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Monday, April 25, 2011

Encourage Yourself!

Sometimes, you have to encourage yourself!

On a certain occasion in the Old Testament, David and his men returned to their camp. When they returned, they discovered that the enemy had invaded the city and captured their wives, sons, and daughters. After David and his men had a pity party, David realized that his own men planned to kill him and David encouraged himself.

It was only when David encouraged himself that he had a conversation with God. God gave him permission to go into the enemy's camp and take back everything that the enemy had stolen.

There are times, in life, when we have to encourage ourselves. When others turn their back on you, encourage yourself! When it seems as if the whole world is against you, encourage yourself!


but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
(I Samuel 30:6)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

My Soul Cries Out!

There are times when we resolve that we are not going to "cry over spilled milk". We know that there is nothing we can do about what happened or what did not happen in the past. No amount of human effort can change it or erase it. Regardless to how hard we try or how resourceful we become, we can't ease the pain nor can we ease the frustration. It doesn't matter how hard we try, our own human abilities just CAN NOT do it.

Even when we resolve that
"it" is over,
"it" is in the past,
"it" didn't happen or

"it" won't happen, there are those days when we awaken and a part of our soul cries out in agony. Tears of despair seem to drown us as we gasp in desparation for hope and just enough strength to make it through one more day. At times, the cry is so loud that it almost overtakes us. The cry is overwhelming. No one else seems to hear our cry. How can they not hear the cry when the sound abates with every tick of the clock? My soul cries out!

What is this cry that plays and replays like a broken record? What is "it'? "It' is the dream that turned into a nightmare. "It" is the pregnancy that never happened. "It" is the shame and degradation that never seems to go away. "It" is the guilt from the past that forever haunts your present. "It" is the anger that won't go away. "It" is the disrespect that you continue to face. "It" is the marriage that failed and the relationship that turned sour. "It" is that one desire that won't happen because you are too old or your body is too broken down.

Everybody has or has had an "it" that often cries out louder than any emergency siren. No one can erase or outrun "it". The challenge is to hear "it" and face "it". How can a cry that shatters our soul not be heard by anyone else? My soul cries out!

What will I do when my soul cries out? How will I face this challenge? How will I deal with "it" before "it deals with me? That is the challenge- to say the right thing when the wrong thing sits at the tip of my tongue. The challenge is to do what is right even when you don't want to do it. The challenge is to know that you can overcome and that, in spite of what you are going through, you will overcome!