I Want To Share This With You

[kayc]

This was in my devotional:

SIMPLIFY

In a radio interview, a basketball superstar was asked about his knack for making the game-winning shot in crucial situations. The reporter asked how he was able to be so calm in such pressure-packed moments. His answer was that he tried to simplify the situation. "You only have to make one shot," the player replied. One shot. That is the essence of simplifying a difficult situation. Focus only on what is in front of you right now. Don't worry about the expectations of your coach or teammates. Simplify.

Recognizing that the challenges of life can be both overwhelming and suffocating, Jesus urged us to take matters in hand by simplifying. He said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matt. 6:34). This was His wise conclusion to His teaching on the debilitating power of worry. Worry doesn't accomplish anything positive; it just adds to the sense that we are drowning in the troubles we are facing. We must take things as they come - one day at a time - and trust Him for the wisdom to respond properly.

If you feel overwhelmed by life, do what you can today and then entrust the rest to Him. As Jesus said, "Each day has enough trouble of its own".

Original written by Bill Crowder

[Perkins808]

Thank you for this Kayc, I think we could all use this reminder!

Hugs,

Tammy

[kayc]

I wanted to share this with all of you because it spoke so loudly to me. I am a worrier. I can worry about anything. I even briefly considered applying for a job worrying, I could do a very good job at it for those who don't want to worry.

But worrying carries it's own burdens. It causes you to lose sleep, etches stress into your face and can bring on physical symptoms that are unpleasant. And worry doesn't change anything. It is, in fact, counter productive.

I want to commit this devotion to heart and do what I can do today and let go of the rest. Isn't that a lot of what the AA Serenity Prayer is about?

I keep getting bad news. I just got my unemployment waiting week denied because the holiday fell on that week so it put me over the 1/3 of my benefit...instead, this week will start my waiting week so that means I actually have two weeks' waiting before my benefits start. I could worry about the lack of money...but it won't change anything, it won't put food on the table or pay any of my bills. So better to wait and see what the Lord will provide. Yep, Him. It's His problem. I'm doing my best. I'm working the one day a week I'm still allowed to come to work. I've jumped through all of the hoops the unemployment office asked, even went into their office today. I'm applying for work and keeping a log. I've done all of the placement tests, I've posted my Resume, I've listed my job skills. And tomorrow I will do more. After all is said and done, it's up to God.

Some of you are facing things that seem overwhelming...you've lost your partner in life, the one that encouraged you and helped you with half the tasks you faced. You don't know how you'll make ends meet, let alone how you'll do things you've never done before, perhaps some of which you're lacking the skills or brawn to do. Just remember, you do your best, tackle what you can, and leave the rest up to God. I know, sometimes He seems a million miles away...perhaps you feel let down by Him, He could have spared your loved one's life and didn't...you're having a hard time grappling that one. Don't worry, you aren't alone, a lot of us have had a hard time wrapping our head around that one...eventually I came to accept that there are some things I just don't understand and left it at that. But He's there. He was there when you went through your heart-rending changes...and He's here now. You don't need to feel Him to know it...He gave us a way to Him, it's on faith, not feelings. Faith...that small five letter word that makes all the difference in the world. A word so much like hope...it's not something you can see, not something tangible, not something easily definable, but there it is...one of the most essential things we can have. And all we need start with is such a tiny bit, no bigger than a mustard seed. Surely we can start with that much.

[Dwaynecg]

KayC,

Pauline and I, we both have strong Christian and been saved by Christ. Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our sins. Pauline was never afraid of death, she knew we are saved by Jesus. After Pauline's passing I felt strong and getting things done that needed doing. I went onto unemployment because I was Pauline's PCA and was paid. I want to go into nursing. Unemployment will pay for training. Every thing was going good until the first of the month, now it seems everything is on hold for now and I just feel at my lowest point after Pauline's passing. I know God is guiding me but right now I feel so alone and my spirit is almost gone. I don't know what to do to get out of this low. I pray to God to lift me up because I need the help.

God Bless

Dwayne

[pinkpony]

thank you. I have really learned to lean on this scripture every since that day 1yr & 4months ago when I learned of my normally very healthy weightlifting husband's news of terminal cancer. I had to encourage everyone around me to just live each day & not worry about tomorrow. It was the only was I could & still do survive, when I start trying to look into the future I think too much & its overwhelming & no peace, so I know thats not good for you.

[kayc]

I know, we're human, we have our down times...my lowest seems to be in the wee hours, that's when everything looms the largest.

I will keep you in my prayers. It helps to lift each other up.

