You Don’t Have To Fight By Yourself
You know I was sitting thinking last night about life and society. I thought about how we are taught that you grow up and you become self-sufficient or independent and you rely on yourself to handle issues. Many times we’re so focused on handling the problems of the world ourselves that we fail to even ask God for help. Interestingly enough as children we needed help with most things. As little ones our parents fed us, clothed us, and put a rood over our head. When we get older, god-willing we will need help with things as well so why don’t we believe we need help with things in the middle of our lives. Like little ones our father in heaven is the provider of food, clothes, and shelter but we are so resolute to go it alone that we naively neglect to give credit where credit is due. Personally I know there isn’t a thing I’ve accomplished without God as the head it. Yet I too have been so “busy” that I’ve forgotten to simply say thank you. Moving forward I’m going to do better.
I saw the horrible Tyler Perry movie “Why Did I Get Married Too” (That’s another blog for another day) but one of the characters in the movie Troy played by Lamman Rucker was struggling to find a job to support his new wife and child. Many nights he’d roll over silently and go to sleep unhappy with his situation. I dealt with a similar situation for over a year. I worked a job I hated at a salary I didn’t feel was fair. I was stressed at the prognosis or down-sizing and fighting to get to a secure place of financial security. I made a bad financial investment that didn’t pan out and it just seemed like I was moving farther away from my goal of eventually being a good husband and provider. Like Troy I tried to go the fight alone. I didn’t tell family or friends what was going on inside of my head. I even got to a place where I’d pray but felt so stuck that I wasn’t sure if I was praying out of faith or routine. It’s tough to get out of this place when you get here. As a man who was raised to handle his own problems I didn’t want it to seem like I couldn’t manage so instead of talking I shut people out and in town found myself in an even worse position.
Do you know God places people in your life who love you to help you. He gives you family, friends, and others to help you in times of need. He places them there to encourage and strengthen but you have to allow them to do that. You also have to be honest with them and God about what you’re going through. The bible says in Psalms 5:12, “For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Think about having God’s favor as a shield. It’s God’s favor which covers and keeps us. It’s his favor that protects us from dangers seen and unseen. It’s God’s favor that promotes us and elevates us. Because we belong to God we receive God’s favor through Christ Jesus. God holds us in high regard when we live righteously and love one another. If you really want to experience the peace and joy of God’s favor then you have to evaluate your life. Look at it closely and prune out the areas that are not like him. It’s uncomfortable at times and you may come out the pruning a little different. One thing I can assure you is that when a flower is pruned of it’s thorns it’s always more beautiful than it was prior too. Recently someone who was close to me said, “I don’t know this Jeff, I mean I don’t really know who this person is.” Another said, “there is something different with you something is going on.” This Jeff was always here but God’s been doing some pruning on me for almost 2 years and he’s still not finished. I hope my friends see the great change God has made in my life. No matter what you do you have to rely on God. Psalms 91:14 says, “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Allow those who love you to help you and if you can’t trust them trust in God you don’t have to fight by yourself anymore. …
Be Young, Saved, and Fly
Jeff
I truly believe that God places certain people in our lives to be there for us and help us through rough patches we may go through. It’s all about being able to lean on and trust someone else. It’s hard to go through life alone (of course we always have the Trinity), we need someone to celebrate our victories with, and help us lick our wounds and recover after battle. Some times the hardest thing to do is let someone in, but as long as you’re able to discern who has your best interest at heart, and has been placed in your life by God, you’ll find that you feel soo much better after sharing your feelings/burdens/situations with a friend.
Glad you’re realizing the many joys of a good friendship, because having someone that is there for you all the time is def a BIG joy!
Awesome!
This is right on time! When I was going through (which we all are and at the time, it felt like ALL THE TIME I WAS “GOING THROUGH”), I did the same things: I pushed people away, I felt alone and kept it all to myself. But you are right with the title of this blog: IRON SHARPENS IRON. As I was going through, so was somebody else, and their ability to share their experiences helped bring me to GOD to solve mine. I prayed out of habit and can’t remember the day I lessened my faith in God, but I thank God continously for renewing my faith and spirit. One of the many lessons I learned is GOD does NOT have a time frame…and just because you’re a “good person” does not mean you won’t have unfortunate circumstances. Thank you for sharing yours and the WORD of GOD to support it!
Peace&Blessings.
A.