Getting Through the Tough Times

I certainly have had my share of tough times as most people my age have.  (I grew up with the Brady Bunch & David Cassidy - just to give you a hint.)  I have experienced great depression, anxiety, stress, and exhaustion to the max.  And most of those reactions have been because of my situation.  So how do I get through it and come out on the other side in a good healthy place?

Psalm 138: 7-8 says "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand... And Your right hand will save me.  The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;  Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever."

God revives me and saves me and takes care of what concerns me.

God's peace that I experience comes through a greater faith in Him, that He truly is there for me and will take care of all my needs.  My faith in God only grows through relying on Him through my trials and learning and experiencing how He is working the situation for His glory.  His glory is manifested through me as I tell others my story of suffering and blessing...suffering and blessing...suffering and blessing.

Sometimes God revives me through a great sermon or spending a quiet time talking to Him and reading His Word - the Bible.  Sometimes He revives me through other people bringing light into my world of darkness.  My girlfriend Sue took my daughter and I in to live with her for 11 months when we had no where to go.  My girlfriend Beth Anne spent hours moving my things, packing, and unpacking.  Friends at work chipped in.  Even my mom, who is suffering with illness, gave me a dinner or picked me up some groceries to make my load a little easier.  That's God's people working in my life and serving God's purpose - to revive me, save me, and take care of what concerns me.

I just have to balance relying on others to revive me and relying on God.  Sometimes people revive me and save me and I forget to rely on God.  It's balance I guess. I get through it through trusting God with my circumstances no matter what they are - that He will revive me and save me - including the ones I love.  I trust God with the outcome.  And I have faith that His ways - his moral ways - will work the best for me.  That takes a lot of faith sometimes.  Thank you Lord for getting me through these awful times and allowing me to come through it praising you with the telling of a great story.