adversity

Do y’all ever have those days, weeks, years, that you wonder why

you haven’t given up yet? I’m talking about just a good ol’ throwin’

your hands up in the air & saying,

“Y’all can have this, I quit!”

Sometimes, it just seems like nothing is going right. When there’s

too much month & not enough money, not enough time in the day

to do it all, piled up laundry, stacked up dishes, legal problems,

deteriorating health (whether yours or a loved one), relationship

problems, or worse- you may feel like you don’t know where to turn.

It’s sadly a reality that people are hurting & sometimes the grief of

life can overwhelm us. However, sweet friends, I wanted to share

with you how you can get through these things in life & oddly

enough, come out ok.

Here are my 5 reasons not to go hollaring and screaming into the

sunset:

1. Remember that everything in life is temporary. If everything is going good,enjoy it, because it won’t last forever. And if things are going

bad, don’t worry, that won’t last either.

James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (NKJV)

2. Know you have to trust the Lord. When God says you can do this,

you can. Know that the Lord will not let you go so far, you

can’t see your way back.

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (NKJV)

God’s team is the winning team. Be on that team.

3. Don’t forget the prize. Keep your eye on the prize (heaven). Do

all you can to be faithful, so that you may be able to have that

prize. God’s plan for your life, far exceeds the circumstances

of your day. So, know if you just hang on there, the Lord’s

going to come right in & take care of it all. But we have to do

our part, too. Be sure you don’t forget to continue to be a beautiful Christian like example. God won’t forget you for it.

Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take,

when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. (NKJV)

4. Be aware that with the good, comes the bad. Hard times are a fact of life.

How we view them & handle them is up to us.

Job 2:10 Shall we indeed accept good from God & shall we not accept

adversity?(NKJV)

5. Most of all know you are not in this by yourself. There are billions of people on this ol’ earth. Know when to ask someone for help. I had a dear friend tell me once, “You can get through anything with a lot prayer & a lot of Paxil.” I love her light hearted take on life. It’s reality that sometimes we have to ask our medical care providers for help. Don’t be afraid to do that. But do know that Jesus is right there waiting to help you no matter what. If the Lord does not seem close to you, seriously, who moved? It wasn’t Him. Just seek Him, because He’s there. Acts 17:27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (NKJV)

Let me stop here & say something about Job. He lost everything he ever worked hard for. His wife turned against him. His friends gave him bad advice. He had health & financial problems. In one day his whole world was turned upside down. However, it was in his attitude, his God fearing, God loving, God trusting attitude that helped him make it through. It seemed like sometimes that God had forgotten Job. But He didn’t. It was over years before Job’s life ever turned around. What did he do during the mean time? He was faithful. Don’t get me wrong. He was upset & didn’t like what was going on. However, he never turned his back on God.He knew the Lord would deliver him. And guess what y’all? He did & Job was more blessed in the end, than the beginning.

Now that’s a beautiful reason to keep your head up & keep

going. I have been through times in my life, that it was day by

day, minute by minute that I had to try to focus on getting

through something tough. The good news is, I did it. I know I

prayed a lot, stayed faithful to the Lord, & just kept going.

Sometimes that’s all we can do.

I am so glad you came by to visit me today. It is SUNSHINING here. Am I really here in NE Mississippi or is this heaven? So glad to see the sun after all the cold & gloomy days. I hope you have had a blessed week. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credit: pinterest

Do you ever ponder the question why? Why do we have pain & suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why are there starving people? If God is all He says He is, then why do all these terrible things exist? I think I found out.

This morning, I was listening to Matthew 26 & 27, on the way to work. The scripture was at the point where Jesus was prepping his disciples of what is fixing to happen to Him. Jesus was getting ready to suffer beyond belief. Not only was He going to be crucified on a cross for our sins, His very best friends in the world, were one by one turning their backs on Him. Judas betrayed Him. (Matt. 26:25) Peter denied Him. (Matt. 26:74)

The other disciples ran off & left Him.

Matthew 26:56 ….. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

And now, He was being hung on a cross. Jesus begged God to rethink His plan. But, ended up praying

Matthew 26:42 ….“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”(NKJV)

I think I’ve got problems. My problems will never match up to what Jesus had going on. I haven’t ever been treated the way Christ was. So, I start to ask myself

“Where was God?”

Why did He let this awful thing happen to His own Son? It was God’s plan to save mankind. He knew what He was doing. Why does God allow bad things happen in the world? It’s in His plan. Job said in

Job 2:10 Shall we indeed accept good from God & shall we not accept adversity?(NKJV)

We are so willing to take all the goodness God gives. However, just can’t understand when bad things come our way. God gave His only Son for our sins. He let Jesus go through some awful things. Remember that then next time you ask God, “Why me?” Why not you? He crucified His own Son for our own good. He may let some less than pleasing things happen to us, for our greater good. It’s all in His plan. He has promised He will never allow satan to tempt us over & beyond what we are able to handle. The apostle Paul wrote in

I Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

We have to trust in God to take care of us. Even in the worst times, we have to have enough faith to say, “I have some big problems, but I have a really big God that’s going to see me through it.” Always remember, God promised us a safe landing, not an easy passage. He allowed His own Son to die on a cross. I am fairly certain that turned out pretty good for me & you, huh? That was God’s plan. We just have to trust Him. He’s got this.

I hope you have had a good week. We had a wonderful time with my family in Oxford, Mississippi, this past weekend. We may or may not have had the biggest tailgating tent at the entire Ole Miss campus. Just sayin’, it was pretty fabulous. Normally, I could care less who is playing ball. But this year, yep, I’m on the band wagon! :)I love being with my family. I got home just in time to be with more of my family. This grandparent gig we have going on is the cat’s pajamas. We play all day & it’s a good thing. I always get a wonderful night’s sleep on Sunday. (Not that it has to do with all the running around those kids have me doing.) Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.