Three Steps Forward…Two Steps Back

Most days life can be an outright struggle…the news promises to overwhelm, the pressures of teaching, the endless, mountains of housework and Satan constantly barking at my heels to just, “give up.” Giving up, I believe, would be the most simple thing…to lay down and quit breathing…yet, as soon as the thought floods my mind, God starts whispering His Word to me…like a babbling brook that I have known for so long…it floods my heart…tinkling over the overwhelmed places and hurt places in my soul. Reminding me that Philippians 4:8 says,


There is nothing true, noble, pure, lovely or of good report in contemplating when will be your last breath…there is no virtue in deciding where or how. There is nothing romantic in jumping off of an overpass or into an alligator infested lake…these types of thoughts only bring more pain and anxious thoughts, and Paul reminds me,


My requests? Through prayer and supplication? “Oh, dear Heavenly Father…please take away the anxious thoughts, the delusional thoughts that my world would be so better off without me…take away the darkness of depression that snuffs out any light…YOUR light, Father. Forgive me for not trusting you at all times, and wrap me in Your Peace…”

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts AND minds through Christ Jeus.

So, then, belief is an action…to believe what He says is true..I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. Then to put my belief into action, I must…

…forget those things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead.

A lot of action…a lot of working…a lot of “choosing”, as my friend, Terri, would say…it will require endurance. If I do not put my belief into action and press on, Satan would love nothing more than to destroy me and in so doing, destroy those around me. In Hebrews it tells me that…


His will is not for me to take my life…it is for me to trust Him…even in the dark and anxious times…for He has not forsaken me….He has not forsaken you. Pressing in and pressing on, In Jesus Name.