Originally published Monday, 11 December 2017.
I had big problems. In fact, for weeks they were so big they consumed my thoughts. Like an endless dishwasher cycle, they circled. . .
I can't ever...
That person will never...
I don't know if this will ever...
There is no way...
I've got to figure out an answer...
The endless thought cycle kept going, but when all was said and done, it resolved nothing. All it produced was the agonizing sense life was sordid and out of control. I constantly walked through my day, humming with anxiety. Hmm...Blghhh...Zzzzz...!
What thoughts circle in you? What aching sense won't leave you?
What changed the tide of my thoughts (pun fully intended here, ladies) was simple. I not only chose to see beyond my problems, but I chose to get up and out of my house. This can be half the battle.
And, I battled alright. Still a little jittery, I got in the car and drove. Upon arrival, I took my seat right in the center of this tight-knit band of women who regularly meet on Tuesdays. I anticipated the freedom God might bring. I hoped in something more.
What are you hoping for?
At first, everyone else talked about their problems. I wondered how mine would ever be addressed, or if I'd be left behind. But as I heard the women's stories of the brother with cancer, the child getting in with the wrong crowd and the pain of marital hardships, something shifted.
I realized peace is not found through panic-filled thoughts of self, but through offering all of myself on behalf of another.
Each faith-filled word I prayed gave me new strength. The more I continued to lean in, the more I gained new strength. The more God comforted me. The more my issues faded away. The more my heart came alive. God was doing something-- in me, as I prayed -- for them.
How could this be?
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21
We find Him, "the bread of life," as we give away the best of us on behalf of them. And what we are left with at the end of our circular prayer meeting is the reflection of Love all over us. And when the God who is love touches us, He never leaves us the same.
Who might Love want you to reach out and pray for today?
Prayer: God, you are all we need. You are the fullness of all things. You are the joy of our heart. Restore us and replenish us in you. Help us to receive the best of your love as we give out the best of your gifts in our life. Grant us greater peace as we lean on you as our our peace. We trust you, entirely. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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