the shimmer of true joy–the Light that ushers God’s best into our worst.
Turn out the lights and sit in the light of a candle or the twinkle of your Christmas tree. Reflect on these holy words, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
In what way do you need to experience the life and light of Christ this Christmas?
Could you trust Christ light up a dark situation in your life today?
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Enjoy the Best of Christmas from Ginger
A curated collection of Christmas content from award-winning author and blogger, Ginger Harrington. Take the Christmas Worship Challenge, read inspiring devotions, download free gifts, gather ideas for family fun, make a special gift, and chuckle with Ginger’s Christmas humor. Read the story of Ginger’s Christmas miracle in a free chapter from her book, Holy in the Moment. Enjoy the best of Christmas that you’ll want to come back to year after year!
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Read the story of a Christmas miracle I experienced in the first chapter of my award-winning book, Holy in the Moment. You’ll read a poignant story from one challenging Christmas in my life at the end of the first chapter. Read the story of what happened here. Give the gift of holy this Christmas–Holy in the Moment makes a wonderful gift to encourage faith in a practical way. Learn more about the book here.
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