"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise;"
Micah 7:8
Welcome August! Can you believe we're nearing the ending of 2024? Seems as if time flies these days, doesn't it? Children and grandchildren everywhere are heading back to school, busy summer schedules are slowing down so "normal" routines can ensue, and nature will soon be displaying its deep, beautiful, fall colors for us to enjoy once again.
It's been a few weeks since I've had the opportunity to share my thoughts, and am hoping you have had good things happening in your days. God is ALWAYS good no matter what! Part of maturing is learning to take the good and bad with the right attitude and response. That sounds totally like graduate level or higher stuff, huh?
z = ax + by + cxy + d
If I'm honest, there are times when I feel like I need to go back to elementary school again...I tend to have moments when I'm not on top of my game like I should be. Life happens and in those moments, disappointments occur, discouragement shows its ugly face...and sometimes the child within me wins out over the adult that should show up. Am I alone? You know, when walking in the Spirit with confidence looks more like us sitting in the floor throwing a tantrum. I know, we don't do that anymore as adults...or do we?
Needless to say, there are moments when I melt down, then find myself sitting there wondering how in the world I got "here." I'm absolutely certain God is aware of this possibility; after all, He's been dealing with us humans for a long time now and He knows us inside and out. Never forget, He knew Adam and Eve would mess up in the garden way before it happened - because He is God and God knows all things. So, when we mess up in the middle of our day and sit there feeling like a total failure for what we're feeling inside; be encouraged. It sure doesn't surprise Him! That doesn't give us a license to just go about life haphazardly, however it does give us reminders of the grace and mercy He bestows upon us and inspire us to try harder next time.
In those moments I often need a quick refresher course to get myself back on track again. Simple stuff until I get my footing again.
The refresher course. It's really simple in the grand scheme of things.
1 + 1 + 1 = 3
This is what I came up with for myself:
First, I need to adjust my attitude. Yeah, I said that! I just had to do that again recently! (Thus the reason for this blog post.) It's so important that we take care of our own junk before trying to move forward.
Second, I need to spend time in repentance and being real with the Lord about ALL the things. (Casting all our cares upon Him. He knows it all anyhow and sometimes we just need to admit it to ourselves and say it out loud.) It's sometimes easy to tell a friend who will listen about ALL the things; and while a good friend may encourage and push us in the right direction, God is the only One who can actually do anything about our situation and change us exactly where we need adjusted.
Third, I need to sit back and consider all facets of a situation because sometimes I make a mountain out of a mole hill and overact simply because I may be tired, stressed, hungry, etc. Every been hangry before?
Bottom line: it might not be as bad as we think it is...we may just need to readjust our perspective. It could be that simple!
I know this may seem like a step-by-step plan, but it's not that. I'm just giving you a combination of steps I've found to work for me. Also, I don't tell you with a know-it-all attitude - I'm a constant work in progress myself and am not too big to admit it. I share this in hopes that it might be a help to anyone who might find themselves struggling and needing a reminder on any given day. Perhaps it might spur you to come up with your own battle plan. Just consider me a "friend" trying to give you a boost in the right direction.
Sometimes the simplest things are the most difficult to remember and carry out during the heat of the battle, especially when we find ourselves overwhelmed and weak.
1. 2. 3.
Responses. I think I just wrote about that recently, didn't I? See, I haven't gotten all this stuff mastered yet.
Although it's relatively easy to list out on paper, I want it to become more of an instant response in my life so I can quit reverting back to an elementary school class or playground when life gets hard...especially when I'm in my fifties. (Yes, you may laugh with me on that one!) My oldest grand girl, who's not yet five years old, is all excited because she'll be starting school soon. She's brilliant and is already learning her multiplication tables! - shout out to her awesome mom. She's supposed to be going to Kindergarten...meanwhile, her Noni is supposed to be all grown up and know it all.
As I sit here and think about it, I feel I should have this concept mastered by now. Somehow, my attitude and perspective doesn't always line up or remember that I'm way past school age today! (Might as well laugh about it and keep it real, rather than to beat myself up about it.) True, it's not funny and doesn't make me feel good about myself, but another lesson I'm still trying to master is giving myself grace. Maybe that should be step 4 in my process.
3 +1 = 4
So, as fall descends upon us and school goes back into session, I want to be as excited and optimistic about this plan of action as my precious grand is about getting to go to school. We all have our weaknesses and tendencies, I know, but we can always get the correct answers when we give ourselves over to the only God who IS THE ANSWER. He never gets it wrong and will help us come out at the top of the class if we'll follow His Word and turn to Him for help. He has the answer to help us in every situation...He wrote the answer key.
I'm sure we have different disappointments, discouragements and we all cower down to the battle occasionally for one reason or another; but the Scripture says I may be down now, but I'll be up again. Just because we get down doesn't mean we're out! There is no weapon, trial or situation in which we cannot overcome, we just need to remember the basics and always apply them. A simple formula always includes turning to God with all truth and sincerity about our situations and praising Him in the middle of it all. I don't know about you but I don't want to keep visiting the elementary school halls I did as a child. Rise up again! We got this with the Lord!
Simple steps to victory.
God bless!
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