John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God
Psalm 42:11 What are you cast down, o my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God. For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
I am one of the most blessed people I know, yet, I still will find myself sinking into funks at times. You too? What’s the deal with that?
I have a wonderful and supportive family, four super grandchildren, a sturdy roof over my head, able to have enough money to support my needs and an occasional travel, I have many good and dependable friends, and a wonderful church family who help to feed my growing in the Lord. I am a truly blessed person.
And yet sometimes, I feel myself going down into a funk. It makes me irritated with myself. It seems a selfish and self-centered thing to allow to happen, especially as my life is rich with family, friends, experiences and so forth. I have no severe health issues, my eyesight remains good, hearing is good, and yet….
I appreciate watching dolphins in the ocean across from my home, while I have cardinals, red wing blackbirds, sparrows, finches, chickadees and even an occasional hawk or osprey to see. The songs and happy chirping are always a lifting of spirits to me, and I certainly realize some cannot hear these awesome gifts.
My best treatment to lift myself out, is t scold and remind myself how very blessed I am. I would be blessed without the house, the family, the friends and so forth, just because Jesus came, lived and taught, showed love, healed numerous folks, then WILLINGLY stretched out His arms, was beaten, scourged, humiliated, and CRUCIFIED on a cross for my sins, for the purpose of SAVING me. That is beyond awesome and loving to me. And certainly it I shake my head at the funk thoughts still rambling about. Get out, move on!
Ahhh, that’s it. This is the beast that slinks “about to lie, kill and destroy.” I don’t understand why that is not my first thought as I feel the doldrums moving in. Hurry, send Satan scurrying away, bar the doors, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize anything else that might be an area for you to pick up and deal with so you are not in a funk. Are you feeling discouraged, lonely, bored, or some other negative thing? Examine it and get it out of your head and into God’s hands. He is our Savior and is our Companion, Helper, Counselor…turn over the issues that are weighing on you. He wants you to lean on and lean in to Him.
Afterall, we represent our Lord, and we are to show others the love and confidence we have because we belong to God, we are His children. How awesome!
Satan has no welcome in our lives, but that does NOT mean he is not going to try to slink and slither his way in. Things may feel smooth and wonderful for a few days, then issues start cropping up. Maybe an argument with friend, mate, child, co-worker, maybe a huge unexpected bill, and the list goes on and on. Things happen, but oftentimes, we begin to let them weigh us down. We need to make sure Satan know he is NOT welcome, and ask for God’s help, while remembering our many blessings.
It still surprises me I can feel in a funk for a couple days before realizing this is Satan’s antics. I pray that the next time, I recognize he is trying to color my world dark and stinky before I feel a bit in a funk. I love beating the beast back with God’s help. I can’t do it on my own, but it’s wonderful to feel His strength and wisdom pouring in as I rely on Him to fight. He wins every time!
If you fight funks as I sometimes do, I hope you will remember you can ask God to help you fight just as I do for ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 21:6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
Ezekial 34:26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.
Luke 11:28 Even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.
“God, how much fun you must have, dreaming up blessings to rain down on your children. Your affection for me is not subject to my behavior toward you. You continue to fix your thoughts on me even when I selfishly ignore your blessings. Help me to see all that you have blessed me with today.” A prayer, from Prayers and Promises for Women, pg 13 2017, Broadstreet Publishing, Racine Wisconsin.
Have you ever tried to list your blessings? I have and I had many, several full pages of notebook paper, carefully scrawled in two columns, and ended up with 5 sheets. I did not list before my grandparents since I never knew them, but did clump all the ancestors into one pot. But starting with my grandparents as family members, I could list individually the blessings they are to me. I have special memories of all four of them, and because some lived much longer than others, I have an abundance of those. And of course, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, friends, teachers, and truly as you list, you are kind of awed, or at least I was, at the number of ways God has blessed me.
So family and relationships can be one area you feel blessed. Then there’s health, senses, and all the things you get to enjoy by exercising those senses. Then there are all the things that as long as we are healthy, are things we don’t think a lot about; blinking your eyes to keep them moist, your pumping heart—unless you are exercising or it is bothering you, you don’t dwell on it much during a day. Intake of food and its progression…. As you can see, our bodies and how they work are huge blessings.
He has blessed me repeatedly, and I know I have missed several. But it’s important to me to recount my blessings. I think we can get in a funk if we are not aware of all we have to be thankful for.
Right now, amidst all the corona fears and hype, we should be thankful. We need to be diligent about caring and protecting our bodies, and those of our family members. Being diligent does not mean being overly frightened, but we need to be aware, cautious of taking extra care, and for now being a bit less social.
Stay closer to home, enjoy a few good books, watch some inspirational films, putter in a hobby you enjoy whether it be gardening, painting, reading, writing, take an online course about something you know little and would love to learn more, do some Spring cleaning, and so many other things that may be on your list. I’ve thought of these, but make your own. You get to have a feeling of ‘hooray, job well done!’ and accomplished tasks on your list.
