Has there ever been a time when something happened in your life that you had no control over and still got chewed out about it by your boss, family member, or friend? Did you blame God for what happened to you? Did you ever wish that you could start over and do things all over again in a new way to avoid all of the trouble? Well, we all have been there. We have all had things happen to us without knowing about it beforehand. Sometimes things just happen, but we should not blame God for the bad things that happen in our lives.
Changing circumstances doesn’t change His goodness towards us. We can trust God because He never changes. He is always the same. No matter what we are facing, no matter what we are going through, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When we are facing uncertain circumstances and difficulties this is when we go to God and pour out our hearts to Him. He is the only One who can fix what it is that we are going through. He is the only One who has all of the answers to everything that we will ever face on this earth. Some days will be better than others, but God is always good no matter what because that’s just who He is.
Scriptures to Read:
Hebrews 13:8; Romans 8:28
Reflection Questions:
Do you find that God’s goodness is reliant on your circumstances?
Do your worth and value remain intact when everything goes wrong?
How are you going to shine the light of Christ even in the worst circumstances?
Being Afraid to Be Seen Because of Insecurities
We all have insecurities that we deal with about ourselves, such as things that we do not like about ourselves that cause us anxiety; being around other people for instance. Maybe we may feel like we are not good enough for whatever reason. Who are we seeking to please, God, or man? Why is it that it is so hard for us to accept ourselves the way that we are? We should not worry about what others think, or perceive about us, we should only be concerned about what God thinks about us. What other people think, or feel about us doesn’t matter. We don’t have to be antisocial, or afraid to be around other people whether they are Christians or not. God created all of us. When we trust and know that God is with us, we don’t have to be insecure about ourselves or around other people no matter where we are in the world. We can be confident in ourselves, we don’t have to shrink back and hide ourselves from the world that we live in. We don’t have to hide ourselves from anyone, because guess what, God sees us right where we are. We couldn’t hide from Him if we tried. There’s no escaping Him. We could climb the highest mountain, cross the deep blue sea, or go to the ends of the earth, He will be right there with His eyes on us. The question is this: Why hide? Anxiety is a part of life. We all experience it at some point, but we don’t have to let it take over our lives and control how we live. We give it to God and let Him take care of it. I know it’s easier said than done, but I know from experience that He can and will take it from you. What do we have to be afraid of except fear itself? God doesn’t want us walking around being afraid of anything, or anyone; we should fear God in a healthy way because of the respect we have for Him, but He doesn’t want us to be so afraid of Him that we will not come to Him when we need Him, and we need Him every day. What profit is there in being afraid of another person whose just skin and bones? Anxiety causes this kind of fear, and it leads to depression, which sometimes leads to death because some may feel that they won’t have to suffer anymore from it, but what they fail to realize is that eternity is forever. When something like that happens, they’re not thinking about their souls. They’re not thinking about judgment day. They’re not thinking about where their soul will spend eternity.
We don’t have to be insecure about anything, because our security in God is all that matters. He is our security. He is our everything. Just remember that we should never let anything make us afraid, or insecure about ourselves. We are created in the image of God, and His image is beautiful. His Spirit lives within our hearts. We live because He lives in us. He is our life, our joy, our first love. He chose us even despite our shortcomings, mistakes, downfalls, struggles, and the condition of our hearts. The way He feels about us will never change. His love endures forever. His mercies are new every morning. His grace is sufficient for us.
Who Am I Seeking to Please, God, or Man?
Galatians 1:10-For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Proverbs 9:10-“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Reflection Questions:
Be honest for a second: are you letting others’ opinions of you dictate your confidence in yourself?
In what ways are you currently feeling insecure or inadequate?
What do you think God has to say about the areas in which you’re feeling insecure?
