They start small until they climb on your back and squeeze the air of faith right out of you.
They have a way of making the stack of bills reign higher than the power of God.
The medical issues stand taller than God’s capacity to care.
The relational problems break you into tears rather than into submission to the One who knows.
They are called mounting issues. Personal. Medical. Relational. Financial. Mental.
They take you on a ride like this:
1. You start with faith, looking straight ahead at God.
2. You talk with people, think of the issue and dwell on the problem and get afraid.
3. Your eyes start to look left, and right and left and right.
4. Your worst nightmare starts to take form.
5. You become sure of it’s overwhelming power to take you down.
Then they make you feel like this:
I’m going down.
It will never work out.
God, where are you?
They will always hate me.
I will never recover.
I will never be left the same.
I can’t do it.
I am horrible.
Problems of today have a way, of making us fear the feelings of yesterday.
I remember the fortress of my school.
The incapability of one girl who was powerless to change anything.
Who was uncertain about the next pain that may come my way.
Who felt the result of people’s issues rather than a product of their love.
I remember the embarrassment.
That past mocks all my dreams.
It reminds me that pain will repeat.
It reminds me I either need to fight or flight.
What does the past claim true about you – today?
The reality is – it’s gone,
and fighting proves worthless
because you can’t fight something that isn’t real;
if it’s not truth it simply doesn’t exist.
But, hushing away feelings never works. The only way to go is to see the one who sees far more than the stalker of fear living in your mind. To see the one who waits, looking, hoping, believing that you will see him – the one who is always following you.
And, while you may think it is over, he doesn’t.
He knows it has only just begun.
Because he is ready to come close, to know, to stay with. He is ready and willing to aid and assist.
He is amazing that way.
He sees the inadequate, unable, and unsure one and says, “You can do it with me, because of me and for me. Stay right there with that truth. You will be okay.”
He spoke these same kind of words to Joshua -the second string, the rookie.
He spoke belief into a man who had monumental issues in front of him: uncertainty, a sea that stood in his way and a towering fortress shining his incapabilities.
He said, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Josh 1:5
What if God was to show up and to say that to you?
“Hey (fill in name here),
I was with Moses,
so I will be with you (name),
I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Might these words make a difference?
Might you remember the bush, the manna, the Red Sea, the God, the hope,
the promises, God’s faithfulness to you?
Not if you just heard them, but if you really believed them.
Perhaps, then, you, like Joshua, might think,
“Wow, this God is really for me.”
Perhaps then you would have the courage to open your sea of despair to allow a new heart of courage to carry you to your promised hope.
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Josh. 3:5
Perhaps then, you might set your forehead-to-floor knowing one stands higher than all your perceptions.
Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” Josh. 5:14
You might even hear the way to go, the heart to have and the whispers of truth
rise above the status of your bank account, your health check-up or your kid’s report card.
You might even have the heart to march around what stands against you to shout the truth of God over it, around it and before it to see God work through it. And to, even, maybe, see it all fall down (if that is what God has planned for you).
On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” Josh 6:4-5
Imagine seeing the walls of pain and piles of grief standing before you crumble. They aren’t bigger than your God.
The truth is that in all cases he may not make them completely disappear, but God has the power to crumble circumstances authority over your feelings. He has the authority to set you on a new path, to forge a new way to bring you into the promised land of his peace.
Hear the words the Lord said to Joshua as he was preparing to be courageous and do not let them lightly pass over you (seize them as he seized the city): “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Josh 1:9)
Mounting issues, the past and our feelings are not our inheritance, God’s promises are – and we have already made it to the Promised Land, let’s lay claim to it much like the Israelites.
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3 #RaRalinkup Updates:
1. Sign up for the NEW Cheerleaders 4 Christ #RaRa Facebook group page (this is different than the prayer one I set up). We will be rolling out a new element to the #RaRalinkup that I want you to be a part of. Details are forthcoming soon. Join here.
