Back on Track

Time has passed.  Things have happened...some good and some bad.  

You slept a few times... eaten lunch... talked on the phone... emailed a client... dealt with a headache... and driven your child to karate....

Lots of different things have happened...

But I say that maybe nothing has changed.  

If you’ve worried... nothing has changed.

If you’ve stressed...nothing has changed.

If you’ve felt like giving up... nothing has changed.

In these daily devotionals,  we read promise after promise from God’s word about how He feels about you, what you mean to Him, how He wants you to live your life, and how important you are.

But then the next day came.  And perhaps nothing changed.  Same worries...same stresses...same feeling of hopelessness...same pit... same clouds... same life.

You were made for more.   

As your Pastor, I want to take a few minutes with you today... and give you some more scripture.  More promises.  A gentle reminder that God never changes... no matter how we feel, He stays consistent... and loving... and with us.  

The first part of this week may not have seen change.. but today you’ve got a fresh set of 24 hours to believe these promises.  Not believe they are great for only the flawless... but true and relevant to the flawed.  To me.  To you.  

Ready?

God will NEVER leave you
 

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”   Deuteronomy 31:6

God will ALWAYS watch over you 

“The Lord keeps you from all harm
    and watches over your life.

The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
    both now and forever.”  Psalm 121:7-8

God will give you POWER when you need it.

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand”  Isaiah 41:10

God will GUIDE you

The Lord will guide you continually,
    giving you water when you are dry
    and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like an ever-flowing spring.  Isaiah 58:11

God will give you REST

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

God will CLEANSE us from what we’ve done.

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”  1 John 1:9

God will be GOOD to those who do what is right.

“For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
    He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
    from those who do what is right.”  Psalm 84:11

God will NOT allow you to be defeated.

“But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior.
    Before him my persecutors will stumble.
    They cannot defeat me.
They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated.”  Jeremiah 20:11

These promises aren’t just words on a page.  They weren’t just meant for people in the Bible.  

They are yours.  Every last holy syllable... written for you.  Re-read these verses... and put your name in them.  Every time you see “us” or “me” ... put your name there.  

They are powerful and true... and yours. 

Let’s stop living defeated lives and really believe that God means what He says.  He has such a plan for your life...far more than you might ever imagine.  It’s my prayer today that you would claim these promises for your own amazing life... and face each day as it comes with the strength that His word provides.  

Clarity

If you’ve ever been to the circus, you’ve probably seen it for yourself.  The lion cage... kings of the jungle... ferocious and growling at all who pass by the thick bars of their cage in the center ring.  The lights dim and a daring trainer makes his way to the door of the enclosure.  A nervous hush sweeps over the crowd… Is he really going in there?  Yep.  He opens the creaking door and steps inside.  You can hear people gasping as the predatory cats snarl and lunge at the source of the intrusion.  Wait... what’s that in the trainer’s hand?  A whip?  That makes sense... but what is that other thing?  It’s a stool.  Small, unimpressive, and hardly intimidating.  Just a few dollars at your local store...

And THAT’S going to stop a killer cat?  Yes.

The lion tamer knows that when he waves the four-legged stool at the cat... it attempts to focus on all four legs at once.  In doing so, it goes through a kind of paralysis... a confusion that overwhelms it.  The once scary roar becomes a tame and weak purr as the crowd cheers approvingly.  Simply put... the lion becomes ineffective when it tries to focus on too much.  

We are the same way.  

Fortunately for us, the Bible gives us a great way to draw our spiritual lives, our challenges, our strengths, our weaknesses, and our opportunities into very clear singular focus.... fasting.

The Bible is replete with scripture about the importance and significance of fasting... here are just a couple of examples.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  Matthew 6:16-18

“So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”  Ezra 8:23

But what IS fasting?  It is giving up something that you would normally do in order to use that time to focus on prayer and gaining intimacy with God.  Meditation in it’s purest and most effective form.  Biblically, food was most often given up... but in today’s era, it might be something like the internet... or a hobby... or tv...  It should always be something that will be dearly missed.  I talk to some who say “I’m fasting from taking out the garage... or I’m fasting from healthy food”   This is not what God had in mind.  

