Thank you, Jesus, for another day – I will praise You in this storm

Hey y’all! We are in the first month of 2020, crazy how quickly time flies. 2019 was a year of grief and great struggles but 2019 was also a wonderful year of huge accomplishments. During 2019, I struggled with my most severe bout of depression while finishing college, planning a wedding, and starting my career. I leaned heavily on my circle of wonderful friends, my family, and God. I blogged once the entire year.

My New Year’s resolution is to read more and to put my faith in God’s abilities instead of my own. I was so overwhelmed and so stretched thin I truly believed there was no way I was in a place to blog. My goal is to continue to mold my perception and my focus from what I can do to what our mighty God can do.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope that this is a place you can find community and love through Christ Jesus. I have prayed for you.

I have started a daily devotional titled: A Moment to Breathe (365 Devotions that meet you in your everyday mess) and it is so wonderful to read a snippet out of another sister’s life that meets you right where you are.

You can purchase this devotional here: https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Breathe-Devotions-that-Everyday/dp/1462767060/ref=asc_df_1462767060/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451663536455&psc=1

Zechariah 10:1 says, “Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the rain clouds, and he will give them showers of rain and crops in the field for everyone.”

The devotional is talking about praying for rain when you have rain. Thanking God for the blessings in your life. How often do we pray for something that we want/need? Probably daily. But look back, can you remember a time when you prayed for everything that you have now? I know that I can. Just a short while ago I was begging Christ to fulfill my heart’s desires to be a wife. I was so tired of waiting for what I thought should be the next step in my life. God did fulfill that desire but because of my husband’s trust in the Lord and our faithful God it was fulfilled in HIS time.

Every day we should be thanking God for his blessings – even during our rainy season but especially during the drought. It is so easy to forget what we are blessed with when we feel as though our world is crumbling around us.

In our walk with Christ we often refer to the ups and downs in life as “seasons.” And the Word talks about there being seasons for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

During our bad days or our hard seasons, we need to be thanking God for the things that we have or what we accomplished. Maybe you are struggling with depression and today what you accomplished was waking up and brushing your teeth before going back to bed – Thank you Jesus for another day. Maybe you had 20 things on your to-do list, and you completed 19 of them – Thank you Jesus for allowing me to accomplish so much and thank you for another day. Or maybe you accomplished none of those things because life happened – Thank you Jesus for another day.

Thank you, Jesus, for another day.

We are surrounded by reminders of what we didn’t accomplish everyday through social media- especially during the year reflects and the new year resolutions. We are looking at our brothers and sisters around us being successful and accomplishing so much and today, well today, we brushed our teeth. Do you know what the bible says about this?

Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Today I may be in my drought, but you are in your rainy season and my God has commanded me to rejoice with you in your accomplishments! But also, for you to weep with me during my drought!

Y’all, we can still celebrate with others even if we are hurting and we can still revel in the magic of what is happening in our own lives as well. During my time of wanting to be married, I found myself struggling to be happy for some of my dearest friends that were getting married because I had these awful bitter feelings inside of me. I remember one night; I sent a close friend this novel of a text apologizing for not rejoicing with her the way she deserved. She of course, spoke to me out of love and grace and wept with me during my time of hurting. Through God’s strength, I was able to truly rejoice with her during that magical time.

Another dear friend closed a chapter in her life right after I had gotten married and I felt so insanely guilty for enjoying being married. I felt as though I shouldn’t be allowed to be happy when she was hurting so deeply. She is a Godly woman and was upset with me for feeling this way because she knows God’s word and while I wept with her during her time of weeping, she was simultaneously rejoicing with me in my time of rejoicing.

Both of these Godly women surrounded me with encouragement during times of weeping and I can’t express how important it is to have people like that around you to help hold you up.

I was talking with a friend recently about how faithful our God is – even when it seems as though He isn’t. She explained it with the story of the Israelites crossing the red sea. God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and the Israelites found themselves staring at the Red Sea with no way to cross and the Egyptian army closing in behind them. Can you imagine? “Thanks, God for delivering us from Pharaoh now they’re chasing us, and we are stuck. Great. Job.” But God had a plan and all the Israelites needed to do was have faith, be silent, and walk into the waters.

Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you, you only have to be silent.”

What I hope you take away from this today:

• We are to trust that God has gone before us and made a way for the plan that he has for each one of us.

• We are to bring our fears and our struggles to him ONCE and leave them at his feet – He will fight for us.

• We are to praise him and thank him for what we have NOW.

• We can rejoice with others during our time of weeping.

Thank you, Jesus, for another day.