We have all heard the saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
As people of faith, this actually makes sense. The world wants me to take God’s gifts for granted, find fault with my reality, compare with the illusion of other’s reality and wish my reality would just magically change. / Faith suggests that I see God in my current reality and:
BE GRATEFUL always for everything, Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks ALWAYS FOR ALL things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
SAVOR what is Ecc 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. ¶Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
LET GO of any comparison, 2Co 10:12 ¶For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
BE CONTENT with such things as I have. Phl 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be CONTENT. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
But how can I learn to savor things that I, and most people, find challenging? PUT A NEW SPIN ON THEM!
Unexpected problems become: Find a shared task in which to walk with the Lord and learn more of His problem solving wisdom and power and learn to walk closer to him. 2 Corinthians 4:8-12We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us but life in you.
Boredom becomes: Find a motivation to practice inner peace. Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Isa 30:15 ¶For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Life, society, nature is “crazy out of control“: find in the craziness an opportunity to rest in the Lord. When I can SEE that I am powerless it is so much easier to rest. Psa 91:1 ¶He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. ecause thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
When loved tasks come to an end, such as the “empty nest syndrome” . (Today was the last day for me, of thousands and thousands of outpatient days of giving psychiatric care. I am now down to a 40 hour week and only doing the partial hospital): Find it to be an opportunity to commit my ways to the Lord and glory in what He has planned for me today. Phl 3:12 ¶Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself
When overloaded with responsibilites: Find a chance to practice casting all my cares on Him, a chance to learn to delight in being a fellow servant and soldier and sufferer with Him. 2Co 6:1 ¶We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 1Co 3:9 ¶For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Rom 8:18 ¶For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
When I am lonely: Find a chance to strengthen my awareness of the truth that when He is all I have, then He is all I need. Psa 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Lord, give me your vision to see life’s events with a positive twist. For why should I be discouraged or anxious or fear when you have the last word and nothing can ever separate me from your love.
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