Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right!

November, 13, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right!

This Week’s Message: Learn to lean on the Lord for peace in every situation

One of the most challenging things that people consistently face in life is finding ways to find peace in the midst of chaos. It is easy to remain stress free when there is no turmoil or disorder that you are dealing with. What happens when life is turned completely upside down: your kids are acting out, you and your spouse are arguing consistently, the finances aren’t looking right, and your job is overly demanding.

What do you do in those moments? A lot of people allow anxiety, tension, worry, and fear consume them. The Lord wants us to look to Him in times of trouble and He wants to be our peace in the middle of the storm. The problem is we don’t trust Him enough to know that He will provide us with the peacefulness that surpassing all understanding, Philippians 4:7.

The weight of the burdens that you carry will eventually catch up with you, it’s inevitable. There have been times in my life when I hold everything that I am going through inside with no release. I had to learn that the enemy will take those bottled-up emotions that you are harboring onto and intensify them!

Before I knew it, whatever negative emotion that I was initially dealing with had now turned into a series of feelings that began to be overwhelming. It was when I was able to let go and let God handle the stress, handle the pain, handle the difficult circumstances, and handle the sickness that I was able to feel liberated from the weight that was bringing me down.

Then and only then was I able to feel the Lord’s amazing peace that surpassed any understanding that I had. He wants His peace to rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15), He wants to give us peace at all times (2 Thessalonians 3:16), He wants our peace to be multiplied (Jude 1:2), and He wants to be your peace in times of tribulation (John 16:33).

This week focus on making a solid effort to give your situations, struggles, and worries over to the Lord. Be real with yourself and highlight those areas that you haven’t surrendered to God that are causing anxiety and messing with your peace.

Below I am going to list some Scriptures that you can meditate on to help you find peace in the Lord in every situation!

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

Here the Prophet Isaiah is singing a song of salvation making it known that those that keep their eyes on Christ regardless of what is going on around them will be in perfect peace. It is a knowing that He has your back no matter what and He will never leave you nor forsake you, Deuteronomy 31:6.

Isaiah goes into more detail as far as the extent that the Lord will go for His children in Isaiah 43:2 when he states, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

The Lord is making distinct promises in this passage of Scripture letting us know that when we go through the storms of life, He is there and when we get tried by the fire, we will not get burned. When we can understand the degree that Jesus Christ will go for every single one of us, we will be able to place our complete trust in Him.

That is why the prophet Isaiah mentions that very thing in the verse I have highlighted above stating “…because he trusts in You.” Meaning that as Christians we don’t have to be filled with anxiety, worry, or apprehension when tribulation hits; as long as we keep our eyes fixated on Christ through the adversities, He will provide us with perfect peace. We know that He has us completely protected in the palm of His hand.

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.”

Here we can see that the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi is giving them encouragement to refrain from being anxious. They were facing situations in life that was causing them to become weary. Paul gives them the key to prevent that from happening which is to pray about everything. That same message applies to every believer today; we cannot let the problems of this world boggle us down to the point that it begins to steal our joy. The enemy would love for that to happen because what that does is redirects your focus from Christ to your issues.

Never forget that the battle is always in your mind. Once you allow that spirit of anxiety and fear to creep in, the enemy is quick to capitalize on those emotions by bringing in other negative feelings making you feel ten times worse. That is why it is imperative to stay in the Word of God consistently allowing it to renew your mind, Romans 12:2. I can’t tell you how many times I have to extinguish fire arrows that the devil throws in my direction.

He isn’t ever going to play fair and will look for opportunities to steal your peace. We are to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus: reading the Lord’s Word, studying the Lord’s Word, applying the Lord’s Word to our lives, and letting every Scripture saturate our hearts. This is what will prevent anxiety from sneaking in and taking your serenity.

When you are facing anything in life it doesn’t matter what it is, pray about it. Let the Lord know exactly what you are in need of even if you think it is an insignificant request. The Word tells us clearly, you have not because you ask not, James 4:2. Your Father wants you to communicate everything with Him! You matter and He wants to help you in times of trouble, Psalm 46:1.

John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

No matter how hard we try to find peace outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will never work. There is a void in our hearts that can only be filled by Him. The world will try to give you a false sense of peace through many different avenues: drinking, doing drugs, relationships, other religions, and many other ways that the enemy uses in an attempt to counterfeit the peace that only God can give.

There is no comparison to the serenity that is given to every believer of Jesus Christ that trusts Him and His Word as the absolute truth. You are still going to go through trials and tribulations because the rain will fall on the just and the unjust, Matthew 5:45. The difference is when you are walking with the Lord; He is right by your side giving you the strength, courage, and the power to make it through.

For me, I struggled with alcohol. It ran in my family and was generational. It was what I thought I needed to give me peace to overcome the adversities that I faced. It was nothing but a pseudo feeling that was masking my struggles temporarily. It never lasted. It wasn’t until I became a born again believer of Jesus Christ that I experienced an inner peace that I truly could not describe. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in this entire world. I know that when I do go through difficulties, because we all will, He is going to be there for me every step of the way and will never leave my side.

We have to get to a place in life when we can say though He slay me, I still trust Him, Job 13:15. No matter how bad your circumstance is, trust that God is going to see you through. That is how you will begin to establish absolute peace: peace of mind, peace in your spirit, and peace in your heart. We were bought with an extremely high price, the Lord cares about every single one of us so much that He sacrificed His Son Jesus Christ for our “just in case” we want to have a relationship with Him, John 3:16! God is love!

This week write down the areas in your life that you feel are lacking the peace that God wants you to have. What is causing that anxiety, worry, and fear? Once you establish what those areas are, challenge yourself to strive to give them over to the Lord. Let go of all that dead weight and don’t pick it back up.

If you’ve missed some of the previous Positive Weekly Messages, no worries I am linking them below:

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! November 6, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! October 30, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! October 23, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! October 17, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! October 10, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! October 2, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! September 24, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! September 19, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! September 12, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! September 6, 2022

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