“Trials and troubles may seem to overwhelm you. They cannot do more than work my will, and that will you have said is your will. Do you see that you cannot be destroyed? From now a new life is opening out before you. Yours to enter into the kingdom I have prepared for you. The Sunlight of my presence is on your paths. Trust and go forward unafraid. My Grace is sufficient for all your needs.”

-A.J. Russell, God Calling

Some of you may really be struggling right now.  Maybe you are going through a break-up.  Or struggling with a severe illness.  Or having to hear your parents fight.  Or mourning over the loss of a loved one.

During my first year of university I went through a rough break-up, which was followed by the death of my best friend in a car accident 2 months later.  A year of darkness followed.  I remember hating waking up every morning because the reality would wash over me like a torrent.  My struggle can be summed up in one of my journal entries from that year:

“God, I feel like I’m drowning. Drowning in pain, confusion, doubts, and anger. The storm is raging against me, all around me, and I am so tired. I just want to give up. Relationships are not worth it because they all just end. God, where the hell are you? Why are you pounding me? JUST STOP IT - I am so tired - I can’t live like this. Please just DO something. You are so distant.”

I remember having the choice to either go through my pain with God, or to shake my fist and do it by my own strength. I chose to go through it with Him, and looking back I see how closely He held me through it all.

If a crisis in your life has brought you to a crossroads, I encourage you to walk through it with God.  He is not afraid of your confusion, anger, bitterness, or resentment.  He loves it when you are real and he loves you even when you don’t have energy to say or do anything.  Rest in Him, and he will give you peace.

Michelle

I really struggle with praying sometimes.  Often I end up mumbling a little prayer before I write an exam or essay, or quickly mention the name of a sick friend or family member as I pray over my meal.  But when was the last time I intentionally sat down and really prayed for people in my life?

If this resonates with you, I’d like to share and idea that I had in highschool.

1)    Take a piece of paper and cut it into small pieces.

2)    Write a name of a person you know on each piece of paper. Keep writing down names until you can’t think of any more.  Write down ANYONE who comes into your mind, whether its your close friend, your kindergarten teacher, or the bus driver whose name you don’t even know.  This will take you a while…you will be surprised at how many people come to mind!
3)    Find a container and put all the slips of paper into it.  Establish a time when you can sit down and pray. Draw out the slips one-by-one and pray for the person on that slip of paper.

Girls, this rocked my prayer life! Every time I would look at the name on the slip I had picked, I would get so excited about praying for them.  I would pray that God would give me the discernment to pray for them in a way that they really needed that day, and all of a sudden I felt like I was more interested in their lives and willing to invest into them more.  I would trust that God would guide my hand to pick the slips that really needed prayer that day, and so often I would find out that in fact my prayer had been answered in a person’s life.

So if you are struggling with praying for others, I encourage you to give this a try.  Have fun!

Michelle

Ever failed?

I have…a lot!  Sometimes it’s something as simple as burning a batch of cookies or putting too much salt in the pasta.  Other times, I have failed an assignment at school or a not getting the exact job I wanted.  Still other times, my failures have resulted in lost relationships, compromised values, and seasons of life apart from God.  Often I have come to the end of my rope wondering what went wrong…how did I end up here again?  For a burnt batch of cookies…it’s a simple as knowing that the oven was turned on to high or they were left for too long.

But the bigger things are a little trickier to figure out.  Most often I have found that my failures start with the tiniest of tiny steps away from God’s will…and then ever so gradually continue down that path so slowly that I don’t even see it coming until I am so far away from the starting point that it is hard to even remember what happened.

Here’s the encouraging part though…every time I have failed and repented, my walk with the Lord has grown deeper.  Failure has often been God’s way of allowing me to come to the end of myself, realizing that I absolutely must remain humble and allow on him to be in absolute control.  A LOT easier said than done!!!  I once heard a message on Luke 22:31, which is the passage right before Jesus’ trial. I remember the speaker talking about how Jesus didn’t pray that Peter wouldn’t fall into temptation at all, but that when Satan tempted him, his faith would not fail. That when he did fall, his faith in God’s perfect love would not fail him - so that even when Peter reached the bottom of the pit of failure, he would confess, “God still loves me”.

The important thing really isn’t how far you’ve fallen but how much you have learned through it.  Do you remember even at the darkest moment that God still LOVES you?  What are some lessons you have learned in a deeper way through some of your failures?

Andrea

Years ago a wise person in my life described the word busy with a catchy little acronym…

Bound
Under
Satan’s
Yoke.

We live in a society that focus’ on production and increase. We are constantly on the go working towards bigger and better things. There is always something, or someone that demands our time… and our schedules naturally fill up.

There is nothing wrong with being busy - in fact the Bible has a whole lot to say against laziness. But if we’re not careful, business can take over our lives. It is then we are left running around distracted with so many things to do. Being so caught up, we forget the One who we are suppose to be living for.  The question is… “what are you busying yourself with?”

Time is the most valuable thing you have. How are you using it? Are you living with God as the Schedule-er, or are you scheduling Him into your already planned life?

Jess

(hint: it’s more than this!)

“Understand your worth.”

(today’s thought comes from Kevin Makins, a great young leader and loving husband to his wife Meaghan)

“Women, you do not need to settle for less then the best. You do not need to give away any part of yourselves in order to receive anything from any guy. Here’s a secret: Christian women are a precious commodity… but they think that they aren’t!

She’ll be fine… guys that really love and follow Jesus are constantly looking for a Godly woman to love, but sometimes girls doubt that.  DON’T.  A girl that loves Jesus, refuses to settle, and is cute and sweet will ALWAYS be just fine. Seriously.

Thanks Kevin!