Showing posts with label discouragement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discouragement. Show all posts

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Vision Thwarted

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

   
We have pictures, ideas, vision for how we would love things to turn out. Maybe you have had a goal in mind and something or someone stops you. Maybe you have a picture of how something should be but you cannot quite get there. Maybe you have to wait and the timing of your achievement has been thrown off. This is so frustrating and deflating! To have a vision thwarted can lead to discouragement, lost hope and even despair. Are you there today?

    If you are there, take a deep breath, allow yourself to vent, grieve, voice your disappointment.

    Talk to God, be real, share your frustration.

    Take hope in this: God’s vision is never thwarted. God completes that which He sets out to do. In the grand scheme of things, God has got things under control. You may not, but He does.

    My prayer is for you to rest in God’s love because ultimately this is what our frustration and disappointment may be all about – the struggle to rest in God’s love. Take a deep breath, be real and rest. He’s got you.


**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Be Strong and Courageous

**Sit quietly, eyes closed in silence for one minute before reading.**
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
    What fears linger in your mind? How has your heart been discouraged lately?
Much of my fear happens in isolation, particularly in the isolation of my mind, in my thoughts. No one knows I am afraid or discouraged unless I tell them. A close friend or husband might be able to tell through my actions or my tone, but to most people, they cannot see.
    If others cannot see my fear and discouragement that means I cannot see theirs either. I do not know what lingers in their minds and weighs down their heart.
    The command that God gives Joshua is a command for us as well. Be strong, be courageous for God is with you. God is WITH you, next to you, all the time, anytime. You are not alone and He knows your fears and your discouragement.
    May the presence of God empower and embolden you to live courageously, without fear and lifted up out of discouragement.

**Sit in quiet again for as long as is available to you.**