This morning is when everything started to catch up to me: circumstances, hormones, etc. etc. and I started to feel like I was coming apart at the seams. Then I realized that I had let my quiet times with God lapse. I had still been praying, but not as often and not as in depth as I had been before. So, as hard as it was, I opened my Bible and prayed for comfort. Two verses came to mind and so I concentrated on reading those and praying through them.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 ESV
I certainly was feeling heavy laden and was in desperate need of rest from the frustrations of this world. So, I went to Him, I continued to read and pray through verses that had given me comfort before, such as Romans 8:24-28. I was starting to feel better, more controlled. I was just about to finish up with my quiet time and another verse floated through my head with a melody that I had learned a long time ago. The funny thing is I could only remember the first part of the verse and it got me thinking...
Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1 ESV
Over and over again in my head, I was hearing "Let not your hearts be troubled, let not your hearts be troubled..." And then it dawned on me. This is an ACTIVE command, "LET NOT your hearts be troubled. BELIEVE in God, BELIEVE also in me." I have a responsibility to not let my heart become troubled with everything that is going on! I have always considered this a passive, encouragement from Jesus. But I now think that it is a command to turn off the voices of worry and woes and choose to believe in God, choose to believe in Jesus. Instead of letting my emotions run crazy and my hopes and dreams plummet to the floor to be trampled, I need to pick myself up and not "let these things throw [me]." as the Message version puts it. So, I wiped my tears from my eyes and determined to move on, believe in God and trust His plan for my life.
4 comments:
thank you for sharing your thoughts and the Bible verses. John 14:1 is just what i needed to get into my head today.
Was just driving in the car feeling a bit down in general and convicted for the same exact reason. Just thought that I needed to get online and find a good devotional. Crazy to sign on and see this. Thanks for posting.
Glad you're feeling better Livi.
I hope you know that you could have used our refrigerator/freezer to keep your stuff cold until yours gets repaired. Just come over and knock. We're here (literally right next door) if you need us! -Erica
Thanks Erica! We'll keep that in mind. So far, we're surviving with a dorm fridge. Although, just this morning I just had the thought, "how the heck did we fit anything in these during college?"
Post a Comment