2. RSVP for the #RaRalinkup breakfast at She Speaks. Exciting news, prizes and challenges will be shared at this event.
3. Visit next Monday. All of the bloggers who submitted guest posts will be featured on July 13. I couldn’t pick just one, this is not the spirit of the #RaRalinkup or this blog. All win, all are chosen, all are loved! Mark this day in your calendars. Support your sisters by retweeting and mentioning them on Twitter. 🙂
[…] love linking with these communities: Holly Barrett’s #TestimonyTuesday, Kelly Balarie’s #RaRalinkup, Jennifer Dukes Lee’s #TellHisStory, and Grace and Truth. Check them out for more […]
Amen, God’s promises are my inheritance! This is good encouragement today for me. I have so much “issues” that they’re making my head spin. I’m trying to breathe in deep and turn each worry to a prayer and trust God. Thank you.
Your welcome Betsy. Trust me, I know how those feelings can be. God delights in walking with you. I am praying right now for all these issues and that you rest deep in the promises that have already been won for you.
[…] Sharing with Soul Survival, Amaze me Monday, Good morning Monday’s, Modest Monday, Mama Moments Monday, UNITE, True Story, Titus 2 Tuesday, Good Tips Tuesday, Women helping women, Testimony Tuesday, Titus 2sday, #RaRa Linkup […]
Amen. I have the worst time with this: “The problems of today make us fear the feelings of yesterday.” Thank you so much for your words!
You bet Kaylie. It can be hard to get past the past, but the Lord goes with us to heal us and help us. Let’s just stay with him.
I have known the doubts that creep in when life becomes too much. Instead of the vision that looks only at God our eyes stray and when we take our eyes off Him, we see everything else. But remembering Joshua and how He learned the strength of who God is, I also want to be reminded and hold onto this beautiful truth. God is our everything and remaining with Him will take us exactly where we need to be. Thank you for these truths that teach us of the strength of God.
Amen. We hold his hand and walk into this truth. He will bring us. Thank you Mary for your comment. I love reading your words and I appreciate you always speaking to your reactions.
Thank you for sharing this today. It hits me fresh almost every day, this fear. But God. I put my name in those blanks today, and I will go with God! So well written, and I use these words God spoke to Joshua all the time because they are such a comfort. God is with us!
Thanks also for the link up each week, Kelly!
Thank you Ruthie. I am so glad it hits you afresh. That was my hope because we all already “know” this stuff. But, my hope is that we can believe it with every morsel of our body. I am praying over that for all of us. I love your words and am thankful for them.
Kelly, I’m so excited to see all the things God is doing through this community you are building!!! You are such a gifted writer and encourager and set such a beautiful example for us all! Love you!!!!
I am really, really excited too Kim. I feel God has big plans for all of us to be used for his glory and purpose. Sometimes he needs troops to make change and I really feel like this group is primed to do it. I am eager to get it going.
Thank you, Kelly, for echoing a subject I’ve just been camping out on very recently: feelings. I know I am too easily swayed by them, capricious and untrustworthy as they often are. Yet: “Our feelings do not affect God’s facts” (Amy Carmichael). And, “God is greater than our feelings” (1 John 3:20 NLT). Thank you for confirming these lessons in my life!
Feelings are like distractions on the road, they lead us off God’s plan. I couldn’t agree more with your comment Elizabeth. Let’s stand aware!
Believing Him today for miracles! Thanks for reminding me that He is both willing and ABLE to work miraculously in our lives. Have a blessed week, Kelly:)
I believe right with you Kristine. God is so good to us!
Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow God will do amazing things before you. #chills Powerful today Kelly!
He will do it – do we believe it?
He will do the amazing. Amen Meg. Let’s walk by faith and trust we will see it come through.