So this is a good time to take stock of your blessings, and then spend this time of decreased social activity to do something you don’t normally have the time for.
And let’s not fret about this virus, and some of the restrictions, and take the best care of ourselves and our blessed bodies.
Thank You, God for this time to take to be more aware of illness, and yet be grateful for all our blessings. I know You have this for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Luke 18:8 I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not be sight.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
What are areas of faith in your life? I’m pretty sure, even if it is cloudy and rainy for several days, you have faith that the weather will change and the sun will shine again. You have faith that things are going to be status quo in your homes. You have faith that the seasons will evolve with the changes that come during each. Some areas of the country have less drastic change than others, but there is rest in the winter, and growth and new life in the Spring—everywhere. Although Australia enjoys summer during North America’s winter, they each have seasonal change. It is when this faith is threatened, that we are shaken. If something dreadful happens to or within your home–disease, horrific accident, horrible disaster, then your faith is threatened.
Sometimes, it seems difficult to have faith in God. What is God? And it can be difficult to fathom what all those titles of His nature can be. Omniscient. Ever present. Creator. Love. He speaks and things become.
My grandfather died when I was 5 and my brother was 3. He toddled to the back screen door and looked up to heaven, and said, “I can’t see he.” We knew where heaven was, that God was above and always looking down, but when told my grandfather had died and was living with God now, the expectation was we should be able to see him.
Faith can be real difficult if your life has been stressful, not always in a loving and trusting environment. We want, even yearn, to believe that good happens, but that can become a negative belief if over time, you see only negative…in whatever form; constant lies, being physically punished, being emotionally denied, and then faith for any good fades.
But God can seem so nebulous until one actually knows Him, has a relationship with Him. It amazes me that nonbelievers reach out for their own answer often times to a higher power—New Age, powerful women and so on. Nothing takes the place of honoring and revering God. He created all, ALL.
I remember being so amazed reading in Exodus about Aaron giving into the people and creating a molten calf from melted gold jewelry . After all they had all WiTNESSED, seen first hand, they wanted something other to worship.
So Aaron caved and gave them a symbol as they asked. Really? Your leader is up on the mountain having a chat with the Lord who lead you out of Egypt, fed you daily with manna and pigeons, led you by fire at night, and clouds in the day, and within days of Moses being away, you beg for something more visible? The Bible does NOT say during the time Moses was on the mountain the provisions stopped, so I have to believe that even with Moses presence not being there, the people continued to have manna and meat. But there was no real faith? Was the faith in Moses and not in God? Moses told them it was God who freed them, led them, and provided for them. Why did the faith in God disappear?
I know at times, God has been silent at times, during my wait periods. I used to start getting anxious, believing He had snatched His love from me, I had been bad enough to throw up His hands and move to someone better….but that was based on my insecurities, my lack of knowledge, and my failing humanness. My faith has grown deeper and deeper over the years. I can’t look anywhere and not see God’s blessings and mercies in my life.
Faith is the promise of things not seen, but believing will be. So, we need to think about this, “I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8
It’s taken awhile to be committed to the faith, but I am thankful nothing can shake it for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 9:10 Those who know the Lord trust Him, because He will not leave those who come to Him.
Psalm 31:14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say “You are my God.”
Proverbs 3:7 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Micah 7:5 Do not trust in a friend; do not put your confidence in a companion; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.
Do you have trust issues? Many people do. I think it might be a learned behavior, but perhaps not. If people have broken promises (sometimes through no fault of their own), you begin to see and learn that life is not always guaranteed in the manner you expect and have planned for. Perhaps you had a promise to go to Disneyworld with your grandparents in two months, but suddenly one or the other of them pass away, the plans are then shelved. Even if the trip still happened, it would not be as you imagined and planned on since one of those special folks is no longer living.
Certainly, you can get a promise that you can go to the store in a while. But you’re out playing and your mother takes off and goes without you. It is probably an innocent oversight to her, but a broken promise and a disappointment to you. We try hard to keep our word, but it can be forgotten in the midst of a crisis, just a busy day, and we may not think that the plan was very important when it was agreed to, so should not be a big deal when plans change.
But it can be. Innocent changes of plans can be a breach in trust, and overtime and frequency, all trust and reassurance can be damaged. It is not that someone means to cause you to mistrust and not depend on them, but things happen.
I remember being a single parent, waiting and waiting for my ex-spouse to come to collect our son for a weekend visit. But not coming. My son was not disappointed, but relieved, but still it was ordered that we be prepared for the visit, but no phone call, and no pick up. And how long are you supposed to wait? We once waited 90 minutes past the scheduled time, then left to carry on our day. My son’s father called irate two hours and twenty minutes after the agreed on time. Then it would be a phone call the middle of the following week for him to visit. No, that is my weekend to work and he is then with the sitter, and I am not inconveniencing the sitter because you forgot your weekend. For a while it was difficult; I had already learned about mistrust in many areas of that relationship, but I did not like the fact my son had to learn these things at a young age.
