We are a proud people.
Believing that we can handle life alone.
We hold things in, hold things back, we hold things away.
We don't want anyone to see, know, or touch.
Maybe because we don't want them to see the truth in us, but I believe mostly because we think its unnecessary.
So instead we trade help for Passive Personal Prayer meetings with God.
We have Councilors to which we seek advice but no comforters cause we dont' listen.
and we live with Pain because we believe we can handle it.
and before you know it, your undone.
It takes courage to seek help, to surrender your hurt, to say (admit) you need help.
Help is unnecessary until you crash. Then its unavoidable.
Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
To learn from Jesus was must know this. Jesus sought help from His Father, Family and Friends (Church). If it was necessary for Him, how much more is it for us?
Maybe today is the day you find rest before you ruin your life.
I hope that I never get too proud to say I need help! I want to always be learning and changing with God. The other day I dropped a key out of my pocket and did not even know it. Sydney stopped me and said "MOM, you dropped a key!" It really made me think...I would have been so upset to not know what happened to that key! It dropped and I never would have caught it!
ReplyDeleteI thought about about things in life that we do or miss and we have no idea that they were there. Sometimes about the most important things that matter, Matters of the heart. I want to always be a person that my brother or sister in the Lord could come and say to me "HEY, I think that you dropped something!" We all need help while on the journey. Today I realized that I dropped something else! Did not even see that! That's what brothers and sisters are for! :O) Bless you! Lynette
In weakness, we are made strong. It takes strength to ask for help. Even Jesus asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him; He needed their help. I pray we not be "found asleep", but watchful and in prayer. This will become even more important as the battle with the enemy steps up. God bless you and protect you and Miss DJ.
ReplyDeleteB/c of the awesome welcoming arms at NewLife this is about the only area I have not found myself struggling in FINALLY! I have learned over the past few weeks by some wonderful people speaking truth over me that keeping a secret whether it be my own sin or a sin I don't own but it has effected my life Or not necessarily a sin at all but just shame or struggle or attitude of self desecration. Keeping these things in makes your mind and thoughts a breeding ground for satan and his punk friends to flourish and breed in you even more to keep it secret and for your shame and guilt and the lies he tells you to flourish & grow! Get them out. At NewLife I have met both people who have been where I am, who have had it worse than I have or who can't identify in any way with my struggles but I have NOT met a single person not willing to get on their knees for me and love me through it. Through God, it continues to be a slow sometimes scary and painful process for me but I am learning when we let the raw painful truth be made known to those who we can trust with it Satan little by little loses his grip & I love it! He has tortured me for far too many years and it's time he gets it back through Christ using his church to heal and arm his children! Learning little by little to love my life! -Jen Smith
ReplyDeleteI believed that I could handle life alone for years. And what did it do for me? Depression, I was alone cause I thought I could handle things alone. I didnt have friends to confide in, or I didnt think I could confide in them because I didnt trust. Oh has the Lord done a work in me :) He brought me to NewLife (was Bayview back then) almost 11 years ago with a plan! Since Im a little stubborn, it took a while longer than most you could say but Jesus never gave up on me and neither did my pastor! And along the way Jesus blessed me with some pretty amazing girlfriends, friends that I didnt think really existed. We just talked about this at bible study this week, the improtance of sharing our stories and our struggles. If we dont share how will others know what God has done in our lives? Others need to know that they arent alone. That someone has gone through the same things they have and that it was Jesus that got them through it! Dont get me wrong there are still struggles...lots of struggles :) but its ok cause Im not alone and God has put people in my life I can be honest with! If you want to share and havent or feel like you cant...you are safe at NewLife...satan doesnt want you to let down your guard, he wants you to keep your walls up, he doesnt want you to get close to anyone. He doesnt want you to get help. You can always start by asking a few people to pray that Jesus break down your walls. I thought I needed those walls, Im so glad Jesus broke them down!!! CJ
ReplyDeleteI believe people hide the fact that they need help out of fear of showing weakness and/or losing those around them. I admit very quietly to a few select people that I am hurting often. For years I have suffered from depression and I even commit self harm in order to control my own pain, something very few know. I choose not ask for help and not to show may pain for fear that I will lose those I love or even my own battle against myself. The last few years I have gotten closer to God. Something I didn't think was possible growing up. I talk to him every night about my struggles and although I know I still struggle, knowing that I have him to talk to helps me get through every day. I just want people to know that even if they feel alone and don't have anyone to talk to God is always there for you. He won't judge you and he won't abandon you. Don't be afraid to ask him for help even if you can't ask anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe more people who know your "ugly truth" the less ugly it becomes and the less isolated you feel (b/c isolation is exactly where the enemy wants you, you are much easier to manipulate alone. I've also learned that fact in the course of a couple of months. When we lay on the table our deepest darkest scary shamefulness we are giving it to God. Immediately God wants to make an exchange with us. He says give me those bad things my child jen and I will give you in exchange something beautiful. It may not be enough to pray these things in secret, still continuing the cycle of secrecy in your life. I wrestled with praying to God in secret and nothing changing for 10 years (maybe even became worse). Then NewLife came into our lives in November 2011. I still wrestled hard against it (actually defying God by not doing what Jesus Himself had done) Jed and I had a meeting to meet w/ Pastor Andy and I had geared myself up to lay it all out...all my blood sweat and tears looking forward to maybe some peace of mind. That morning the negative record player (satan and his spirit of fear) played around and around in my head saying to me "you can't do that" "he'll know how crazy you really are" "he has so many other people to deal with, don't burden him with you too"...guess what, satan won, I had a panic attack and I didn't go. My husband went alone. Epic FAIL on my part thanks to the devil.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying praying to God alone about things is wrong and at times it is appropriate, but I am saying that I myself tried that without a soul on earth to tell for 10 years and now it taking quite a group effort to restore my relationship with my Father God! If you are still struggling find a safe place to lay it all out. Go to Pastor, he will pray and then point you in the right direction. We have to be taught and believe what is happening all around us every second of every day and even within our own minds. Satan is here to steal, kill and destroy and you better believe it's not just him, he has foot soldiers and evil warriors on his side, we need them on ours...I need them on mine!!! Heavenly Angels are constantly fighting for our lives even though we can't see it. Some of us can feel it. One of the many reasons Christ gave us His church is to be our own set of warriors and weapons that we can touch, feel and hear. We need to use them(and I can tell you for sure that everyone at NewLife has a desire to be used, through Christ they will make us strong and we will also discover our warrior spirit!
Jen!! I am so proud of YOU!! You rock! I love your growth and I love seeing your relationship with God become bigger! God has become bigger than any problem you have therefore you CAN NOT LOOSE!! Your a fighter and the warrior spirit inside of you is amazing! When we come from a depth of darkness into the light you become a leader that you were destine to be. You will be someone that people will want to talk to and people will be inspired by your relationship to our awesome God. I AM PROUD OF YOU!! Your practicing the art of making exchanges with God... Peace and Rest will be yours always!! :O) Lynette
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