Standing in the Promise of God

I haven’t written in a while – I have pulled myself in so that I could gather my strength. It has been a tough 4 years. I have lost, been lied to, terrified to the core, my emotions beaten down, betrayed, and I have stood accused.

I was watching a sermon by Joel Osteen this morning that spoke to me. He told me that no matter what others do to try and take your blessing away from you, they cannot do it if you stand in the strength of God. God’s blessing is ordained by God, humans cannot take it away. So we just need to stand in patience.

Proverbs 16:32 NIRV

It is better to be patient than to fight. It is better to control your temper than to take a city.

My question is – what if I didn’t follow that proverb at first – what if my first inclination WAS to fight? Does that mean I lost my blessing?

I don’t think this is so. I think that the best of us have met with misery, defeat, heartbreak, and we have struggled not knowing what to do. I think that we have all messed up and God forgives us as long as we turn back to him. As long as we repent.

How could any of us know what to do when we were never taught to deal with people who don’t act the way we were taught to act? If we were taught to be good to others, to act with the Golden Rule, and then others don’t work with the same rules. How do you deal with that? What do you do when no matter how hard you try to be good to them, they don’t see it and they are horrible to you anyway, well, in my case – eventually you lose it.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger – Frierich Nietzshe

There was a time that I was lost and unaware of my brilliance, I thought that the world, and the hand of people I had been dealt, was going to take me down. I had 2 choices – I could let the situation define me, or I could stand and fight – find my strength during the battle.

Phillippians 4:1 NIRV

My brothers and sisters, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord’s strength. I love you and long for you. Dear friends, you are my joy and my crown.

At first, I was letting myself believe the lie that I wasn’t allowed to feel the feelings that were inside me. But that was a mistake. It was a mistake because until I felt them, really felt them, I wasn’t going to be able to transmute them and allow them to leave. We should not teach our kids that pain is evil and harmful – we should teach them that it is a part of life so that they can deal with it better when they come across it on their own. Protecting them IS allowing them to feel and express their pain in a way that is appropriate so that they can learn at an early age.

Life isn’t perfect, but it is good. We have to find the good – search for what we STILL have despite what has been taken from us. Sometimes what has been taken is A LOT and it is PAINFUL!! But allowing negatively to wear on us is not going to help – it is only going to make things worse.

Matthew 6:21 NIRV – Your heart will be where your riches are.