Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Psalm 10: 4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 16:5, 8 The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: they will not go unpunished. . . . Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 29:23 Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.
Isaiah 23:9 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
James 4:6, 10 But He gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. . . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
1 Peter 5:5-6 . . . Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud by gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
1 John 2:16 for all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Pride is such a sneaky thing slinking into our beings when we are trying to not be arrogant, and full of ourselves and believing we are so good, so talented, so . . . whatever. But we quickly take credit for things that we have been blessed with, instead of thanking acknowledging God’s goodness and help in attaining anything. We deserve nothing.
I recently heard an inspirational talk by former football star, Tim Tebow, who deeply believes in God and worship and acknowledges his success playing football; and while having that career was hard work, it was not his hard work alone, but God’s path for him. He admitted there were times, too many, when he had the fleeting thought ‘I am really something, I’m special for this team.’ But then he’d fairly quickly check himself and remember it was God’s path for him, and not all his ability. However, it was a persistent fight he had—feeling his shining star vs God’s path for him. It was easy for him to take credit for all he had.
We all deal with prideful events in our lives. Somehow, we think we do a good job most of the time—but could we do more? We think that our successes are our own. Each day, each moment could change our circumstances; a fractured limb, an emergency with your family, a sudden death of family or friend, a severe illness, ANYTHING. Life can change in a moment and affect your circumstances . . . and sometimes be a mirror showing you how proud you were—and the sudden realization that you were not alone in the ability to win or succeed.
Suddenly, there is nothing between you and the truth.
Your pride can show up in several different ways; as worry, fear, anxiety, not trusting God, and believing everything is under your control. It is believing you alone are responsible for your life, for your path, your successes. The belief that all is under your control is a lie and it is prideful. God is there, He is there with each and everything that happens in our lives.
We all are arrogant and feel our demands should be met within our first cry for food or diaper change, and then generally learn that our fretting brings some attention to fulfill our needs. It fills the urge to have what we want—and need.
There are so many things we do in our normal days that feed our own arrogance, adding to the belief we are in charge of our lives, all our choices and successes belong to us, and only us. That is not at all true. We are held in God’s hands. He holds each of us. Our limited human minds cannot even fathom how He can hold each of us at any and every time/moment.
“Pride is self-worship and self-preservation.” Jaquelle Crowe “7 symptoms of a Prideful Heart” Oct 16, 2017. We only turn to God when we are at wits end, at the bottom of our own attempts to fix the details of what is going on in life. Things build up, compound, and grow, and we realize we cannot choose a way to go. Only then, we may cry out for help from a God we are at most unsure of. Being so sure of our own power, our own abilities, and our control of life. It is our choices and decisions that get us through life and let us climb whatever challenges and succeed. So often some do not even believe in God, never mind turn to Him with any regularity.
Our cockiness ensures us we are responsible for everything in our lives, all our choices, decisions, and moves we believe we are responsible for all the good in our lives. God hates our arrogance and pride. It is so self-oriented. It leaves no credit or thanks to our loving Father and Creator.
We are far more productive and giving if we humble ourselves, stop thinking of self, and start looking at the needs of others. God does not want us proud and arrogant. He wants us to see the needs of others and help when we can, He wants us to realize He gives life, He will supply our needs—and He did with all the years of the Israelites traveling through the desert from Egypt—water, manna, the path and laws, protection and guidance. He supplied and wanted them to only honor Him and thank Him and follow His rules and Law always recognizing that He is God, Creator and the guidance for all. He devised a way for each of us prideful people to be freed from sin with the death of His Son—God and man in one. Jesus had no pride or arrogance—He was humble and loving and full of peace and chose to give up His sin free life for our prideful sinful lives—for each of us as long as we choose Him as our Savior, believing fully.
And we can be saved and know our eternity is heaven if we accept Jesus, recognize He gave His life for us, and begin to break down our sinful nature still with its pride, arrogance, gossip, and worldly following. It’s a process, and we follow to reach the goal of being more Christ-like in the end.