 When someone is fasting and feels the urge to partake of what they’ve temporarily given up, they are to spend that time in prayer...seeking God’s will for their lives... memorizing scripture... making every effort to get closer to their Heavenly Father.   Fasting brings focus like no other discipline.  In fact, Jesus Himself did it when the devil took Him out to the wilderness and tried to tempt Him to compromise His mission!

How long and from what you fast is up to you.  Do you need 40 days away from TV to help you grow closer to Christ?  Maybe.  Is a week apart from your phone worth a week connecting to God like never before?  Could be.  Can an empty stomach remind you to pray and internalize God’s word?  Yes it can.  When I was going through a time of anxiety in my life, I fasted for 39 days.  It was tough but it gave me clarity and focus that helped me breakthrough the challenges I faced.  

Whatever you feel convicted to temporarily give up to have intimacy with God... make the commitment this week to do so.  Fasting is a discipline and as such, won’t necessarily be easy.  It’s worth the struggle... and may just bring you closer than ever to finding God’s plan for your life. 

Climbing

Several years ago I had the chance to do some mountain climbing in the Colorado rockies. Just me, my climbing partners, and a very cold steep rock face. I had never done anything like that before and (as you’d imagine) I was pretty nervous. I made it to the top but it took a lot of determination, willpower, and some inner strength I didn’t realize I had. I was reminded of that trip as I ran across this story about a similarly anxious young lady…

Brenda was a young woman that wanted to learn to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death she went with a group and they faced this tremendous cliff of rock. Practically perpendicular. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear and she took a hold of the rope and she started up the face of that rock.

Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, whoever was holding the rope up at the top of the cliff made a mistake and snapped the rope against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.

You know how tiny contact lenses are and how almost impossible to find. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with who know how many hundreds of feet behind and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping that she would be able to find that contact lens. Here she was, very far from home. Her sight was now blurry. She was very upset by the fact that she wouldn't be anywhere near a place where she could get a new contact lens. And she prayed that the Lord would help her to find it.

Well, her last hope was that perhaps when she got to the top of the cliff, one of the girls that was up there on the top might be able to find her contact lens in the corner of her eye. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye. There was no contact lens to be found. She sat down with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to come up the face of the cliff.

She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every single stone and leaf that's on those mountains and You know exactly where my contact lens is."

Finally, the time came when it was time to go down. They walked down the trail to the bottom. Just as they got there, there was a new party of rock climbers coming along. As one of them started up the face of the cliff, she shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, wouldn't it? She had found the contact lens! But you know why she saw it? An ant was carrying that contact lens so that it was moving slowly across the face of the rock. [by Elizabeth Elliot in “Keep a Quiet Heart”]

A giant rock wall... hundreds of thousands of rocks... millions of ants... 

...and the contact lens is transparent. 

The hikers at the bottom catch a tiny gleam of light bouncing off the rock and actually take the time to investigate it. 

Can you imagine what they thought when they found it? Where did this come from? What are the chances we’ll find the owner? Why didn’t it break on impact?

And then the team comes down the mountain... and owner gets reunited with lens. 

Something that was extremely unlikely happened. Sound unbelievable? I know. When I read this story, I quietly wondered if it was true. To our finite minds... things like this just don’t happen. Lenses break. People give up. Things become irretrievable. Marriages fail. People leave. Tests come back positive. Friends reject. 

Good thing God doesn’t think like us. God is magnified in the details of situations we give up on. He specializes in catching the towel we throw in and nailing it to the cross. 

He never gives up.
He never stops looking.
He never says “you’re on your own”

He sends an ant to carry a contact lens back to its owner. We don’t understand it. We don’t deserve it. And we didn’t earn it.

God notices the small stuff and He does the impossible. 

Does He really see it when I cry out? Yes.

Can He really put people in my child’s life to get them back on the path? Yes.

Is He paying attention to my finances?
Strengthening me during the doctors visits?
Making it obvious when a boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t “the one?” 

Yes, yes, yes.

Here it is Tuesday and you’re ready to stop looking for that contact lens... to give up... to move it over to the impossible column in your mind. God has a word for you today: 

“What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Matthew 10:29

“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” Matthew 6:26

What do these two verses have in common? Two words: God cares. He sincerely does. 

Some of you have carried a very heavy burden for many long years. Just when you think it’s getting better, the enemy chuckles and knocks you back down. What you used to call a temporary problem has devolved into what you now call pain. Life hurts... but God loves. God does the impossible. God changes things. God’s eyes are on you. God knows. God cares. 

