Am I Worthy?

"Place your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you, for He never allows the upright to fall." - Psalm 55:22

The journey towards God is a painful one because God's role in our lives is to make us complete. This means that when you place your heart on God, for a second you might be feeling like you're doing really well, but God brings out in you those fears and insecurities you didn't even know you had. We are all broken in many more ways that we can imagine and God seeks to heal us, put us together. In my case, as I have been sharing with you, I have worry/ anxiety issues. I know I should trust in God completely, but when I'm in a bind, I get overly anxious, nervous, and usually start crying in despair. As a matter of fact, what motivated me to be a straight A student in school had always been the fear of getting yelled at by a teacher, or the fear of failing and being seen as stupid. I never even realized the degree to which I felt this until God brought it up to the forefront for healing. I'm praying about it and I know He's working on it.

In the same way, I know you have deep seeded fears, insecurities, anxieties. Maybe they're similar to mine or maybe they're totally different. The point is that when we realize these issues we have within ourselves, we might not think we're worthy of God. I felt like this this week - in my despair I felt that I didn't trust God enough with my problems just because He took longer than usual to answer me. Then I thought to myself, "why would God help me if I failed Him?" And I'm sure you, at one point or another, feel the same way. We all have problems and drama that we deal with every day and when the Word of God tells us to put our trust in Him because He will sustain us, we really want to do that. We really want to just rest in His arms where things are safe and nothing bad or hurtful ever happens. But then we read the next part about God doing this for the upright…is that me? I'm not holy. I carry so many sins and let God down constantly with my poor faith…is God's promise then not for me? Our own low self-esteem might say that it doesn't apply to us, but if you're reading this right now, it does apply to you. No matter how broken you are and how many sins you commit, if your heart is placed on trying to follow the Lord, then you are upright. Jesus' best friends betrayed Him at His death, but He still gave them His church to run for Him. The Lord knows our sins better than we do so when our hearts and our minds are trying to please Him, that alone make us upright and righteous in His eyes…then He will heal us, He will sustain us and never let us fall.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for being so merciful. You overlook my many faults because of Your love for me and then try to heal me of all my wounds. See me as Your clay so that You can mold me and fix me as You please. In Your Name we pray, amen.

God Will Never Let You Fall

"Place your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you, for He never allows the upright to fall." - Psalm 55:23

I'm a huge worrier. A couple of months ago, when I thought something was going to go wrong at work, I would freak out and let myself get overworked. But the closer I got to the Lord, the more I learned to trust Him. Now, when deadlines are approaching and things don't seem to be going my way, I am relaxed because I just know that some way, some how, the Lord is good and He will work it all out for me. This is something the Lord wants to do for you as well if you give up your trust to Him. Your burden could be your job, your financial situation, health, school, family or your own emotional problems. No matter what it is, if you give it unto God, He will take care of it. You can rest assured. It says here that God will never ever allow for the upright, those who follow Him and pray to Him, to fall. You could see everything going against you - King David wrote it psalms that his enemies were closing in on him, yet no matter how close danger got, no harm ever came upon him. You could see yourself at the very bottom, but the Lord won't allow it to go any further. The key here is to be upright. Look for the Lord. Give Him the time He deserves. Watch your life and do what is pleasing to Him. Do away with the things you know the Lord is against and He will look with favor upon you. Trust in Him for no matter what you're going through, He takes up your burden. He sustains your life. He will never let you fall…never.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for sustaining my life through all of my trials. You give me life and take care of me. Throughout everything I can never say that You have let me down. I love You, my Lord. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Sharing The Weight

"Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

I was trying to find a verse to explain why we need God in our lives, why we should put Him first and I can't find a better one than this. A lot of people stay away from religion and God because there are too many rules and it's hard to lead that kind of life…but that's only how it appears on the outside. If you move past the doubts and decide to give Him a little time each day, you will come to know a God that longs to be with you every step of the way. In His time, Jesus spoke to the poor and farmers who would put a yoke around an ox's back to help them carry a big load. He knew that in their lives, there were just some things that weighed them down so much, things they couldn't carry any longer. And today, Jesus still knows you need help, whether it be a job you can't stand, a relationship that hurts you, an illness, an addiction, a betrayal, or someone you cannot forgive, Jesus Christ wants to be tied to you. He is willing to help you carry whatever it is that is weighing on your heart. As you let Him carry this weight for you, those barriers you saw before, all the rules and the "fun" things you felt you couldn't do, you will learn to trust in Him and it will all be worth it. Jesus doesn't only long to help you, He longs to refresh you, to give you rest, to relieve you of all that tires you…all you have to do is go to Him. Jesus isn't asking in this verse to follow the ten commandments, be in church every Sunday and pray every hour, all He's asking is for you to be yoked to Him so that HE can help YOU. After this, you will find yourself in a place where you will be right with Him without noticing when He's taken you so far.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want my yoke to be tied to you all my life. I can't do some things on my own, but I can do all things in You who strengthen me. Help me to never think I can do things by myself or depend on others. You alone are my strength. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Lay Down Your Burden

"Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30


The most beautiful thing about the love of God is that it is strongest when we are feeling emotionally and physically drained - if we have the faith to cling to Him for refuge.


Many of us think that maybe because we don't go to church often or we don't pray often that God will turn a deaf ear to us. That maybe we don't deserve to have Him listen to us. But these are the lies we tell ourselves that keep us from receiving the blessings the Lord has in store for us. These are the lies that keep us further from His truth. What we all need to understand is that at these points when we feel beaten down and we just feel like giving up on a relationship, a project at work, or our financial responsibilities are caving in on us, there IS someone there that is waiting with open arms so that you can collapse into them and be filled with a strength that ONLY HE can give. It is such a remarkable feeling to know that the Almighty has called YOU and loves YOU so much, that no matter what, and no matter what you've done, He wants to take you in His arms and give you the peace you need to weather any storm. All you need to do is put down any walls that you've put up that separate you from God and tell Him you need Him more than ever.



Prayer:


My Savior, my God, you know my stuggles, the pain, and the anxiety that take over me at times. I know that I have not lived entirely how You've wanted me too, Lord, but I also know that You are the only constant truth my life. Now that I'm feeling empty, please take me into Your arms. I'm tired and can no longer carry on. Help me to see Your light in all I do. Give me the peace, strength, and courage, Jesus, to pull through and let others see Your glory in me. Amen.