Kay

[LarrysGirl]

Thanks for sharing this Kay. Like you I am a constant worrier and just can't help myself when I don't know how I'm going to survive financially much longer either and my health problems still going on. Since Larry's death, God and I aren't on good terms. I don't know how to pray or leave it up to God when all my prayers went unanswered, I feel alittle foolish saying a prayer now. I'm amazed at your faith and strength in going thru the tough times. You know I wish for your peace and comfort and better days ahead! Love you, Deborah

[kayc]

Deborah,

I was always a person of strong faith and an avid prayer. A few years ago I taught a class on prayer, I researched it for about a year, reading all of the scriptures on it and countless books...I even had three pastors in my class. Yet when George died, I found my faith shaken to the core. I felt God was a million miles away, and like you, I'd felt a bit betrayed by Him, after all, I was praying when George died. It took me about a year or so, but I finally came to accept that God does what He does...He doesn't have to answer to me, nor does He have to explain Himself to me. He was with me all the time, even when I didn't feel Him, even when I couldn't pray, even when I was mad at Him. It's okay to feel all of those things, He's a big god with big shoulders, He can take it. He understands. I think that's one of the things I love about Him, he understands our limitations and our humanity and He loves and accepts us anyway. I can only speculate as to why He let George die, long before I was ready for him to. Perhaps He was sparing George something worse, who knows? All I know is, I have to accept His sovereignty and acknowledge that He knows a whole lot more than I do. I remember feeling like my power was stripped from me when George died...after all, no one has asked ME what I thought, no one asked my opinion on the outcome of my life! I realize now that so much of my life is beyond my control. It is us people that go through life, thinking we're still going to be married tomorrow, thinking we'll still have our jobs, our bank account, our health, our children, our abilities. If only we could realize up front that it doesn't go that way! In the blink of an eye our lives can change! All around America people are seeing that now as their jobs are gone, their houses foreclosed on, tornadoes displacing them, people losing loved ones to all kinds of death. We are seeing how fleeting our plans are and how abrupt changes can come at any moment and grab our attention and uproot our lives. It is not about who gets affected anymore, for most people are at some point in some way. It is about how we handle it or choose to look at it and deal with it.

Deborah, It's not "Does God care?"...He does. It's how WE are going to respond. Don't ever feel foolish for reaching out to Him...He's waiting for that. It doesn't matter how many years have gone by or what has laid unresolved between the two of you...He's still there. This isn't about religion...I am as tolerant as anyone, people can believe whatever they want to. This is about relationship and peace. It's about letting Him bolster you in your time of need. I know how you struggle...we've been through it together now for years. You are such a caring person and you've had more than your share of hardship and heartbreak. We have no guarantee that anything will get any easier, but I'd sure like to see peace pave your way a little easier. You mean a great deal to me, I love you.

Kay

[Perkins808]

I too questioned why God didn't answer my prayers. When we were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital (I was allowed to ride in the front while they worked so hard on Jeff in the back), I prayed for God to save Jeff. Please don't take my Jeff from me, please save him......and yet he died. I was so angry, why weren't my prayers answered??

And then the next day I looked up ventricular fibrilation on the computer, I looked up cardiac arrest - and what I found? That brain damage sets in probably about 4 minutes after ventricular fibrilation hits, that if the heart is not shocked almost immediately the damage to the brain can be catastrophic. Then another day went by and I received a phone call from Jeff's oncologist from Dana Farber. After explaining the details of what happened the night he died, the oncologist felt certain that Jeff's cancer....although the tumor in his esophagus was completely gone, had most likely spread to his brain and that had caused a brain bleed which led to the v.f. and then cardiac arrest. He went on to explain that cancer of this type that spreads to the brain can be very destructive and very painful.

So it hit me. God DID answer my prayers. He saved Jeff that night. He saved him from the brain damage he would have most likely suffered if they had been able to bring him back. He saved him from withering away from the cancer. He saved him from the pain he would have ultimately suffered.

I sit here in tears now thinking about it. I am so grateful that he didn't suffer anymore than he had already. So I think that God did answer my prayers....just not in the way that I thought he would.

Hugs,

Tammy

[Lainey]

Tammy,

Your reasoning as to why Jeff died instead of lived is inspiring to people like me, who after 18 months wonder "WHY".It gives me a complete new perspective.

Lars died when he did to be spared more pain than he was already in. Believe me, he had so much pain for the last 2 years of his life, and most of the time painkillers hardly touched the pain.

It makes me feel so much better, maybe God was answering our requests to take away the pain.

Thank you so much for sharing this thought.

Lainey

[kayc]

God ALWAYS answers prayers...just not always as we want Him to. But we have to realize it's like we're looking at life in pieces of the puzzle and He sees the whole thing completed.

[Kat2005]

Wow! Tammy, I never thought of it that way. It will be two years this month and like Lainey I still wonder "WHY". Thank you, this really helps and makes alot of sense. I posted this quote, probably about a year ago, which I read everyday. In fact, I have it on my desk at work and when I am having a difficult time I read it. I just think it is so true.

"Life Isn't About Waiting For The Storm To Pass,

It's About Learning How To Dance In The Rain." anonymous

Kat

[kayc]

I like that, Kat!