Look down today... see that contact lens that you’d given up on? It’s there... unbroken and supernaturally perfect. So is the peace, power, and perseverance for the next time something seems impossible. Reach down... claim them. It may seem like you face long odds today... but fortunately for you... His eye is on you... and the unlikely is where He flourishes.

Under the Boulder

In an earlier century, there lay a large boulder in the middle of the roadway. Traveler after traveler walked past the boulder, veering off the side of the road to get around it. All the while, they were shaking their head and muttering, "Can you believe that? Someone should get that big thing out of the way. What an inconvenience!” Finally, a man came along and, seeing the boulder, took a branch from a tree and pried the boulder enough to get it rolling and rolled it off to the side of the road. Lying underneath the rock, he found a small bag with a note. The man picked up the note and read it. It was a letter from the king and it read as follows: "Thank you for being a true servant of the kingdom. Many have passed this way and complained because of the state of the problem and spoken of what ought to be done. But you have taken the responsibility upon yourself to serve the kingdom instead. You are the type of citizen we need more of in this kingdom. Please accept this bag of gold that traveler after traveler have walked by simply because they didn’t care enough about the kingdom to serve."

So many complain. So few do anything.

You’ve seen it at your child’s school... in your workplace... maybe even where your bed is. Problems as big as boulders sitting square in the middle of progress... and nobody does anything to make the necessary changes. It’s frustrating isn’t it? They may yell at the problem. Gossip about the problem. Write Facebook posts about the problem. Talk to their spouse about the problem. Maybe even pretend the problem isn’t there.

Truth is... ignored problems don’t go away. Side-stepped issues don’t solve themselves.

We know that there is a difficult conversation that needs to be had... or a really nice person let go from a position that they simply can’t do... or a relationship issue that needs to be dealt with...Or maybe it’s something simpler...

...providing assistance to someone who no longer can help themselves.

...preparing food for the homeless in the area

...lending a shoulder to cry on

...sharing the Good News of Christ with a hurting community (or a judgmental family)

The Bible talks specifically about the role of the Christ-follower regarding acts of service:

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

As your Pastor, I must remind all of us... God doesn’t tell us to step around it... avoid it... ignore it... or dismiss it. He tells us to dive into it. Get our hands dirty. Own it. Jesus gave each one of us gifts, abilities, and talents. The catch is... they aren’t for us. They are for glorifying God, removing boulders, mending fences, enhancing lives, and serving those that can’t return the favor. “Christian” isn’t a word describing those that believe... it’s a directive to be the one to act.

Believers do - not just say...

Move forward - not around...

Get involved - not lost...

God-followers are servants. The minute we forget that, we slip from disciple to disobedient. I want to challenge you today... if you see a problem...step in. Get involved. Share the love of Christ. Serve those God puts in your path. Help people who haven’t earned it. Stand out and be counted as the person who always puts themselves second. And someday, when Jesus says “well done”... you can smile knowing you always put Him first.

Us and Them

Helping others.  Our neighbors.  Those God has placed in our path.  Life is all about them.  The Bible tells us that we are put on this earth to serve them… to love them… to forgive them.   

But the gravity of the flesh pulls us in the opposite direction doesn’t it?  

We make decisions based on how it ultimately affects us.  What we wear… what we lend… what time we give… all skewed by how that decision is beneficial to our own agenda.  Why is living for others so difficult?  Does God really tell us that our whole purpose in life is to abandon self and embrace serving those around us?

Let’s take a look…

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  Galatians 5:13

“And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:42-45

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.”  1 Cor. 4:1-2

“And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”  Luke 14:23

“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,”  Matthew 20:26

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ...” Philippians 2:1-30

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”  John 12:26

“Jesus replied, ‘The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.’”  Mark 12: 29-31

We are here with a purpose.

We all have gifts.

Our gifts are not for us.

They are to serve others.  

Serving His people is what we were created to do.  Loving on the lonely... reaching out to the hurting... serving those that are seeking Christ.   

The road to our God potential leads us through the valley of selflessness... putting others first... sacrificing so that people we may not even know can come face-to-face with a Savior who sacrificed everything on their behalf.

