Tag: Faith

Hoping For the Best

Published on by Rebecca GilbreathLeave a comment

“A lot of people no longer hope for the best. They just hope to avoid the worst.”

Words associated with hope:

Anticipate

Believe

Count on

Rely 

It’s a state of mind; the determination that I will trust and praise anticipating the hand of God to guide in health, in finances, in life. The mindset to believe God is listening and counting on His peace is what keeps believers putting one foot in front of the other when life is a struggle. My favorite word on the list is “rely” because the Latin word means “to bind fast, hold firmly” and also, to realign. Adjusting focus from self to God, to join my thoughts and heart as one in trusting that God will deliver is all part of hope. The will to be patient in trials is what it takes to keep hope alive, centering our praise on Him and not on the worst that can happen.

“I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.” Psalm 17:14

The Difference Between a Rut and a Grave

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath2 Comments

“The difference between a rut and a grave is the distance.”

I heard the above quote while watching an old western with my dad a while back. Some of the old westerns have really good life lessons portrayed in them and this particular quote got me thinking. Sometimes we feel “stuck” in a rut which hinders progress in life.  We feel as if we cannot make one move forward or even backward. Most of the time, it takes a lot of hard work to get out of it. Add to that some creative thinking and clever solutions. But one thing is for certain, a rut is merely a temporary location for a season and not a permanent residence.

“Rut” (definition): a long deep track made by the repeated passage of the wheels of vehicles; a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change.

Whether the long deep tracks are set from repeated mistakes, or whether the habits I have created become unproductive for a grace-filled life, I need to recognize quickly that some changes need to be made:

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut and am unsure of God’s direction, I will readjust my focus from what I cannot change to making one right decision at a time for things that I can. (And take note: Am I resting enough? Am I eating enough healthy foods? Am I praying/reading my Bible/ practicing thankfulness? These things matter to help with a ‘reset’.)

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut of insecurity, I will remember that I am not alone. No one does everything perfectly, no matter how a life is portrayed on social media. I will not compare because it takes away from seeing the blessings that I have. (And take note: Do I spend too much time looking at other people’s lives on Facebook/Instagram/etc and not enough making things happen for myself?)

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut and am surprised by life’s twists and turns, I will resolve to keep going, keep waking up to look for the stray gifts in life, keep showing up for my family, keep being useful in my community/church/relationships. (And take note: Am I willing to be flexible when God calls for a change? Am I too proud to ask for help? Am I too distracted by the way I think things should go and not letting God or someone else wiser lead?)

A rut is only temporary and needs time, patience, and a whole lot of God’s grace to make it through. In the old westerns, when a wagon was stuck in a wagon train, everyone worked together to get it unstuck. And sometimes, things had to be left behind because ‘stuff’ was too heavy to keep going productively.

God is still writing His love and sharing His redemption through our pages of life. He is still restoring, renewing, and giving grace after grace. When we feel stuck in a rut, we can be encouraged that it is merely a temporary location for a season and not a final resting place.

Psalm 34: 17-19, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

 

Rearview Mirrors

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God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors. And I’ve an inkling that there are times when we need to drive a long, long distance, before we can look back and see God’s back in the rearview mirror. Maybe sometimes about as far as heaven- that kind of distance…then turn and see His face. -Ann Voskamp

I may have used this quote in a previous blog post or two because it is one of my favorites. In thinking of God’s provisions, He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and He is the God of me. His love has never waned, nor his promises been forgotten. He carried and delivered His people yesterday and He will do the same for me today and for always.

When I am tempted to doubt if God has any plans to lead, guide, and protect, I can look back and see where I have come from and know that He has been there. Through faith, we can look in the rearview mirror of life and see the road behind us. Not always pleasant or easy, for sure. But we made it. We are here for a reason and God will not let us go. We cannot always answer the question, “Why?” in things that happen to us or to those around us, but each day and for forever, He promises to bear us up, carry us through, and deliver us onward.

Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:4

 

 

 

Wings to Soar

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 Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31 is a verse I have heard all my life as it is one of my dad’s favorites. I wrote this post originally last year when I was thinking about strength due to the bad cold I had that had left me physically and even mentally weak. When looking at a particular Bible verse, I like to look around it to see what was said before and after. I love verse 28, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary..?” The Creator of the ends of the earth never collapses and never is tired. How amazing is that? “He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (vs 29) He gives power! He increases strength! Incredible.

Are you feeling faint? Are you weary? Wait on God. Pause. Linger a little while to listen for the still small voice. If we rush, we might miss something important and sustaining. If we wait, we are promised strength to renew, wings to soar, endurance to run, and courage to walk.

In reviewing this post from last year posted on Facebook, it is a great reminder to keep focus. He wants me to remain in Him to still my heart, to let His strength power up my faith, and to trust in Him to increase my endurance.

 

 

Setting Boundaries Is The Work of Grace

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Identifying our strengths and weaknesses guide us when to say no and when to say yes to relationships and to ministry/work/life opportunities that are perfectly good, but not perfect for us. Trust the still small voice.