Thank You for all You have done to help me break free as we work to overcome my sinful nature and thank You for all the blessings You have granted to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Deuteronomy 15:11 Poor persons will never disappear from the earth. That’s why I’m giving you this command: yu must open your hand generously to your fellow Israelites, to the needy among you, and to the poor who live with you in your land.
Proverbs 3:27 Don’t withhold good from someone who deserves it, when it is in your power to do so.
Proverbs 19:17 Those who are gracious to the poor lend to the Lord, and the Lord will fully repay them.
Matthew 5:42 Give to those who ask, and don’t refuse those who wish to borrow from you.
Matthew 25:44-45 Then they will reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?” then he will answer, “I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.”
John 15:12 This is my Commandment, love each other just as I have loved you.
Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home.
Philippians 2:4 Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others.
Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ
Hebrews 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them
Hebrews 13:16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices
James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can according to the image of Him who created him, faith save him?…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
1 John 3:17 But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but rrefuses to help–how can the love of God dwell in a person like that?
There are so many ways we can be a doer to and for others. It may be as simple as listening to a hurting heart, or actually caring for someone who is physically ill and in pain. It is a gift for you to just smile as you go about your day to anyone you pass—a nod and smile just indicates pleasantness, and can uplift the person who received it. You can say a prayer of thanks for the person who let you out in heavy traffic, for the person who holds the door for you, and to pray for persons you know are going through a bad time so they are able to go through the difficulty with more patience, and the strength of knowing that God will help them through, and so on.
As I don’t know a lot of our church attendees, I don’t always know what is going on with different members of the church family, so even though I may not know the person, I can still pray for the situation. I don’t need to know the full circumstances, it is enough for me to sincerely pray for whatever the need might be–and trust God will do what is necessary to resolve the issue. Sometimes, I can get bogged down in details that I don’t need to know or carry. but besides praying for others, we can help with a school or library especially with a student who may be having reading or math problems. Volunteers are always needed to help with sports programs–baseball, soccer, field hockey and so forth. Children need to have stable, caring adults in their lives who take a moment to hand out praise and encouragement. I still remember every teacher I had through all of sixth grade because they were wonderful at praising, recognizing hard work, and encouraging to continue. That always is helpful to children
You may be in a position to watch a neighbor’s children until the parent can get home from work, rather than the child being just another latch-key kid, coming in to an empty home. Can you do some errands for someone–deposit money to a bank account, pick up mail or groceries or medications. Bring a plant or flowers over to jst cheer someone; how about doing a bit of housework for someone under the weather, spending a few minutes just to sit and visit, getting involved with the Meal Train for someone in the area who is too ill to cook and still has a family that needs to eat. You may notice a lawn in the neighborhood is being neglected–run and mow it, weed a garden, and reach out and see what else there might be a need for.
There are numerous ways to help. Donate food or clothing; work at a flea market which is set up to raise funds for a humane shelter, an abuse protection facility or something. Go to a jail and spend time telling the inmates about God, volunteer at your church, volunteer to babysit so a couple can go out for “them” time, organize an neighborhood or church clean up–there are numerous ways to reach out and do “faith deeds and work.”
We can help if we know a neighbor is hurting or ill–take food, just sit and visit, spend time with them, do errands–groceries, pick up medications, take out so they can complete errands and chores they need to do. Mow the lawn or do some other household chore that might be needed–clean and dust, vac, open windows and let in fresh air, bring a meal or meals, already pre-cut into one serving size containers so they can pull out a couple of choices and easily be able to heat and then eat.
Yes, there are so many practical ways we can help others. Feed them, serve in a shelter, teach others when you have knowledge they don’t yet have, bring flowers or something that will be significant, not expensive, as the simplest heartfelt touches can have more value than expense many times. It’s a giving of ourselves for others, praying, teaching, serving, caretaking, smiling, singing, loving. Bottom line it is all about loving others. And isn’t that what He said was the finest commandment, beyond loving Him, honoring Him, and honoring the Sabbath; to love others?
Love and blessings from me and “mybellaviews.”
