Tips For Triumphant Living -- Look Up Not In

When we’re staggered by something in our world our natural inclination is to look inside for strength. We rely on our intelligence, our history, or our feelings. They will lie to us.

Being knowledgeable is good. History matters. And feelings are real. But we can’t always trust them. When the storms of life hammer at us it is God who has the answers. His Word offers solutions and He is our comfort.

I have neuropathy in my feet and legs. The pain and numbness never leave me. It’s the last thing I’m aware of at night and the first thing to greet me in the morning. It nags at me, never leaving me alone. Sometimes it’s all I can think about. But it’s the last thing I should pay attention to when gauging my quality of life. It’s not my circumstances that define me, but rather who I am in Christ. And the question I need to ask is, “Am I His, all His? Am I living within His will for me?”

God knows my condition and yet I still suffer. I’m doing all I can to improve my circumstances, but beyond that I must rest in the path chosen for me. It is the Lord who gives me strength. Pain and anxiety have the power to rule my life. Each day I must make a choice—choose to direct my mind on Him or not. Every day belongs to Him, but those days that I choose to relinquish my will for His are the best.

Second Corinthians 12:9 says, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is our weaknesses that provide opportunity for God’s divine power to be displayed.

Therefore, let us look to God and not ourselves. Let us trust in Him for our daily needs, knowing that He is strong when we are weak. And may we never forget that with God, all things are possible.

Grace and peace to you from God.

Bonnie