Rainy Day Deliverance (& Living in the Word Link Up)
There’s a reason that they say, “When it rains, it pours.” Life always seems to happen that way, doesn’t it? We reach a point when life seems to be going just fine. We’re happy, we’re relaxed, we’re praising God for the blessings in our lives. And then, like the shadow of a storm on the horizon, life starts to take a turn for the worse.
We’ve all been there–I’ve been there–on THAT day. You wake up late, the kids are fighting, hubby’s running late. Just when you get everyone settled and hubby off to work, the toilet breaks, the telephone rings, and junior poops on the carpet–the white carpet. Yep. And then you find yourself standing in the middle of the mess, screaming at the kids while clutching the phone. Tears prick the corners of your eyes, and your energy is sapped from you like molasses from a tree. You just can’t take it anymore.
Where is our deliverance? How do we overcome those days?
I lift my eyes up to the hills– / From whence comes my help? / My help comes from the Lord, / Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
How often do we forget to call on the Lord for the little things? How often do the little things turn into big things in our minds? We allow our moods to sour; we allow our spirits to fall. We turn our eyes to the immediate issues, and forget lift them to the Lord. Or maybe we don’t forget. Maybe we just think our daily beatings are too trivial for the mighty God of the universe. After all, we are one speck of sand.
But you know what? He still sees us. He doesn’t just see us in the worst of times. He doesn’t just see us in the best of times. He sees us at all times. He knows what weighs on our spirits. He knows how to replenish our spirits. He knows how to calm our minds and bodies. He will help us when we seek Him out.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, / And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
Our attitude toward any situation is often what gets us into trouble–or saves us. We often make things worse for ourselves and those around us when we let situations get under our skin. We see problems instead of opportunities. We see inconveniences instead of outcomes. We live here in the moment, not looking at the big picture. And then we let it get us down.
Where does this attitude come from? It is not from God. It is from the devil, who comes to steal our joy and destroy our relationships. When we give in to the frustrations, we choose to believe the lie. That we are not good enough. That we are failures. That our lives our meaningless.
We have to rise above the lies. We have to seek the Lord with all our hearts, daily–hourly–minute-by-minute. We have to ask Him to give us a good attitude. We cannot do it on our own.
When we look back at those days, we wonder what all the fuss was about. Why did we get so upset? On that day, or in that time, we saw our situation as a gigantic water rapid, trying to kill us by banging us up against rocks over and over. In the big picture, though, it was a little hiccup in the stream of life.
Living in the Word Link Up
Are you doing a particular bible study right now, reading a book that is growing your faith or spending time in God’s Word and you just can’t wait to share what God is doing in your heart? We’d love for you to join us and share the amazing Truths God is showing you by linking up your blog posts (or sharing your stories in the comments below, if you’re not a blogger). When we share our faith with one another, we allow God to shine through us blessing and encouraging one another to keep pressing on and leaning in to Jesus. We hope you’ll join us here each Sunday!
Grab a Graphic!
Ralene, what a blessing! This post is definitely something I needed to read, especially today! Controlling my attitude is definitely a struggle, but it’s truly in how we choose to see things – thank you for that good reminder! (Also – the image in this post is simply gorgeous!)