Genesis 4:5-12 Cain offered God a lesser sacrifice than Abel’s—(poorer, older vegetables, smaller bruised? We don’t know.) but God applauded Abel’s sacrifice making Cain angry. Then Cain took him out to a field and killed him. When God asked about Abel, Cain replied, “I don’t know.” He said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Murder and lying)
Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder
Leviticus Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.
Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends
Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and his wife Sapphira had some land sold it, and both agreed to turn over some of the money, but not all. Peter immediately “learned from God/Holy Spirit” that Ananias lied, and he was then immediately struck down by God and died. In verse 7, Sapphira also came to the apostles, and she too lied, and Peter confronted her, and she was immediately struck down and also died.
James 2:10-11 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the desirable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with the fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
Do you have a list of questions you think about to ask God after you have been at that dazzling home of heaven for awhile? I have a list I add to and tuck into my God bag which is always on my bedroom door. Some of you may be familiar with me talking about my God bag in the past.
Anyway, I have several questions that have come about over things that irritate or confuse me, and wondering why He ever created them—mosquitos, ticks, gnats, leeches, anything in the family of flies—house, deer, and you get the idea. I have wondered why severely handicapped children who cannot communicate or move on their own grow into adulthood; or sometimes I wonder why an active person is now totally paralyzed and has no desire to live and God keeps them going. Over the years, I have had several patients beg to be released from the life they are now enduring, and my heart can only break for them and say maybe they need to have a discussion with God to find His purpose for them now.
But I’ve been reading a lot of books on the resistance of many countries during World War II, as well as articles on lying, particularly regarding this blog. Lying was one of the biggest sins in my family growing up. Disobedience was one thing, but if you lied about the disobedience, that became a monstrous deal. That involved trust and breaking trust. This was something one earned, and could lose if you proved you were no longer trustworthy; were consistently late, lied, stole something from a sibling, but the biggest thing I remember doing to break the trust bond was lying. It was a big deal, a very disappointing deal, to lose the trust that parents had given to you.
Anyway, in my mind, although the Ten Commandments once broken are all sins, I rated them; the first three were to respect and love and honor God, and then honor others and honor the Sabbath. The rest, I felt were kind of in order—killing was number 5, so a pretty big deal as stated in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 and lying came down on number 8.
My brain has been twirling around a lot lately regarding the people who stepped up to help the Jewish, and others targeted by the German Reich–hiding them, feeding them, smuggling them to safety, and then lying about it. The lies could very possibly be to save others lives, including someone who may have just left them within a few hours, lies could be told to protect others one knew who were actively helping people from being sent to camps, to being killed in their streets in front of families and neighbors. I recognize lying to be sinful, but if another era like that happens, I hope I would lie to protect others. According to everything I read in the bible—all sins are equal. If you commit one, you have sinned for all.
Lord, maybe someday You can give me Your views on this. I don’t want to disappoint You, but to lie for such a reason as protecting others from the annihilation the Germans committed in the 1940’s, I hope I could lay down my life for another. Thank You that You laid down Your life for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Were the people who told the lies, including some Jews or other refugees who had been given new false ID papers and now when questioned had to lie about their true identity, were they punished when they died? Did they all fall to their knees in acknowledgement of sinning, or all to their knees praising God that the war was over, and they were being let out of concentration camps, helped to resume some of their lives prior to the horrors they endured.
The articles I read about lying are adamant that lying is always wrong. I may be totally wrong, but my moral code says it is not as wrong as letting someone be killed, brutalized. And thus my conflict. I think the Nazis and many of the German people were vicious, hateful, and murder was not a big sin or deal to them at all. They believed themselves superior (no pride there, uh?!) and therefore had the right to exterminate Jews, Poles, gypsies, blacks, homosexuals, communists, those with differing political ideas, and those with different religious beliefs, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“One of the seven deadly sins God hates is a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-19). Here is why God hates lying. A person who lies hates the individual they are lying to (Proverbs 26:28). And if you hate another human being, God views the hater as a murderer (1John 3:15; 1 John 4:20)” http//www.bakeerfield.com Community Voices: What God says about liars who spread lies, March 5, 2022
I can guarantee there was no hate in my heart when I lied to my mother to avoid punishment for disobeying. There was not. I hated being caught and facing punishment—but did not hate my mother. So, it leaves me conflicted. Reading Proverbs 6:16-17 ‘certainly lying is there, but also listed are hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, and lastly a person who stirs up conflict in the community.’ I see the Germans as committing many more of these atrocities listed in the Proverb than those who lied to save others. But am I wrong? I well could be, but it does not feel wrong in my moral compass. If such an era ever again occurred, I would lie to try to save others. At present, I am not sure if I would be held as accountable as the outright murderers; but according to God’s Word, I guess I would be.