And we get to do that.  

We get to be servants.

Notice what I said there… we GET to be servants.  God allows us to care for His people.  Those you encounter today are no accident.  Even the challenging ones…  Every single person you meet today is intentional.  

Serve them.  Not with selfish motives…. but with a heart filled with Christ’s love.  

I can hear you saying to your computer… but Pastor… who’s loving me?  Who’s taking care of me?  If I don’t look out for myself nobody will!   I hear you.  But I also know that even when the world seems to turn its back on you, Christ doesn’t.   HE will take care of you.  HE will provide for your needs.  HE will never let you break under the strain or buckle under the weight.  HE is always there always.  Even when you don’t feel Him, sense Him, or even believe He’s there.  He IS there.  He is determined to provide for and love on you.  It’s His heart.  It is why He came to begin with.  Let Him take care of you while you take care of those He has put in your path.  

If you are a Christ-follower… it’s part of your calling.  

Resist the urge to dismiss today’s devotional as wishful thinking.  It wasn’t written for someone else.  It’s for you.  And it’s for me.  Remember, putting ourselves behind others and serving them may be perceived by the world as weakness… but it is a strength in the eyes of Jesus.  And He’s the only one that matters.  

Don't Hurry

I’ve learned a lot in almost thirty years of ministry… but today’s truth may be one of the hardest to apply.

To live the life you’ve always wanted you can’t be hurried.  You have to take your time.  

No rush.  No elevated heartbeat as you race to your next destination.  No hypertension... no ticking clock... no must-do agenda.  When we become hurried and push ourselves too hard, we lose the ability and capacity to love others.  Love takes time... and we can’t give what we don’t have.  If we are too busy... we might not be loving those around us at the level they need us to.  Plus, when we are in a hurry, we get angry much more quickly.   Our fuse shortens.  We snap at those we love... hoping that they’ll understand the pressure we’re under.  The closer the relationship it seems... the harsher the tone we use.  They’ll get over it... they are family.  

Right?

I talk to so many who claim that they have to hurry to get everything done.  I contend that if we can’t stop during our day to love people... take care of ourselves... and most importantly, talk to and praise God... than we’re too busy.   

Hurry sickness is real... and it’s not Biblical.  So many claim to follow Christ.  If Christ is their leader... than why do they spend their waking hours trying to outrun Him?  To outdo Him?  To handle things they aren’t supposed to in an attempt to win more favor from Him... so that He’ll bless them with even more opportunity... so they can add more to an already overbooked schedule.  You can’t earn favor.  He gives that away freely because He loves you unconditionally. 

If you are following Christ.  Follow Him.  He’s not running.  

While He was on the earth, Jesus Christ was never in a hurry.  He walked slowly enough to feel an old woman tug at his robe... stopped long enough to visit with Mary and Martha... and allowed little children to run up to Him so He could give them a hug.  Christ-followers stay behind their leader.  They let Him set the pace.

I know what some of you are saying... Pastor, that’s easy for you to say... you don’t live my life!  You’re right.  You are busy and it’s hard.  You’ve got bills to pay, kids to feed, and a boss that gives you the workload of two employees.  You’ve got professors who give you massive papers to write at the same time... a leaky roof... and in-laws who insist on calling and telling you how disappointed they are in you.  I hear you...  But I also know that God has asked us to do two things:  Love Him first and love our neighbors as ourselves.  In fact, love is what we are supposed to be known for...

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:35

Do you have time to love others?  To hear their needs?  To empathize with their situations?   LIfe isn’t about how much we can pack in before we head out... it’s about how many people we come into contact with and affect with the love of Christ.   I’m not saying you can abandon what you need to do to get through things.  What I am saying is that you’ve got to spend some time re-prioritizing and choosing the great tasks over just the good ones.   Commit today to look for some open space in your schedule and purposefully use it to read God’s Word and love others.  Make a list of the most important people in your life... do they know you love them?  When was the last time they got some uninterrupted quality time with you?  Maybe it’s been too long.  Maybe you’ve come down with a case of hurry sickness.  We want to partner together with you to help you discover and embrace the cure...

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’”  Matthew 11:28

Weary? 

Have heavy burdens?

Stressed out? 

Hurried?

Come to Christ.  He will give you the rest you seek.

