The important thing to realize is that the hard times come from the enemy- not God. This post was written shortly after I truly came to believe that truth. I look at how the truth has helped me through the last few years and I am amazed. We've had some tough things going on recently- and I've felt so much stronger than ever before. I think that the conviction of this truth has shown me how to turn to God through my struggles and allow His Spirit to live in me and fight for me.
Anyways, I thought I'd share this old post. Hope you find some encouragement in it!
So Good: January 2010:
There is a misconception that I think many people often face from time to time. This is that the Godly person is happy always. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely important that Christians display the joy that comes in the Lord and joy in the blessings He bestows. But let’s face it, everyone has times when they don’t feel their best. One of my favorite bible characters is David, most likely because he was a very emotional person. We can read his psalms that display much sorrow and then on the next page see God’s name being magnified. Psalm 13 is one that I personally find very comforting:
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.
Thinking about the trials David faced make me very wimpy, but to see how David chooses to link those trials to evil help me learn a lesson. Verse 2 is especially important. David is saying that when he is feeling down he is letting the enemy triumph over him. Now, David’s physical enemy happened to be a gigantic army and a King, but I think this is relatable to other situations.
When we dwell on our sorrows I believe those feelings can begin to take us away from the Lord. The devil wants us to become so focused on our own sorrow that we can not focus on God’s love. See how David chooses to change his thinking in verse 5 and 6? David continues to sing to God and claim that God has been good to him because he doesn’t want the enemy to overcome him. When a Christian feels down, even if it is about something small, I think it’s important to remember to praise God and trust Him- and to not let the enemy overcome! This is not easy, but fighting temptation never is. But isn’t it encouraging to know that fighting negative emotions is something that is faced by lots of Godly people? We can rest assured that the Lord understands our pains that we face and that they do not come from Him. Because the Lord has been and is and will be good to us.
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.
Thinking about the trials David faced make me very wimpy, but to see how David chooses to link those trials to evil help me learn a lesson. Verse 2 is especially important. David is saying that when he is feeling down he is letting the enemy triumph over him. Now, David’s physical enemy happened to be a gigantic army and a King, but I think this is relatable to other situations.
When we dwell on our sorrows I believe those feelings can begin to take us away from the Lord. The devil wants us to become so focused on our own sorrow that we can not focus on God’s love. See how David chooses to change his thinking in verse 5 and 6? David continues to sing to God and claim that God has been good to him because he doesn’t want the enemy to overcome him. When a Christian feels down, even if it is about something small, I think it’s important to remember to praise God and trust Him- and to not let the enemy overcome! This is not easy, but fighting temptation never is. But isn’t it encouraging to know that fighting negative emotions is something that is faced by lots of Godly people? We can rest assured that the Lord understands our pains that we face and that they do not come from Him. Because the Lord has been and is and will be good to us.
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