My interpretation is the Germans who were his higher officers, SS (the Schultzstaffel). They believed they were assigned to cleanse all who were not German or Aryan, which they believed to be the pure race. Certainly they were responsible for taking many peoples and thrusting into numerous camps—and if they died, too bad, if they were able to be worked until death, so much the better. They received some of their information from informants, those hopeful they could escape any suspicion and save their own hides, some because they were keenly watching to see if anyone behaved secretly, suspiciously, guiltily, and so forth. The SS were bullies, superior men who believed they had the right to subject others to brutal punishments, shuffle them on crowded, stinking dirty trains and hustle them off to “labor” camps, or for some, straight to death camps.
For those who risked their lives, and perhaps lied for others, are the sins the same. I certainly understand God hates lying, and it is a sin—(Proverbs 19:9)
Psalm 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
Proverbs 8:13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, even behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 21:2-3 A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs his heart . . . is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Pride—thinking we know more than God and that we are in charge of our lives; entitlement; bullying, can handle things like God—self reliance, self centeredness, self condemnation. Pride is the root of most sin, in fact the very first sin ever committed was rooted in pride. Angel Lucifer thought he was equal to or better than God. We know the result. He and his minions were expelled from heaven and have learned about the fiery and stench-filled Hell. But he transformed himself in his sneaky, slithering manner came to Eve and enticed her to have a bite of the fruit from the tree which God had commanded them to not eat. We know the results. . .
I have always tried to not brag overmuch—but that certainly does not mean I was not prideful. I thought I was not, then went digging deeper into pride, its meanings, and oh boy, yes, I am quite prideful. I am so sorry, Lord.
“”Pride says we’re basically good and therefore deserve to have rewards. Humility knows that God is good and we don’t deserve anything—we are sinners; we deserve death. I know, take a breath!”” 10/16/2017 Jaquelle Crowe “7 symptoms of a Prideful Heart”
The Bible lists these (1) fear; (2) entitlement; (3) ingratitude; (4) people-pleasing; (5) prayerlessness; (6) hypocrisy; (7) rebellion.
Our pride has us making judgments—we may criticize a change coming, we criticize others in appearance, choices they make in their life, how they dress, how they present, and on and on. We may be fearful and nervous, full of anxiety frequently. Pride is the root cause of fear because we believe we are in charge and deep down know we don’t have all the answers.
Perhaps we are not nearly as grateful as we should be. I find several things each day to be thankful for—including someone letting me out in heavy traffic: I thank God He placed that person there and pray He grants something the person desires. Im thankful each day, each time one of the hummingbirds graces my feeders and I see it. I’m thankful for North Carolina weather, at least here at the beach. I’m abundantly thankful for my family and friends . . .you get the idea.
I must admit people-pleasing stumped me for a few moments until I realized that when we are pleasing others, we may not be doing God’s will. We may be doing it for the wrong reasons, not out of a genuine giving, but out of a need or desire to be seen. That’s not serving God and His kingdom, that is self serving, a need to be noticed and praised.
I don’t know anyone who is in my circle who doesn’t pray, but not praying and seeking God is another symptom of being prideful. HYpocrisy is another symptom. Saying one thing and doing or thinking another. Criticizing someone you hear judging another—then judging that person. Kind of hypocritical, huh? There are many ways we can be critical toward others—and then we have the same traits we are criticizing. Wake up Call!!
