How To Be Strong And Courageous When All Hell Is Breaking Loose In Your Life Part 1
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Troubling circumstances. They're all around us. Just listen to social media or the news if you're not sure.
Are you going through any troubling circumstances right now? Maybe you feel like all hell is breaking loose. I'm with you on this one.
When troubling circumstances come, what's your first thought? Is it, "God's got this," or "not again"?
It's so easy for me to automatically think the worst rather than, "What great thing is God going to do with this situation?"
Are we conditioned to think the worst? Are we waiting for the other shoe to drop?
For me, there are certain areas where I've conditioned myself to think, "God's got this." There are other areas of my life I know I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It's funny how some phrases come to mean different things over the years. "Waiting for the other shoe to drop" started as a comforting phrase. At the start of the 20th Century, New York tenement houses had the same floor plan. So the bedrooms were positioned right over the top of each other. With tissue paper-thin walls, you could hear a pin drop in your neighbors room above you.
Each night, the downstairs neighbor could hear their upstairs neighbor drop their shoes before going to bed, first one shoe and then the other. Once that second shoe dropped, the downstairs neighbor knew they could peacefully drift off to sleep.
Today, "waiting for the other shoe to drop" means to await a seemingly, inevitable undesirable event.
Let me be transparent; that's me when it comes to finances. I want to get excited about something good that will happen yet find myself awaiting the undesirable inevitable downturn. Like that good thing is going to be snatched from me any minute. I think, "God's got this…for the other person."
This year I was let go from a 16-year employment about six months after my husband was let go. It's scary to think of doing something different after so long. It's so easy for me to automatically assume the worst rather than, "what great thing is God going to do with this situation?"
It can be challenging to see anything else but the trouble when we're in the middle of troubling circumstances. It's staring us down, threatening to take us out–and not out to lunch. Worry and fear can be overwhelming.
What we do in the middle of these troubling times will determine how we enter the next phase in our life.
And sometimes determine how long we stay in the troubling circumstances.
What we think and believe are critical to how we feel and respond to these circumstances. How we feel and respond determines how we experience troubling times.
Deuteronomy 31:6 AMP
Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble in dread before them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.
Our Father tells us He's with us along the way–not ahead or behind, or just up there in heaven, but with us. He will not abandon us! Therefore, we will be strong and courageous!
I get encouraged when I read that scripture, yet courage is not always my first response when I'm in the middle of troubling circumstances.
It's fear.
How about you? What are your first thoughts when trouble comes?
Timothy, the youngest pastor of the largest church in the Bible, had fear too. Paul had to remind Timothy who he is in Christ.
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Fear is normal when our troubling circumstances hit.
Fear comes to us all, yet we can see it doesn't come from our Father God.
What we do when fear comes matters.
We have two choices when troubling circumstances comes our way:
1. Continue in Fear
2. Respond in Faith
What will you choose?
We must remember our Father is with us along the way–not ahead or behind, or just up there in heaven, but with us.
He will not abandon us! Therefore, we will be strong and courageous!
That's a lovely thought–be strong and courageous. Let's be real. It's easier said than done; yet, we CAN do it.
How do we courageously respond in faith even when all hell is breaking loose in our lives?
An excellent question, isn't it? Join me next week as we explore the first step in this five-part series so we can respond to troubling circumstances in faith.
Until Next Time, Live Fearlessly Free.
Discussion
How do you respond to troubling circumstances? Fear or Faith?
I'm a mixed bag on this one. I walk solidly in faith in some circumstances, and in others, I'm on the fear struggle bus like I mentioned above. How about you?
Resources
Books:
The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews
(This book is a fiction book about a man in the worst time of his life and how he learns Seven Decisions that change everything.)
The Seven Decisions: Understanding the Keys to Personal Success by Andy Andrews
(The non-fiction version of the Traveler's Gift digs deep into the Seven Decisions and includes exercises to implement the life-changing decisions. This book series is one of the top two books that have changed my life)