28Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 NLT
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14 NIV
3Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3
If my mind had muscles, it would look more like the Hulk. For all the wrestling matches that have taken place in this cranium, my brain should be beefed up. Jus’ sayin!
I’m sure that I’m not alone in the room if I were to ask for a show of hands for those of you who have gone arm-to-arm and toe-to-toe with some of the thoughts that have shot through our minds. Thoughts that have led us down roads and rabbit trails of stranger than strange uncharted journeys. Unnecessary journeys.
In other words, they didn’t happen.
But that didn’t stop us from worrying about them and losing precious sleep over them.
To be fair, these thoughts may have originated from real life circumstances and incidents. But the crazy that we had conjured up in our minds of the ‘what if’s’ worse-case scenarios were things that never had the right to occupy space in our heads.
I’m a believer that when GOD says, “Take every thought captive …” (2 Corinthians 10:5) we are called to stand in firm defense of our mental real estate and strengthen the boundaries. Evict anything that doesn’t belong in there.
For all the mental wrestling matches, it’s a call to prayer and time to turn all concerns over to King Jesus. He is the One that is able to take them down. When we do this, He gives us His peace. That’s when we can stand up in the eye of the storm.
Jesus doesn’t tell us to simply link arms with Him in agreement during hard times. He calls us to depend on Him when times are going really well ~ so that we can continue to stand when things go wonky again (and they will). The more we practice this stance, the better we get at it. Imagine that!
We don’t have to feel as though we’re in the battle alone. We were never expected to live this life alone.
When Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” He meant it ~ and He is a Man of His word. He gave us His Holy Spirit to live inside of us to empower us to move forward with confidence and boldness.
And for those of us who want more reinforcement, He gave us friends with skin who also believe in Him, and encourage us to keep going. That’s real fire power!
So Friend, don’t try to hold down the fort on your own. For Jesus, nothing is impossible! Ask Him and see what amazing things He’s ready to do for you. We’re talking about the Son of GOD ~ so everything is possible. You just have to ask.
I tend to think that us humbling ourselves to the point of asking Him to deal with, handle, fix, solve, repair, restore, heal … all the things … is a much bigger task than Him doing the thing.
27“Look, I am the Lord, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me? Jeremiah 32:27 CSB
C’mon Sister, GOD can do it … just ask.
I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~
LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary
*Thank you to Joe L Barnes | Far-Flung Worship for this.
