I Quit!

Do you ever have days you just want to quit? I do. To be quite honest, often I'm not even sure what it is I want to quit! All I want to do is yell, "I QUIT!", find a nice hole to crawl into and have a mute Hatian wipe my memory. (It's a Heroes thing. Sci-fi can be interesting.)

I've come to realize these are beneficial times for us. How? For one thing, we are forced to be honest with ourselves. If I run to God first and am candid with Him, I know that my heart has been in the right place recently. That, in and of itself, is a comfort. If I discover however, that I sit there bemoaning my situation while trying to cover it with food, television, a good book, or any number of other things, I begin to realize that a large part of the problem is I have fallen away from Him. That gives me something to do in order to fix the problem. No matter what it may be, I can draw closer to Him.

Another positive aspect of wanting to give up is realizing that we are not as all-powerful as we like to think we are. We can't control the world around us, we can't save ourselves nor the ones we love, and we couldn't take another breath without God. It causes us to call on Him.

I called to the LORD in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.
Psalm 18:6
For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abundant in faithful love to all who call on You.
Psalm 86:5
The LORD is near all who call out to Him, all who call out to Him with integrity.
Psalm 145:18

There are 22 verses in the Psalms alone which speak to calling out to the Lord. We are created to lean upon Him, and to be quite honest with ourselves, how often do we do that when everything is going great?

So next time you want to quit, go right ahead.... that way you might let Him take control again.

Please Pray

Today is a very big day.

There are several very important things going on in my life today as well of some of my closest friends. A family member will find out what stage of cancer they are in, as well as if there are other factors or illnesses to deal with. I have a friend who is making some major changes in her life, and today is a key day. Another friend's one year old son is having surgery. Yet, another friend is hoping to hear if she got a job she interviewed for and really needs. And, I just found out some disturbing news last night about one of my children as well.

There is nothing better to do today than pray. Will you please join me? God knows the details better than I, so just lay it all before Him.

Here are a few verses on prayer. There is nothing like praying the Word, by the power and encouragement of the Word.

Psalm 18:6 “I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry reached His ear.”

Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

Luke 18:1 “He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged.”

2 Corinthians 1:11 “And you can join in helping with prayer for us, so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.”

James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.”

Thank you all.