Divorce is by far one of the most stressful life events anyone can face. Dealing with the anger, letdown, and the emotional ups and downs can be difficult. Likewise, remarriage often results in stressful situations as well. This blog is for those looking to move forward, forgive, and embrace a new life.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Choosing Happiness through accepting, trusting, giving
I have learned a few things over the last few years that have made my life easier and I would like to share with you today. First, I have learned to ACCEPT what I can't change. Sometimes we bang our head against a brick wall in trying to change things that we can have no affect upon. In Philippians 4:11-13 we read: "I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens...I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength." This is hard, because we so often want things to go the way WE want instead of letting go and accepting, but when we accept, there is profound peace. Second, I have learned to TRUST God, even when I do not understand his plan. In Philippians 4:6-7 we read: Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience Gods peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand." My husband and I have had some really tough financial issues to deal with this year, as so many others have, but when we finally said we don't understand God's plan for us, but trust that all will be well, we have been able to let go of the worry and fear. And last, I have learned to GIVE IT UP to God! I cannot understand what the future holds, but I can give it up to him and find peace. In Romans 15:13 it says: "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." I love the words "confident hope" because this makes me realize hope is not passive, it is active and requires us to place our hope in the confidence of God. When I address groups about choosing happiness I like to quote a passage from West With The Night in which the father tells his daughter, "when you find something worth pursuing, work and hope, but never hope more than you work." I think confident hope is what this means as we can place our hope in God, but if we do not live our lives for him, our hope is pointless. So this is the question then I continuously ask myself, "Who's going to be in charge of my life?" And I know when I accept, trust and give it up, the answer is always, God.
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12 comments:
Wise words, indeed. Thanks for sharing!
We never know who might be reading; more importantly, Listening ... and in return, given renewed hope.
God's grace is everywhere, if we but stop and Listen!
Myra
What an important lesson you have learned. Many people never learn it and go through life beating their heads against the wall. Letting go and letting God. That's the answer. Thank you for this inspiring post.
Blessings,
Charlotte
That is a really nice post. A very good lesson to learn from.
God bless you Anne
Hard lessons to learn but we must. In my simplistic way I always say, "You can't unscramble eggs".
Susan
Thank you for this good reminder of allowing God to point us to the positive. Have a happy spiritual Sunday.
This is a perfect post! I'm sure the Lord has received so many prayers concerning the same things. I know he has received them from me daily. It wasn't until I gave it all to him that things started to get better, much better in an amazing way.
Thank-you for sharing your story.
God Bless,
Ginger
Seeing your post here today has put a smile on my face. I am pleased that you are participating. Your post is excellent and so needed by all of us. Thanks again for taking the time to post these wise words.
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him" NIV and in The Message "And how bold and fee we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours" I just read these verses in my study this morning. How appropriate for the day.
I forgot to cite that the above quote is from 1John 5:14-15
Your title alone is very encouraging:"choosing happiness..." It's not easy to choose happiness after going through a stormy trial...but because of His grace, we can! We have hope. We can have joy. We can have happiness. Blessings.
I like that statement, never hope more than you work. Very good and true. And I appreciate your perspective about trusting God. It is hard for any of us right now to understand what God is allowing to happen to us finanically, as individuals and a nation.
Thanks for your candidate discussion about your life in your bio sketch. You will inspire many people with your faith and commitment to living life well, no matter what the obstacles.
Note: I linked here from Spiritual Sunday.
Good post. I have one up on marriage right now if you get a chance to visit Family Fountain.
I have had company over the wee-end, not not able to participate in SS, which is my favorite, but am now reading some of the posts, yours being the first. In God's perfect timing, these scriptures were there for me. My young granddaughter is being plagued with emotions rare at her age, and I have been giving her passages to help her change her thinking. I bought her God's Little Devotional for Kids, and wrote 3 scriptues in the front of the book, but since I only had minutes to write it, I was hurrying, and knew there was one I was forgetting...it was this...God's Word is always the answer to problems, to fears, to questions about how to live out our faith. Tonight, I can share this truth with her, one that has allowed me to keep my joy in challenging times, and I pray it will do the same for her. If we could be taught from early childhood to trust in our wonderful Father who loves us dearly, what different adults we could grow into. I'm thankful that the Lord has allowed your experiences to be a light to others...thanks for sharing your heart. Mary
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