I've been hearing from a lot of people lately who feel stuck. Stuck in their spiritual lives, stuck in their jobs, stuck in their recovery - just stuck. They feel as if so many things are working against them, and not many things are working for them.
They are asking: what do I do? What can I do? How do I move from this place?
They feel as if their hands are tied.
I read the following verse in my psalm this morning. It actually appears three times in the psalm.
"Turn us again to Yourself, O God. Make Your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved." Psalm 80:3, 7, 19
Sometimes, we overcomplicate things. We forget to pray. We don't ask for help. We neglect reading God's Word. We stop trying to hear God's voice. We don't utilize the tools we've learned are helpful. We lose hope.
As I've been praying for these people, God spoke these words to me: they are fearfully and wonderfully made.
How our lives and hearts would be changed if we could begin to grasp the fullness of all that means! He knit us together. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the One with the plan and purpose for our lives. He knows us intimately. He alone is able to save us - from our sin, from our struggles, from our bondage in all the forms it takes.
If your hands feel tied today, open your journal and write. Use it as a way to talk to God about what you're experiencing. Or simply speak to Him out loud. Lay it all out before Him: every circumstance, every doubt, every concern, every emotion, every situation that has you feeling bound & overwhelmed. Ask God to breath life into you once again. Ask Him, as the psalmist did, to turn you to Himself again, shine His face on you. Have a friend pray with you. Read Psalm 139. If it's familiar to you, read it in a different translation. Read the posts about being a child of God, being His favorite. Trust that He wants to speak to you and pause to listen.
"Turn us again to Yourself, O God. Make Your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved." Psalm 80:3, 7, 19
Thanks you for this, a good reminder. Oftentimes when I feel stuck, it really does help to pray to God about it as I work through it.
ReplyDeleteSaying "Just pray" is of course an oversimplification. But sometimes we forget the simple things :) I know I do!
ReplyDeleteYes, often times I forget to just take a moment, close my eyes and say, Thank you, God, for being here in everything. He's in my body, my children, my food, my schedule, my friends, my relationships, even my blogging! :) He knows. I just have to remember to let Him be there. Sometimes we just get so caught up on the thought that WE need to take care of everything. . . when really, we're only acting as a brach on the Vine.
ReplyDelete