IM IN PAIN! MY BODY IS ACHY & MY HEART’S FEELING HEAVY, ANYONE ELSE?🙋♀️🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️
“Don’t give up. You’ll get ‘em next time.”
No one is thrilled to hear these two sentences, Because when you’re the receiver of these words, it means you didn’t win at something, or reach a goal you set out to conquer.
When you were younger, do you remember how you felt after losing a sports game, or getting a bad grade on an important test? Any hope of victory you originally held, vanished with the sound of the final buzzer, or seeing the devastating grade in red ink! Remember, how thoughts of defeat set in, maybe even disappointment. For some, these moments happen more often than others and in the moment of constant defeat, it could seem like the heartbreak would never end.
In my childhood, we moved around a good bit so it was hard to connect with others, and my first memories of discouragement reared its ugly head when I didn’t fit in with people quickly or didn’t get invited to the hangouts. But no matter how long my teachers or parents spent trying to cheer me up, there was only thing that could help me press past the hurt:
MY RESPONSE WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY!
I had to decide to stop sulking in my sadness!
Life’s disappointments extend far beyond losing a game, scoring low academically or even losing relationships. As we continue to grow older we likely experience much greater loss – the death of a loved one, a fractured family, ending of a job, failing marriage, incarceration, declining health or even the mourning of a life-long dream unfulfilled.
David, the author of Psalm 42&43, also experienced life’s heaviness.
These two chapters can be summed up in three major themes of David’s changing moods as he navigates life’s heaviness:
Starts from longing and regret, to perplexity, then eventually evolves to trust and assurance in Christ!
If only we had a magic pill we could take to jump to that last realization?! Ha! But that’s not how life works is it?
David’s heavy moment-
“As a deer gets thirsty for streams of water, I truly am thirsty for you, my God. In my heart, I am thirsty for you, the living God. When will I see your face? Day and night my tears are my only food, as everyone keeps asking, “Where is your God?””
Psalms 42:1-3 CEV
-His heart is so heavy that he cries non stop! What’s interesting is as you read this story you see that since his issues led him to question God, he unintentionally started leading those around him to question God too. He sulked I’m self pity, and allowed his issues and doubts to become the main thing he focused on which led to the naysayers around him mocking David and God, with statements like, “Does your God truly care about you?” “Why do you even look to Him?” It’s not until crying out to God that David then writes these two EPIC verses that show his Hope and Faith: 5-6 “Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I should trust you, Lord. I will praise you again because you help me, and you are my God. I am deeply discouraged, and so I think about you here where the Jordan River meet at Mount Hermon and at Mount Mizar.”
At first glance, these two verses read like a personal hype man moment to encourage himself, to lift his chin up and keep pushing through. But this moment for David was such a deeper moment! He was having more of a “tough love” moment of truth. In this moment, David chose to finally voice his awareness of his circumstances and attempt the most difficult challenge, allow God to change his perspective! The mentioning of his location is important because, the Jordan river and Mt. Hermon is in northern Palestine, an area of where different waters meet and flow southward. This location, works as a metaphor, showing a sharp contrast in his life, describing David’s circumstance; change is inevitable. The landmark worked as an “ah-ha” moment for David. He is communicating that he realizes he’s about to move from one challenge to the next, “drought” to “drowning.” This is the moment he realizes he has a decision to make! He stopped focusing on his own thoughts, and refocused to the Lords! There’s no evidence that his trials had changed leading up to that realization, so we can’t say, “ oh easy for him to say things got better, because we don’t see any evidence in that being the case, rather he chose (in the middle of his heaviest moment) to take responsibility for his response to life’s heaviness and focus on the Pain-taker ☝️ above the pain. We also can see that despite the heartache he feels, David chooses Hope. Wow! Freedom 🙌
Is life feeling heavy for you? I encourage you take some pointers from David! Sometimes it might take more than one honest, tough-talk and prayer to refocus your mind, but TAKE HEART, because we can learn like David, to practice persistence in the action of putting our faith in God and trusting that in every situation, no matter what, Gods got us in His hands, and is working every moment for our good!
Ive learned that when my heart feels heavy, I may let my feelings lead my faith in Jesus. 😬 Ive also learned from this scripture, I don’t have to let my emotions guide my faith!🤗
I feel encouraged and hope you will too by knowing David’s struggle back then, is the same as our struggle now, too!😅
💥 When our hearts feel heavy, let’s practice this:
-refocus on God and press forward (ground ourselves in the word)
-let’s also allow God to teach us how to evolve by reading His examples in the Bible of people going through the same trials we face.
TODAYS MANTRA:
CHRIST over CRISIS.
I pray peace over myself, my family, my friends, and everyone who reads this in Jesus name, Amen 🙏
🙏 prayer request:
Tomorrow I go in for a ptscan and need prayer over results and for the current pain to go away🙌🙌🙌🙌
☠️ Dead-girl-walking update☠️
Rebecca’s Story
From terminal to triumph, Rebecca Masdon writes stories of faith and resilience as a “dead girl walking.”