It’s hurtful to realize the amount of times trust is broken expecially for children. These sweet ones may have awful persons in their lives who abuse them (in any manner) and suspicion and distrust grow. If they cannot be supported and protected, their sense distrust goes to others because they may not have te words to express reasons for mistrust, or fear, or because they believe they are wrong, or the cause and just grows for them like a consuming fire.
I have attended a couple of build trust and team things, and never was totally confident that the person would catch me when I fell backwards. I doubted if a new person would call when they said they would—until they followed through. I had learned to hold some mistrust. Sometimes folks don’t follow through, and it hurts less, is less of a disappointment if you hope they will come through, but you doubt it, and then it’s a pleasure when it happens!
But God is not like that. He does what He says. But it was a learning walk for me to get to the point of fully trusting. It was easy for me to believe in God, the trinity, and that Jesus was the Son and He died. It was more of a stretch for me to believe He died for me. It was trust issues that made that harder for me. I read, I studied, yet I doubted. He saved a wretch like me?
So, sometimes, I think it is difficult to hand over all to God. We have to learn to trust Him, and that can be difficult especially if we are normally thinking we are in control. We do the best we can, but we are not in control. Always, God is in control.
We need to be childlike again, full of trust, and give it over to Him; our lives, our problems, our issues, our needs, and all, everything. It can be tough when it is hard for you to trust. It’s a process and one I continue to advance. But I now have the confidence that He has me, and I can trust Him. And that takes a lot of the burden off me. Do you trust Him?
Thank You, Father, for building my trust in You, and advancing ‘mybellaviews.’
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.
Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.
Do you have doubts and questions, uncertainty? It’s sometimes so difficult to maintain faith when you are going through trials. Initially, you have the reassurance that God is with you, but then it feels that more and more is being added and the doubts start creeping and slithering into your mind.
It is easy to have faith and be thankful and knowing when all is going good, and you are not in a negative and testing season. But when you are having a season like Job had, and the losses and difficulties are multiplying, it is hard to not doubt. Have you not cried, “God, are You still there? Can You hear me?”
Then it is easier to hear Satan’s lying whispers. Softly, and steadily he murmurs that ‘God has given up on you, that He is not truly there, steadfast, and true. After all, with all you have done, and continue to do, to fail at, why should He not throw up His hands and move on to someone who is more faithful, more dedicated, more of a worker for His kingdom. Certainly, God does not need a weak person who cannot do for Him.’
We need to hear from God during those stressful times, and it is difficult to maintain the faith. He does still care, He is still with you, and all will work out as He has planned for you. He does test us to strengthen our dependency on Him, to show us if we have faith, He will deliver us from our difficult paths. That is when we must say ALOUD, “God, I feel so alone. But I know You are with me, as Your word promises that, not once, but promises it abundantly and repeatedly. And I am trusting that. But I sure would like to feel Your heavenly arms surrounding me as You are carrying me. I don’t like this part of my journey, but I have Your word, Your promises, and that is what I cling to. I will not cling to the fears that are surrounding me at present.”
God does not tell us we will have no reason to fear. He says He will be with us, help us, and He has a good plan for us. The verses range from “Do not be afraid,” Do not worry or be anxious,” “Be of good courage,” “Fear not.” The internet gives varying numbers to how often it is said, but I do believe the variations of fear, courage, anxiety and worry are all the basic same command. Depend on Him as He is with us and wants the best for us. If we put our trust in Him, we will have no reason to despair. That does not mean we will not have sadness, but He is with us, and will help us overcome all our despair and worries.
There will be scary and frightening at times in our world. We shake our heads at the harmful things and way people are living and behaving, and the unrest throughout the world. The Word does not promise that we will have no troubles. In fact it says the exact opposite, “I have told you these things so that in Me, you may have peace. You will have trials and tribulations in this world. But I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. But as we are walking the paths of fear, weakness, and aloneness, we have to push Satan’s lies away. He comes through in miraculous and unseen ways often times. That is to show all that He is God, He is in control. He has us!
I find memorizing many different verses helpful. I have copies of verses in my car that I pull out and read if I have to wait for someone; I have them all around my desk, and read them as I sit and ponder things, and I have some in my bibles which I skim through if they happen to fall when I’ve picked up that bible for a verse check. I probably cannot tell you even the book many are in, but I can recognize my favorites and use them to strengthen me when shaken, becoming anxious. And they reassure me and give me the reassurance of His strength and His being with me.
Thank You, God that I am familiar enough to pluck particular verses to help me when needed. You are there for me always, and aid me with all of “mybellaviews.”
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!