Open

As much as I like football, during the Super Bowl, I love the commercials even more. During one of the big games, I remember FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand. When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you." But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?" She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."

He had everything he needed at his fingertips... He just never opened it up.

Life-changing tools sitting dormant...unused... ineffective.

Some of us find ourselves in the same position. We feel stranded...alone... hopeless... and desperately searching for rescue. We stare at the sky and wring our hands in worry. Days pass and we wonder if anyone will ever come to our aid. And at our fingertips... there sits a Bible. God’s love letter to us... unopened, unread, and underutilized.

The answer to every life challenge is contained within the covers of the Book... yet many never go to it. Instead we sit and just hope things work out... that rescue will just happen... that the problems we find ourselves in will just float away. We put our cares on a slip of paper, put them in a bottle, and throw them out to sea... hoping they will miraculously drift to where they need to go. God wants better for us. He gave us His Word for a reason.... to assure us that life isn’t built on random luck or on the possibility that the tides will change and everything will just fall into place. God is intentional... and the Bible was given to us for a specific purpose (as seen here in 2 Timothy 3).

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16

We are to learn from God’s word... internalize the truths and wisdom contained inside it....and live out what God tells us to do on a daily basis. And when we do... when we choose to spend daily time reading it... we receive God’s blessing, priorities re-align, understanding grows, we get stronger, and life begins to have greater meaning.

We move from just surviving to thriving. From treading water to standing on solid rock.

All because we read and apply the most wonderful Book ever written.

If you find yourself struggling to get into the Word... I want to encourage you to start today. Carve out some time, choose a book (John, Romans, Acts, James... so many good starting places), and dig in. Read until God tells you something... Something that makes you stop and think. Meditate on that scripture. Memorize it. Write it down somewhere where you can see it.

And tomorrow morning when you wake up... repeat the process. Before long, you’ll have clarity and wisdom like you never thought you’d have... fewer questions about God’s heart... and a better appreciation for Christ’s love and sacrifice on our behalf.

Your Corner

Boxer Muhammad Ali was once asked “What’s the greatest lesson you’ve ever learned?”

Ali thought a minute... and answered with a story about his famed match with Sonny Liston:  “Liston was the strongest man I’d ever fought. Every time I hit him, it hurt me worse than it did him. I gave him everything I had. When the sixth round ended, I was completely spent. I couldn’t even raise my arms. I couldn’t even stand up to go back onto the ring. ‘I’m goin’ home!’ I told [trainer] Angelo Dundee. ‘I’m not going back in there!’  Hearing this, Dundee demanded that Ali get ready to go in. Ali refused. The bell rang, and still Ali didn’t leave his seat. Dundee pushed him and shouted, ‘Get in there and don’t come out until you’re the heavyweight champion of the world.’  Ali struggled to his feet. Liston didn’t.  At the end of that fight, Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, was the new heavyweight champion of the world.  ‘The greatest lesson I’ve learned,’ Ali said, ‘is to have someone pushin’ you and makin’ you do things you don’t think you can do.’”

Some of you reading this have given it everything you’ve got.  You’re spent.  Exhausted.  Not sure how you’re going to get through that tough opponent staring you down in the other corner.  Life has hit you hard and you aren’t excited about the possibilities of getting hit again.  You need someone in your corner.  You need an Angelo Dundee...  someone pushing you to get back up and fight... Who is that in your life?   If nobody comes to mind, I have good news for you today.  Christ is in your corner...

Philippians 4:13 “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Psalm 27:1  “The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    so why should I be afraid?

The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,

    so why should I tremble?”

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

He’s with you everywhere.  He’s all the strength you’ll need.  You can do anything with Him by your side. I know it’s hard.  I know you want to stop from time to time.  As your Pastor, my heart hurts for all that I see (or hear/read about) happening in your life.  I pray for you and your family... that you would be reminded that what you are enduring is for a season.  You’ll make it through... you’ll persevere... you will see the sun again no matter how dark it feels today.   Those verses that you just read... they are for you.  God wrote them with you on His mind.  

I want to remind you that you are never alone... the fight isn’t just you vs. the world....

Jesus is there... and He’s nudging you back out into the ring of life.  It won’t always be an easy fight... and you may take hits from time to time... but just remember, no matter how tough it gets, the One in your corner is stronger than the one in the world’s.