Scripture Verses:
Numbers 6:24-26-The LORD bless thee and keep thee: The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious into thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Galatians 1:10-For do I now persuade men or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Proverbs 9:10-The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: And the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Asking For Help Isn’t Weak
We all will need help at some point in our lives. Asking someone for help isn’t weak. If you know you are going through something that requires professional service, it’s there for the asking. Do not be afraid to get the help you know you need. Don’t think about what others may say about you, because what you are going through is essential, there’s only one you, so do not be afraid to ask for help. We all go through bouts of stress, depression, and anxiety that cause us to have panic attacks that we cannot control. I can talk about this. This is something I have been dealing with for many years. It is hard to control at times given the circumstances that caused it. Seeking professional help is the best thing for anyone to do to get the help they need. Who cares if someone sees you going to one of those offices? It’s your life, not theirs. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Hold your head up high and know that you are bettering yourself for your mental health. Some may not realize it, but your mental health is essential. It is important because it is what causes you to have the feelings that you have. Our mental health is vital in every area of our lives mentally, physically, and emotionally. When we are well mentally, things can get done when we want them to. When we are sick mentally, it throws everything off because we have a hard time getting things together, and it is even hard to just get started. Mental health begins in the brain because it is where all of our thoughts derive from, all of how we feel about things, all of our thoughts about our life, liberty, and the pursuit of our happiness. It affects our hearts and the feelings we hold there about ourselves.
Are there other things we can do to help improve our mental health, yes there are. walking, exercising, reading positive books that will inspire you, listening to inspirational music, drawing, writing, singing, meditation, Yoga, speaking positivity over yourself, surrounding yourself with positive people, going to church functions, talking to someone you trust who will be there for you when you’re having a bad day, arts and crafts, the list goes on and on, but there may be other things you can do that you know for certain will help your mental health. Again, do not be afraid to get the help you need to improve your mental health.
Reflection Questions:
Do you find it difficult to ask for and accept help?
In which areas of your life do you need more help?
God doesn’t promise us a life without trouble, but He does promise us that we will never walk through difficulty without Him. How does Psalm 121:1-2 encourage you?
Scripture Verses:
Psalm 121:1-2-I will lift my eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
Embracing Your Brokeness
Have you felt crushed in spirit and needed forgiveness, and a new beginning? We all have it’s a part of life. Let me enlighten you a little bit. Jesus can heal and fix the broken areas in our lives. There’s nothing that He can’t do.
We have to be willing to admit we are broken people living in a world filled with death and chaos around us. Every day something happens that leaves a person broken on the inside. Being broken hurts badly. We don’t know what to do to make that brokenness go away. Medication doesn’t help, exercising doesn’t help, taking walks doesn’t help, so what do we do about it? This is what we do, we leave it at the feet of Jesus. We pour everything we are feeling out to Him at His feet and leave it there. We walk by faith knowing that it is done. We have nothing more to worry about after that. Walking along the path of life can get a bit dusty. We never know what we are going to encounter along the way, but we do know that we have a destination waiting for us somewhere at the end of that walk. While we are walking along the path of life, we will learn a few things, or we will learn a lot of things that will help us on the path of life’s journey that we can use to help ourselves and others. When the broken areas in our lives are healed, we are stronger than we were before we became broken. We learn from the brokenness that trials come to make us strong, and that we are better for it. This gives us the opportunity to share those things with others who may be going through that same brokenness that we were just healed from. It can give them hope, increase their faith, and give them something to look forward to so they can help others the way you helped them. We all have been broken more times than we can count, but guess what? Jesus was there to put those broken pieces back together to make us whole again. Isn’t He wonderful!
Reflection Questions:
Have you ever had a moment when you felt as though you were beyond repair, either because something happened to you or because you did something you felt like you couldn’t fix?
Read Luke 7:36-50. How does it feel to know that Jesus sees your deepest pain and biggest mistakes and doesn’t condemn you when you come to Him?
Being Real With God
How many times do we say”God, I need You”? When we say that, do we mean it from our hearts? Do we really deep down want to open up our entire hearts to God? I don’t see why we wouldn’t because He already knows everything that is in our hearts, minds, and souls that we are hiding from those we love, but when we think about it, we are hurting Him by not coming to Him to talk about the things that we are going through. He created us, so it is only right for us to go to Him before we go to someone else with what we are going through on the inside. When we are up close and personal with God, our hearts beat fast, and sweat starts to roll down from our foreheads, we become nervous as if He is going to punish us just for coming to Him. I know from experience how hard it can be to completely open up to the God of the whole universe. I literally shake like a leaf on a tree that’s about to fall to the ground. When the Holy Spirit gives me peace I can then open up and pour my heart out to Him about anything and everything that’s bothering me. After we have a conversation I am alright. It makes me feel good that I went to my Father in prayer and laid everything at His feet. I really try not to carry anything that I know is going to weigh me down. I give it all to God. My shoulders are not as strong as His. We can be real with God. He created us. He already knows everything about us. He is the only One who will love us no matter what. It is alright to be real with God because whatever you talk to Him about will stay with Him. We never have to worry about it going any further. When we are shedding tears, He knows what we are crying about. He feels what we feel. He is the only One who can comfort us like no other. He is an awesome Father!