Battle gear is on. Let’s do this! Kelly, your words this morning bring a charge, an encouragement and reminder that “God has this” and it’s personal. My sinuses have been stinkers for a few days now. It seems nearly impossible to form words when they’re acting up, and many meds leave me in a worse condition. But there’s a deadline. With words. So I must press forward in the promises. Timely, my friend, your words are timely. Praise God.
I am sorry for your pain Kristi. It sounds so hard to deal with. I am praying over this for you. May the truths of this post sink into the depths of your belief. God has you; he will bring you through. I am praying God comforts over you.
So much encouragement here, my friend! I have been on that ride far too often. I easily forget He is always there, even in my darkness. Thank you for this important reminder: “Mounting issues, the past and our feelings are not our inheritance, God’s promises are.” Amen!
It is a bad ride. I understand. It’s amazing that he always keeps his promises near us, no matter how we are.
[…] with other encouraging, race-running lovers of Jesus at: Intentionally Pursuing, Purposeful Faith, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Holley Gerth, Dance with Jesus, and Count Your […]
[…] P.S. I’m linking up this week with Jennifer Dukes Lee at #TellHisStory, Holley Gerth at Coffee for Your Heart and Kelly Balarie at Purposeful Faith. […]
Someone once said to me that encouraging others is putting courage in them. I like that. That is what you do friend. Keep broadcasting His message with the megaphone of His love. Thank you for using His Words coupled with yours to speak courage into others. “Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from Thee.”
I love that idea – that encouraging is putting in the courage. Cool stuff! Let’s just speak his truth Katie. Amen & Amen.
I love this Katie. Courage in others is encouraging. How true that is. Let’s always be that way.
Kelly, I love the reminder that God’s promises are my inheritance, not the problems of my past. Amen! Thank you for the encouragement. : )
We are byproducts of Jesus not our past pains. Amen Crystal!
Thank you so much for these encouraging reminders, Kelly. God will never, ever forsake us or leave us. And His promises are our inheritance, not mounting issues. Love this – “He sees the inadequate, unable, and unsure one and says, “You can do it with me, because of me and for me. Stay right there with that truth. You will be okay.”
Thank you for leaving a comment Trudy. May we rest in the promise that all of his goodness is already ours. May we endure the trials of today holding on to these gifts.
[…] https://www.purposefulfaith.com/when-issues-mount/ […]
“And, while you may think it is over, he doesn’t.
He knows it has only just begun.”
Wow! Love that and you Miss Kelly! Keep going girl!!! xoxo
🙂 Love you Holly.
[…] Linked with Susan’s Dance with Jesus, Crystal’s Intentional Tuesday, Kelly’s RaRa Linkup […]
[…] #TellHisStory, Coffee for Your Heart, #LiveFreeThursday, #LookingUp, Motivation Monday, SarahTitus, Purposeful Faith, Intentional […]
Another beautiful post, Kellie! God always uses you to speak words of life and truth to me just when I need it most.
Thank you Lisa. I am so glad more life is being soaked in to you. There’s almost nothing better than that! God is awesome.
It’s not over – sometimes it feels over because the new thing is something we haven’t even considered! I’m so glad He loves us like Joshua – like Peter, James and John – that’s He got us and won’t let go! Beautiful encouragement, Kellie! I so love your heart!
I love that thought that he loves us just like the disciples. We feel unworthy, but he made us worthy. Great word.
I am intentionally receiving God’s promises as my inheritance! Amen! Thank you for this absolutely powerful post. I love love love the use of Joshua to illustrate this truth. I love to use a dry erase marker and write a favorite scripture in the corner of my vanity mirror so that I see it each morning. I’m going to put Josh 1:5 there with my name today!
Thank you also, for hostiing the #RaRa Linkup 🙂
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Yes, Lori! Receive it. Soak it in. I also love this tip that you have about using a dry erase marker. That is SO awesome.
[…] ** Joining with the writing communities of: Jennifer Dukes Lee TellHisStory, Holley Gerth’s CoffeeformyHeart, RaRaLink Up […]
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