When Life Happens
This past week I had the opportunity to speak with several individuals who were going through different struggles in their own lives. From losing family members to loved ones going through surgeries to just life, it seems as though the lows of life pop up out of nowhere. But how do we respond? I want to tell you some of the lessons that I learned from being with people in some of their lowest points.
1. Find the Positive: I worked with a minister that always told me to locate the grain of salt in what was said. If we are always focusing on the negative, then we will never see how God is working in our lives. Our situation may never change on this physical earth, but God may be changing our eternal state and the eternal condition of those we are around. In John 16:33 Jesus explains to us that we can have peace! He is telling us that because of His power and how he has overcome the world then we have peace that nobody in this world can take from us. We can be confident about that peace!
2. Stick Together: In the different situations, it was crucial for those that were dealing with hard times to be surrounded by their physical and spiritual families. 1 Peter 4:10 teaches us that we each have abilities and we are to use those to minister to another. Are you constantly lifting others up? We understand from 1 Corinthians 12:14 that the church is one body that is made up of many members. If our brothers and sisters are hurting, then we need to be there for them. We cannot allow for other members of the body to become weak and vulnerable. What are you doing in your life to minister to the members of the Lord's body.
3. Pray: In what I believe to be one of Jesus' lowest moments on this earth, in the garden before his death, he prayed. When I look at the example of Jesus, we must remember that prayer may not always give us the direct results that we want. We know that God showed that there was no other way and that Jesus must go to the cross, but I still believe that peace comes from talking to God. We may not always get the answer that we are wanting, but we can know that the almighty God is listening, and we can know that He will take care of us. It may not be in this life, but we can know that the joys of the next life will far surpass the pains of this life.
"Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior become your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny." http://www.notablequotes.com/g/gandhi_mahatma.html#7h82aOqfMsVZ47XB.99
Will Myhan