When you feel like you have no one to talk to about things, you can always open up and be real with God because He enjoys listening to His children. He loves it when we come to Him with our hearts on our sleeves. He is our friend. He will never hurt us. He loves us so much. I am so glad I am His child.
Here are some Scriptures that you can trust God:
He will never leave you or forsake you (Isaiah 49:15-16).
He keeps His promises (1 Kings 8:56).
He doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:8).
Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).
We are safe with God, sisters, and brothers. We do not have to deal with our pain alone. He invites us to cast our burdens on Him because He cares for us. When we surrender our hearts to Him, we will receive His healing, comfort, and peace.
Reflection Questions:
Do you struggle to feel like you can be in God’s presence as your real self?
Think about three pain points in your life. Now, ask God to help you work through those How do you think He could help you navigate these painful places?
Scripture Verses:
1 Peter 5:7-Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.
Isaiah 49:15-16-Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
1 Kings: 8:56-Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses HIs servant.
Hebrews 13:8-Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
Romans 8:38-39-For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ, Our Anchor To Hold On To Even in Crisis
During the pandemic, there was a crisis going on, panic, despair, and even death. Businesses were lost, homes were lost, cars, and trucks were lost, and no one knew when it was all going to end. There were earthquakes, wildfires, and homelessness became worse. People were walking off their jobs, people were being laid off, and everything was flying off of the shelves in the supermarkets as if the world were coming to an end. We were walking around with masks on afraid to even breathe, cough, or sneeze in fear that we may catch something from someone. Social distancing was something new also. Cerfew was deplorable; it looked like a ghost town here where I live. This was a world crisis! We were all afraid. We didn’t know what to do, or what to think about all of it. I do know for certain that we had to hold on to Jesus Christ to make it through what we were going through. We really had to have faith through it all. I am thankful that Jesus is our anchor to hold on to even in crisis!
Even though things are not as bad as they were in the beginning, it is still out there lurking in the shadows. God blessed us to have the vaccines to be vaccinated, but what good did it do? People were still getting sick and passing away because of underlying conditions. I still wonder why this had to happen. I still wonder if it will ever go away. I still wonder if there will be a cure for it. I still wonder what things will be like five years from now. How can we not think about those things? Holding on to Jesus is something we must do even when there is no crisis going on. We must still hold on to the faith we have in Him to be able to make it in this world that we live in. Future generations will hear about this. I just give God the praise for keeping things together.
Reflection Questions:
When life’s hard moments hit, what’s your typical first response?
Do you ever let a crisis around you become a crisis within you?
Is there a storm you need to surrender to Him today? Talk to God about it today.
Scripture Verses:
Hebrews 13:5-Let your conversation be without covetousness; be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Changing Our Labels From Broken To Whole
Fourteen years ago I was broken, in pain, and needed healing from Jesus. I suffered for a very long time before my healing came in 2009. I made my peace with God and I was ready and prepared for whatever came next for me. When the time came for me to have my procedure done, I wasn’t afraid. I knew that Jesus was going to be right by my side and He was. He was there with me the whole time. God healed me through surgery. I was in pain for a very long time, and now I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Nine years later, I had to have a blood transfusion because I was somehow losing blood. Come to find out, I had internal bleeding that had been going on for two years. Again, God was with me through it all. God has saved my life more times than I can count. I had not any money to be able to afford these surgeries, but God made a way. I was broken for a very long time, but now I am whole again. I know that things will come to try to attack me, but I know who will fight those battles for me. I am not worried about anything anymore, not even this little bug that’s trying to make me sick. It will not win. Whatever you are facing in your life, whatever you need God to do for you, just ask Him. I know what He can and will do in the lives of His children because He did it for me, and He will do it for you too. Go from broken to whole just by calling on the name of Jesus. He is the great physician, He is our Healer! Ask in faith, not doubt, watch what He will do for you.
Reflection Questions:
Think about your biggest pain points mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Jot down the first three that come to your mind in a journal.
Then, ask Jesus to show you hope and healing in each of these. Write a prayer to Him beside your list.
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Food for the Soul 