Unloading burdens not meant for us to carry directs our focus on what God wants us to do and not what others think we should do. No one individual can be the answer for everyone and everything. Evaluate what is your responsibility.

Recognizing when the draw to please people is greater than the desire to please God steers us away from a place of confusion to the peace of God’s perfect direction. Leave the anxiety and care at the seat of mercy.

Setting boundaries is the work of grace. It affects our energy, our joy, and our ability to feel confident through the redemption of Christ.

I. Corinthians 2:5, “…Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Leave the Safe Nest of Silence

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It is easy to let discouragement crowd our peace of mind.  I believe that comparison is a huge contributing factor leading to discouragement. For someone like me who is creative, comparison plagues me and I want to stop writing, stop sharing, stop creating due to feeling vulnerable. At times, I want to take off the creative cloak and hide it in a corner. Sharing a bit of yourself is scary no matter what it is- something you created with your hands..a meal, a card, a blog post, a testimony on Facebook or anywhere else. What if it wasn’t enough? What if I didn’t say the right words? The “what if’s” rob us of the willingness to extend kindness, a gift, hospitality. It can become quite comfortable staying in the safe nest of silence. But if we stop sharing, stop caring, the world gets darker. And we have enough of that already.

If you encouraged someone and you feel it fell on deaf ears, try again. Someone out there needs a good word.

If you helped someone and you feel it was unappreciated, try again. Someone out there still needs a helping hand.

If you loved someone and you just don’t feel the love in return, try again. Someone out there is hurting and needs a caring soul.

Putting yourself “out there” can seem all too much some days. But today, let’s put on the shield of faith and not fear.  Let’s leave the safe nest of silence to share encouragement. Let’s put to use our hands, our love, and our kindness.  Someone out there is in need.

Ephesians 6:10, “…be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

 

 

 

The Work of Spiritual Discernment

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Just like salvation through Christ cannot be passed down through another person, so it is with wisdom. It is a personal decision to seek Christ. It is a personal choice to seek knowledge and understanding. A solid spiritual life is not ‘just going to happen’ without any effort on the part of the believer.

Proverbs 2:3-5, “Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”

I want to be a seeker of things that God cares for me to know about. I want to have the desire to search carefully and thoroughly for understanding as I would if I were mining for silver. Through crying out to God and digging through His word, spiritual discernment, understanding the heart of God, and knowledge of His faithfulness comes.

 

Our Own Courage

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“Every man has his own courage and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every person has their very own record of graces. Every page in our life’s story has sorrow and joy to different degrees. The same Author who wrote each of our stories has given us our very own time frame to heal, to rebuild, to see the hand of God through it all and the courage to keep turning the page to a new chapter, to a new season.

If you feel stuck on the same page in your life’s book, maybe you need more time than someone else. Your timeframe is yours and is precious time for God to be a loving Father, the guiding Shepherd. Give Him room on the pages of your heart to finish writing your testimony, to change the mourning into dancing, and to autograph it with His grace.

If you feel that you are not ‘moving on’ quick enough compared to what others in your situation are moving, maybe the quick route is not the path for you. Perhaps God wants to lead you to the still waters first to restore and refresh.

God gives every one of us the time and courage for our storyline to go from exhausted from sin, from bad decisions, from life’s blows to living encouraged. He extends enough time and courage to move from shattered to salvaged and useful for His glory. Every person has their short and long life-chapters and when we keep the focus that we all have the same Author who has His finger on the pulse and heartbeat of every individual, we can find through our life story our very own God-given courage written in red through Christ’s blood, signed and sealed by His grace.

Psalm 27:13-14, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

The Balance of Grace

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HOLD ON when you are sorting out your wounds and hopes.

HOLD ON when anxiety and worry knock on your door and tears can no longer be held back.

HOLD ON when the transition between grief and healing changes you and it feels like a new person is emerging.

HOLD ON because there are people who believe in you. There is good in this world because God is good. We will not always suffer. There is always dark and light to everyone’s story; the “balance of grace”, I read once. We can only hold on with both hands to one thing at a time. Either we will hold on to the branch of faith and hope and love and God and grace and all that entails and find mercy, healing, and life, or hold on to that which keeps us down in despair which will eventually silence our spirit.

What do we want? How do we want to live? What do we want our future to look like? All questions I ask myself when evaluating a troubling situation. It gives me a focal point. It gives me perspective on what I want to hold to and what I need to let go of.

Hebrews 10: 23, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”.

Embrace the Grace

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I will choose to listen to the wise who build and turn away from the critics who break.

I will choose to focus on faith in God and separate from those centered on faults and flaws.

I will choose to do the job God gave me and be untroubled about “keeping up” with anyone else.

I will choose to evaluate my worthiness by using God’s Word as my foundation and bypass the weighing measures of man.

I will choose to let go of the misconceptions, the broken trust, the self-imposed and others-imposed boundaries to embrace the grace. “Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1b

Proverbs 3:31, “Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”

Choose wisely.