It’s not easy to forget past trials – it’s human nature to reflect on those hurts and difficult situations.

This is what makes it challenging to believe that God will deliver us again in our present testing.

There is so much depression in this world. People living their lives as if they’re just existing. People waking up every day, dreading the day ahead. I know this because I’ve been there.

But praise God, I’m not there now, nor do I intend to repeat those days/years of depression and anxiety.

Wake up people. Life is so worth living when God is in your life. He’s parted the seas. What makes you think He can’t deliver you today.

We don’t deserve the next breath, but thank God He gives it.

Psalm 85:4 – “Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.”

Who likes to wait, on anything? Most of us hate it when we have to wait in line at the grocery store. We huff and puff under our breath when someone is taking more than one minute to move ahead in traffic.

Spend your time wisely. Spend more time praying than worrying or losing sleep because you may miss the deadline tomorrow. Sometimes God gives us an idea, just be sure it’s from God.

Timing is everything. We must wait on God if were going to get to the next place. Most of us stop waiting and start doing things on our own, like we know how to get it done, faster.

The verse below says that if we wait on God, He will renew our strength. He’ll lift us up from our despair and put us on the mountaintop. It’s here, in the waiting, that your trust in Him is proven.

Do you trust God’s timing today? 

Pray – Trust – Believe!

Isaiah 40:31 – “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

There was a guy (let’s call him John) who just moved to a new house with his family and as he was inspecting the landscaping, he noticed a tree in the corner of the yard. Even though it was one of the more matured trees in the yard, it was brown, and to him, looked dead. 

So, since he knew very little about trees and how to take care of them, he called the local landscaper. The landscaper came and as they were viewing the lawn, John pointed out the ‘dead’ tree. As the landscaper surveyed the tree, he kind of chuckled to himself. He said, “this tree’s not dead, it’s just not in season.”

Isn’t this like some Christians? Maybe they are a new Christian or maybe they’ve been a Christian for a very long time, and have turned away from their faith. Does this mean that if you’re not practicing what you preach that you’re not a Christian? Not necessarily.

Persevering faith is the type of faith required for salvation. Some, including me, find ourselves having false trust in God when things are not going well. Authentic faith is a faith that endures, no matter what you’re going through; no matter what season you’re in.

This trust or confidence that we have in God is built up over time as He proves Himself faithful, time and time again.

How’s your outward appearance as a Christian? Do people look at you and see someone who has little life left in them? Do they look at you and wonder if you are a Christian?

Stand tall, grounded in God's word, no matter what season of life you’re in. 

If you believe in Jesus, the One who died for you, you will always be alive!

John 11:25 - “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

Panic is a sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.

Have you ever been at home or in a building, when all of a sudden, the fire alarm went off unexpectantly? Did it make you jump in fear? Could you feel every beat of your heart at that very minute?

There are many factors that could induce a panic attack, but the underlying issue is fear. Panic is fear gone wild. The Bible doesn’t specifically call these situations panic attacks, but it does describe what a panic attack feels like in Psalm 44:4-6 – “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.”

A key component in overcoming panic attacks is to normalize them. Recognize that they are not life-threatening and that God is bigger than the fear. If we let fear consume us and allow worry to set in, it’s inevitable that an attack will come.

Jesus also says in Matthew 10:28, “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” 

If you’re a Christian, been saved by God’s Son, then you know to trust in God when difficult things happen in life. I can’t explain sometimes when I’m going through a challenging situation why I have a calmness within me. What I can explain is that I first go to God in prayer. Give Him my burdens, allow Him to take away the fear. And I don’t forget those times when they have passed. I brag on God to others about how He got me through it. 

Remember everything ends. This is a season of life. God is good and His mercy and love endures forever. He promises that!

Think about the above statement. If you are prayed up, confident of your identity in Christ, and sure of who is fighting your battles, fear doesn’t stand a chance of hanging around in your life.

