"Soulful Glow" by Anamarie Fox

When you feel like your life is in a tailspin, and gets tough relationally, financially, or whatever “ly” you are going through, and it feels like something is wanting to stomp you what do you do?  Look around you, you’ll be happy to know that you’re not the only one who is going through something similar and like you no one around you is perfect.  When your integrity is tested you sometimes contemplate in risking your integrity in order to survive.  You either have to make a choice whether to keep your morality, ones which you know is right or do what maybe someone like your boss wants you to do, even though you know it’s wrong.  That’s a tough situation, but it is real life.  We all have to struggle in that but we are not alone.  One of the strongest quality the enemy possesses is the ability to convince you that you’re the only one going through it and it is farthest from the truth.

When life gets tough we seem to have some choices we tend to do one of two things. One, we want to escape it or go backwards.  However, turning back the clock is impossible.  We’re always brought back to the same situation when we don’t tackle the problem head on.  The other is denial.  We pretend that it will just go away.  Do you know that if you don’t accept the things that are happening in your life, you get stuck in that same situation, no matter the magnitude of it?

God doesn’t want us to suffer through these types of situations, He wants us to persevere, to come out of the situation better and stronger than before.  What do we do though?

First it is very important to remember that God has a plan.  When the Israelites were complaining to Moses that the Egyptians are coming to get them, God said, don’t complain to me!  Move your butts close to the Red Sea!  The Israelites just wanted to sit there and say, whoa is me, but God wanted them to trust Him when he says He will deliver them from the Egyptians, which He did when he parted the Red Sea at the very LAST minute!

Often, we choose to ignore God.  We run the other direction when it comes to having a relationship with Him.  But do you know that no matter where you run, whether it’s to him or away from Him, his plan remains the same?  He has a perfect plan.  You can do everything in your life to mess it up, but God still has a plan and no matter what, His plan always works.  It may not always make sense to us but it always works.  I didn’t write Proverbs 3:5-12, God did, so it’s there in His book!  For example, people will ask, why do I have to tithe 10% to God? If I’m struggling, that doesn’t really equate.  God doesn’t need your money!  HE IS GOD, Hello!  But he did say do it, trust me and I will pour out the blessings of heaven in your life.  For years I fought this because one, I was a single mother of 2, I had a job that is just enough to pay my bills and expenses, so like everyone else, I was like, HUH?  But one day I said, let me just do it and see.  I did.  I had been trusting Him since and he has blessed me with his grace wherein I knew that I would never have to worry because He will always provide for me and will never forsake me.  I took that leap of faith and God hasn’t disappointed me yet.  I’m far from rolling in the dough but I’m not hungry either.  If you need me to go into more details, you can email me and I’ll tell you.

Second, God can speak to you directly.  God will speak specific things into your life.  Talk directly to God and he will speak directly into your life and reveal his plans to you.  Again, not my words, Jeremiah 29:11, God’s plans are always good.  He typically answers us by handing us a map that takes us through the route we don’t want.  He’ll either ask us to go somewhere you hate or admit to something you didn’t want to admit to, because the one thing you don’t want to face is usually what gets you stuck in that place which will then require you to ask Him for His help.

Third, redirect your focus to the Greater person above all, not to minimize your struggles and problems, but take your eyes off the problem and shift it to God who is bigger and more powerful than anything or anyone on this earth.

Lastly, you must take the next step, believe in God.  Don’t wait for God to do it for you, you have to help him help you, but don’t do it on your own either without his help just because you think God is not moving fast enough.

How do faith and action fit together?  Move in the direction where God wants you to go, and do what he’s saying for you to do.  That’s what faith is.  Faith without action is dead.

Have a great week and Love one another!

To view the artwork associated with this message, please go to http://girlartaddict.blogspot.com