When times are tough
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:25-34
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I am currently caring for someone who is suffering depression and extreme anxiety. I am no expert in this field and at times I find myself floundering and overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. It can be very emotional and draining on bad days but uplifting and encouraging on the good days. Monday was a really good day, Tuesday was a very bad day but, praise the Lord, turned out to be ok by the end. It is verses like this one that get me through the bad days. Having total faith in God is the only way to move forward and when I find it all overwhelming I pray and it really does offer calmness. I am learning not to worry about tomorrow and only focus on my energy on today, sometimes the next hour. If we make it through a today that is a good thing.
The hardest part of all of this is the phone calls and text messages, never knowing which ones will be good and happy and which ones will be down-right depressing. Trying to remain upbeat and positive when the messages coming through is very difficult. And once in a while one so dark that I can't help but panic. These ones are the hardest to deal with and the most stressful, requiring complete faith and trust in the Heavenly Father.
Trials and tributlations are sent to test us and I am certainly being tested and I can honestly say, that without my faith this would have been so much worse. We are still in the early days and the road ahead will be rocky (I can tell you that Tuesday patch of path was covered in boulders and not pebbles) but knowing that God is with me and will comfort me is a huge weight off my mind.
For all of you that are going through tough times . . . whether that be separation and divorce, health issues, difficult children, depression, lack of sleep, financial problems, caring for elderly parents .... you are in my prayers. At least none of us are doing this alone.
xx
Psalm 23: 4
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Yes, we are not alone. Praying for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura - and I am praying for you too :)))
DeleteWe are not alone. Perhaps the most comforting words we can hear. Prayer is so helpful. All the best to you and the person you are so generously caring for.
ReplyDeleteThis is a battle I am not giving up on, the person is too precious to give up on. I am in for the length it will take and I can only do this with prayer and knowing the Lord will never leave me.
Delete:)))
So Sorry, But you are rolling it over unto the Lord! We both know we can not carry these thing alone.
ReplyDeleteDepression is a rally hard thing to understand, we have so much mental illness and sorrow in this world. But we must encourage ourselves daily in the Lord.
Come over I will make us some Latkes !!
Blessings, Roxy
We have so much mental health problems in this country and so many self-harming and crying out for help. Our young men in particular are doing it really struggling at the moment, their role in society has altered thanks to the "I know my rights" women and young girls. I feel so sorry for them.
DeleteWould love to stop by for a cup of tea and some Latkes. I will provide the tomato sauce !!
Thanks:)))
Definitely praying for you and yours, Jo. It's not easy - depression is a really difficult trial to help someone through. I've had lots of firsthand experience in dealing with depression, and it can be very discouraging. :( And yes, we all have our own trials and troubles to go through, but with the Lord, the burden won't be as heavy as when we try to carry it alone.
ReplyDeleteI have never suffered depression and can bounce back quite quickly from some things that are getting me down so it can be hard at times to understand why and how someone is in such a bad place that they can't get out of it. It takes a lot of patiences I am learning. And whilst we can have a really good day one day, I have learnt that the next 3 days may be really bad and that is very wearing as you just wait for the explosion. But the hardest part is not knowing if they will self-harm and that does cause me to panic and stress. I have learnt a thing or two about my self on this journey that I didn't know - which is always a good thing.
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