We need to be reminded we are prideful, judgmental because we tell ourselves we are so good, and compare ourselves to what we ’think and see’ about others. Because we judge others, and tell ourselves we are much better—or much worse. But that knowledge is not within our means—it is something we can not be fully aware of, as only God knows the inner heart of anyone.
It is ONLY in God’s. Our pride whispers that we behave better, we are somehow altruistic, and believe we are somehow superior to others. That, my friends is pride—and sinful.
The Israelites were led out of Egypt and protected by God, yet because they were prideful and grumbled about what they did not have, they thought they deserved better, they were fearful about what their future held. Many of them believed they could do better than being led through the desert, many doubted they would ever reach the Promised Land and felt God was not doing a good job. Afterall, they were in a desert, water was not always plentiful, how long a trip would this be? Worries and anxieties stem from pride when people think they are in charge and things are not going as expected or desired, then unease and fear start niggling and causing more unrest, unease. It stems from pride.
We think we deserve all we want, (that’s entitlement) but God does not give us all we want; BUT He gives us all we need. Just as He gave the Israelites all they needed, but certainly not all they wanted. They messed up often because of grumbling, pride, sin, theft (because they felt they deserved what they stole). Like us, they were disobedient and malcontent from pride. They were not humbled that God Himself was leading them, providing what they NEEDED, caring for them and their multiple herds and so forth.
“Pride is self worship and self preservation. We don’t keep Him at the top, honoring Him always”. 10/16/2017 Jaquelle Crowe “7 Symptoms of a Prideful Heart” The Gospel Coalition. We believe we can handle things and take care of all our issues; we only turn to God when all else fails.
It is our pride that convinces us we are in charge of our own destiny; we are responsible for getting a new job, we are in charge of paying all the bills and even if something unexpected comes up and bills are then tighter than planned, anxiety and worry increases. They start having trouble sleeping, have issues keeping their mind on certain tasks, and things may slip at work, and they become more snappish and easily frustrated at home with family members. The reality of not being in charge . . . other things have ramped up and have burdened that tight sense of control they have.
It is our arrogance that until we totally turn and trust God as our Savior and deeply imbed in our minds and hearts that He is in control and leads and guides us through the path of life, that we begin to bridle our pride. It is a process—afterall we have believed we were in charge of lives for a long time. And now we find out that our Creator cares about us, watches over us, and will guide our steps if we seek HIm. He makes it known He is capable of lighting our path and steering us in a manner that is to prosper us, not to harm us.
Lastly is rebellion. We are rebelling knowing what are sins and then continuing to do them. There are a myriad of ways we can do this, and I’ll give a couple examples. But we are charged with taking care of our body—the Holy Spirit resides within us and by abusing our body with overeating, drinking, smoking, not exercising and moving about, and doing other damaging things to our body, it is rebellion and therefore a prideful sin.
We rebel against parents’ rules when we are growing up, we talk badly about a boss or teacher—that is
Researching this, I realized I have several areas I need to work with the Holy Spirit to change my prideful ways. Ouch! There’s a lot. Thank You, God you have given me a loving Helper and Counselor. Help me get my pride out of the way, so I am more fully in Your way.
I don’t know why You put up with me, but I am forever grateful for all You have done and do for me and ‘mybellaviews,’
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
2 Kings 20:5 I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.
Psalms 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. `
Matthew 6:25-27, 34 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; not about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? . . . Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
I know during the years being a teen through young adulthood, I thought I was pretty much in charge of my life. I made decisions, many, many the wrong ones, wrong choices, and then dealt with consequences. I would bet, most of my life at that time was spent being jittery. I fought mental battles of “what if…..but then what if this…..or what if that….” A constant state of anxiety.
I fretted, worried, and always felt ready to burst in frustration, sometimes anger, and consistently wondered if I would make such a mess of my life and my son’s life that I would never be able to look at anything with success; a job well done.
The pressure was applied by me, believing I was in charge of everything in my life. ICU nursing was my profession and while working full time, raising a child, I went to school to get my bachelor’s degree. There were times my self imposed pressure and expectations had me not sleeping well, feeling tense all the time, had difficulty being truly relaxed. I worried about meeting goals, including spending quality time with my son, seeing my family and spending good time with them, and so forth, and money; it seemed we never had enough to get him a treat, I was always juggling. WE all live stressful lives, and many of us impose more pressure on ourselves believing that we are totally in charge of what will happen in our lives.