A lot of people will pray a prayer, asking Jesus to help them out of a situation, and then if the answer to that prayer doesn’t come, or is late in coming, they give up. They stop praying. Fear sets in.

Once you understand that fear, depression, even suicidal thoughts are all spiritual issues, and you use this, along with the word of God, to stand against these evil forces, you are going to have success in your pursuit of wholeness.

It is inescapable that you will experience fear in your life; the question to ask is, how to deal with it.

Have faith that God’s got this. 

Once you put your trust in God, fear leaves. Fear loses ground, it has no hold. 

When fear comes, and it will come, stand with God and watch Satan run.

James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

I grew up the youngest of 8 kids and you can ask any of my siblings and they’ll tell you, ‘mom always knew best,’ in any situation. By the time I came along, it became clear. When mom said something or told me to do something, I should do it. And, she did know best. As long as we followed the rules and obeyed our parents, things went smoothly…… not!

There’s someone who knows best for EVERY situation, every trial, every decision, every path to take and every person to share life with. God!

It’s hard to go through trials when we’re thinking, “this is the best path to take, or this is the right job to take, or I’ll just do this and our relationship will get better.” The problem with that is, we don’t know what’s best for us. We think we do and we conjure up all these scenarios in our mind and when they don’t work out, we blame God.

I recently went through a season where I just knew this is how I wanted it to work out. I prayed and asked God to give me the desire of my heart. Well, He came through, but not the way I wanted, but that’s okay. His way actually turned out to be a whole lot better for me and my situation than I had originally wanted.

Quit trying to play God and think that your plans are better than God’s. They never are. He knew this would happen in this way before I was even a thought.

All I can say is, God is good, and His love for me is as deep as the deepest sea. Let’s just say I’m feeling so blessed and loved right now. 

God knows best, always.

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a]for those who are called according to his purpose.”

There are 3 major sins of wealth.  They are greed, hoarding and covetousness.  

Greed is a strong and selfish desire to have more of something.  Usually this is in the form of money or power.  As a Christian, we are warned about storing up riches in this world.  We also know that everything temporary, including money, will be destroyed some day.  Greed traps people and brings ruin and destruction.  They feel they can never have enough money.

Hoarding seems to be linked with anxiety or with some type of loss.  People have a chronic desire to acquire large amounts of things and have an inability to discard them.

Covetousness is described as when you want something that belongs or belonged to someone else.

All three of the sins above are forbidden if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven.  That’s not something I made up, it’s in the Bible.

So why do people do it?  Possibly selfish reasons.  You can’t be a selfish person and a Christian.  It’s not in the rule book (Bible).

“Give to the needy and the poor,” Jesus said.

Rich or poor, we all have the same responsibility.  We must keep our priorities straight.  We must commit our work to the Lord. We must be good and faithful servants.

It also says in Matthew 19:24, “that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Understand that whatever you have belongs to God.

1 Timothy 6:10 - “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

I’ve spent many years fishing. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. But, just like anything else in life, the more you don’t do it, you’ll lose the techniques of the sport.

It’s all in the cast. I hadn’t realized how long I had been away from fishing, until I went fishing with my niece and her husband last year. I had forgotten all the methods of casting. It took awhile and many lost hooks, but it was a good lesson on how to set the hook, before casting it out.

One definition of cast is to “cause to move or send forth by throwing.”

To use the word ‘cast’ in a biblical sense would be to say to someone, “cast your cares to God.” After all, what good does it do us to keep our burdens buried inside, until they consume our every waking moment.

I’ve found life to be a little easier when I tell God my problems, and let Him know that I can’t do anything about the situation, but I know He can. I know He cares about my cares, my worries.

There may be some instances where you can do something to help the situation. If so, then do it. But if this is something that you’ve been carrying around for a long time, and it’s not getting any better, cast it out to God. He’s waiting to take the bait and take it upon Himself to help you.

Try learning how to cast your cares to God today. It may take a few tries, but it’s worth the lost bait.

1 Peter 5:7 - “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”