Weathering The Storm

With the challenges life is throwing me these days, I’m only a teensy bit ashamed to admit that my “deep thought” batteries are kind of exhausted right now. So when I need a word of encouragement myself, I find my way over to BeliefNet, where I found this short presentation on scriptures that speak to fear and how to overcome it.

I do find myself meditating on the 23rd Psalm a lot . . . particularly the “He restores my soul,” and “I shall fear no evil for You are with me” parts. I think I only recently realized that this Psalm is very much in alignment with a principle I’m living by these days: That we cannot always control what the day brings, but we can choose how we meet the day. I tend to feel better when I meet the day as David describes in Psalm 23.

If you are going through something right now, something that scares you, here’s the main thing you need to know: God is with you, right now, right in the midst of it. Now, if you’re from the “I expect God to fix this situation to my satisfaction, and RIGHT NOW!” mindset, well, you’ll probably be disappointed.

It is through tough times that God molds us, and the more rigid and close-minded we are, the more likely that the molding must be done with a hammer and chisel as opposed to the gentler molding of pliable clay. And what are we being molded into? Well, you’ll have to consult God directly on that — see the “Why You Are Here” chapter of “A Message From God” for that. But I firmly believe that tough times wear away the impurities in our spirits, leaving us as an even purer version of who we really are.

It’s always during tough times that you learn/remember what’s most important, and how things you thought were important are ultimately not important at all. This takes a certain amount of humility, because the process necessarily involves letting go of old ways of being that no longer work — you’ll have to accept that you were wrong about some things, maybe even things you’ve held as true your entire life. Lots of people don’t like to do this, but that’s why it’s called “growth.”

So if God is right here, right now, in the midst of your troubles, what should you expect? Well, if you are open and receptive, God will change you. That’s all He’s ever done, and it’s all He’s ever needed to do. And what will happen, is that you will begin to live your life from the inside out — you will learn how, with God’s help, to generate your own love, peace and joy. In turn, this will make you less susceptible to what’s happening in the physical world, because you’re not counting on anyone or anything outside yourself for your spiritual needs. If you need to experience love, peace and joy, you’ll create some and give it away, as opposed to being disappointed when someone or something spoils your expectations.

You’ll also begin to understand that life can really only be lived in the moment. You can dwell on the past; you can worry about the future. But you can only live THIS moment. And how you choose to live this moment, well, that is what will make up the quality of your life. This is why Jesus said: “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

Hmm . . . maybe the “deep thought” batteries aren’t so spent . . .

Post your thoughts below . . .