Since I started depending on God—which did not come about for several years after I believed and called Him my Savior, my stress has eased. I initially believed He created the world, that Jesus came to earth and and ultimately was killed, nailed to a cross to be our atonement for our sins, a sacrifice in place of the death we each deserve. We are sinners; He was sinless. But I did not place Him at the top of MY life. He had so much to do, how could He want to be bothered with the stresses in my life? It wasn’t as though I was praying over someone close who had been hurt in a serious accident, praying for some awful illness in a friend or family member. This was my life…but no big deal or care to someone else. Right?
It took a lot of wasted years on my part before I came to know He DOES CARE, VERY MUCH, FOR EVERYTHING GOING ON IN MY LIFE. AND IN THE LIVES OF ALL WHO HAVE CHOSEN HIM AS THEIR SAVIOR. But we don’t always believe that. We still hold onto a bit of the control we think we have.
That was and is not true. I can only be responsible for doing my best at whatever I am attempting. There are many things that I don’t do well: I am not and never will be able to be an artist. Now, I can do some geometric designs and color them in, but there truly is no skill in the art work I can do. But I can not draw a decent fruit basket, draw a person, or even a nice looking tree. I am not blessed with that gift. I have several other gifts, but art/drawing/ painting are not included; although I can do a decent paint-by-number.
Gardening with flowers, writing, teaching some things, reading are some of the gifts I do have.
For years I only reached out to God to thank Him for something that awed me—gorgeous mountains, dolphins, hummingbirds, lovely flowers, family, friends and so forth. But I did not start and ask Him to help me each day, and expect Him to be there. I believed me and mine was not that important compared to some of the horrific, tragic things happening throughout the world. Why would He care about me, about us since all seemed to be going well and smoothly for us? I was fairly young, healthy, handling my responsibilities—albeit with stress feelings and worries. However, in the scheme of things, my worries were minute, right?
But God does care. He wants us to know He cares about everything for each of us. He wants us to come and chat with Him on a daily basis. God guides our paths and our steps and decisions IF we choose to listen and allow Him to. He wants what is best for us. That is NOT to say we will not have times that are rough and difficult to walk through. Those are our valleys, and Jesus promised that while walking through this life we would have problems.
But IF we place our eyes on Him, He will walk us through. We will still have problems, but if we trust Him and seek Him, we will get through because He is with us. By placing our trust in God, knowing He cares about each of those who follow Him, even if and when we have problems, we can have confidence that He has our best interests in His plans.
When I chose to keep God in first place, my life became less stressful. Well, that is not true. The responsibilities, stresses, workload and so forth remained the same, but when I CHOSE to seek His input on my questions, decisions, then I felt less stressed, less anxiety. It seemed I felt more capable and I doubted that I was making an incorrect decision. My confidence was better because I was NOT alone making these life decisions.
After a fairly short time, it was fairly easy to see I had been carrying a load and increasing my burden when I hadn’t needed to; God would help me carry my burdens and lessen my load. Why, oh, why had I been so resistant, so obstinate thinking I was in charge, thinking I was responsible for the decisions on my own? But, obviously, the fault was mine in delaying to turn to Him.
I can’t tell you everything smoothed out and I never had a bad period. But it never felt as overwhelming as when I was not leaning on Him. My choice to follow His lead, to seek His guidance and light on my path, then waiting for His direction, lightened my load. There were times I still wondered how I could be so important to Him that He would care, but even though I did not feel important enough for Him to worry about, He showed up.
Over the years, I have just learned to increase my trust in Him, and life with its problems has continued, but less stressful. My coping with issues feels less stressful. I have the confidence of not flummoxing about on my own, If I listen and seek His counsel, He is more than happy to direct me. I need only seek, listen and follow—and not go traipsing about with anxiety ad stress and making all kinds of bad decisions.
Thank You for all You do and have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!