Are you Riding a Roller Coaster or a Train?

The other night, I was sitting down with my husband, discussing the events of the last few days. I was explaining some of my feelings, and how literally- I feel like sometimes, my life is an emotional roller coaster. There’s emotional highs, and there’s emotional lows I deal with. Then, I asked him how he seems to manage to stay so calm during the roller coaster we are on. He kinda chuckled, and blurted out- “I’m not riding a roller coaster- I’m riding a train! A steady train... Sometimes the train goes up the mountain a little, and sometimes it goes down… but all the while, I’m just chugging along.”

He’s a much more stable person than me. He’s my rock. He’s my hero. Two very different people- and two very different perspectives taking us through life. I ride a roller coaster, but he rides a train. I've never ridden a train, but I've ridden my fair share of roller coasters. They are a blast. They are a lot of fun, and they completely wear you out after a couple rides. They jerk you around, make your stomach feel as though it’s going to come out of your throat, send you screaming down a deep dive, through a loop, just to catch your breath and start again. Like I said, roller coasters are a lot of fun… but they can leave a person to feel drained.

It's the same with the emotional roller coasters we ride through life.  Climbing the hills- yes, it’s fun, and even barreling downhill is fun… but it’s not steady. It’s not consistent.  Then.. the bottom. The bottom always comes eventually. It’s the worst part of a roller coaster- the least fun. You can often catch your breath… but you never want to stay at the bottom of the roller coaster. The bottom of the roller coaster is depressing.

My conversation with him that night brought a favorite Bible verse of mine to my mind.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58

We know there are spiritual mountains, and even spiritual valleys in our lives. This is unavoidable. Circumstances change, bad things often happen, causing us to feel like we are in a spiritual valley. It will change- God promises us that.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  God gives us victory.” - I Corinthians 15:57

A train is much more steadfast than a roller coaster. If we get, and keep the mindset of riding a train stead of a roller coaster, our lives will be much more stable. They will be much more solid in the Lord than the emotional roller coaster we often climb onto. Be Steadfast… Always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Finding Rest

Studies show rest is important… actually it’s vital to our well being.  Not surprisingly then, we also find verses in the Bible encouraging us to rest.  God knows our bodies can only handle limited stress, limited strain, limited… well, everything.  

Often in our busy lives, we let the stresses of our days inhibit the joy our lives are supposed to contain. God makes it clear to us that He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to set our fears, our stresses, our everything aside and find rest in Him.

As humans, we get weak, we get weary, and we struggle on a daily basis. God knows us, He knows our weaknesses, He knows our strengths. but He wants us to trust in Him, and rest. We find several verses in the Bible where God reminded his people to rest.

Isaiah 40:28-31 “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Exodus 33:14 - “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

Matthew 11:28-30 - “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”   

Matthew 11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Psalms 4:8 - “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”

Psalms 127:2 - “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

Over, and over again in the Bible, we are reminded by God to rest. When we are not rested, we make bad choices, we make mistakes, we are simply not being the best we can for God… all because we have not followed His simple command to rest.  

Changing Perspective.

We've heard the saying “There’s at least two sides to every argument.” Every person has a slightly different perspective. It’s easy for us to think “I’m right, they are wrong.” Maybe even go a little deeper emotionally and think “I've been hurt by them, they have done me wrong.” Just like the saying goes- there's always another perspective.

When we take the Biblical approach to these situations, we find something very important.

Philippians 2:3-4  - “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Proverbs 18:17 - “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.”

God doesn't want us to wallow in our own agony, in our own hurt, and become bitter. He wants us to consider the perspective of the other individual(s). When our perspective shifts off of ourselves, and onto the other person, our hearts change as well.

Galatians 6:2 - “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Romans 15:1-3 - “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

We cannot possibly bear one another’s burdens unless we consider their perspective. God wants us to have compassion for other people. It starts with our own hearts. We cannot be compassionate towards others until we have considered their perspective, and allow that perspective to soften our hearts.

I have to consistently (literally, several times a day), ask God for another perspective so that my heart can be changed, and softened instead of becoming bitter and hard. It’s a daily struggle for me. It’s likely a daily struggle for you too. It’s not easy to put other people first. In fact, it’s quite difficult. It is however worth it to not have the bitterness built up by being selfish.

John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Going Nuts

“Going Nuts”

We are NUTS!

If you aren't willing to admit already “BEING NUTS”, maybe you’re willing to admit “GOING NUTS”. We are all different from each other. We look different, we talk different, we are everything different.

I had this whole plan to tell you ladies that “it’s OKAY” to be nuts. but...

Unfortunately… when I shared my idea with Steve, he said “Kathy… what verses are you going to use from the Bible?”  Surprise, Surprise, I couldn't answer him! I had no verses telling me it was okay to be NUTS… to be crazy! (I wanted to cry… seriously… It was a sad day for me. I realized I couldn't keep being Nuts!) The Bible doesn't tell us it’s okay to be nuts. In fact, God’s word tells l us the complete opposite. God wants us to rely on Him, and not focus on the circumstances around us, despite how crazy we feel they will make us.

There’s always going to be things in life that bother us:

• People, habits people have, children, lack of children, lack of people,
• situations, a dirty car
• lack of finances,
• lack of a clean house, lack of living space
• lack of sleep, motherhood, grand-motherhood,  etc.
• Health Problems
• OURSELVES

There’s an old quote I heard as a teenager that says.

“We can please some of the people, some of the time, but we can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

For me, the hardest person to please is myself. I’ve always had crazy high expectations for myself, and when the reality of life slaps me  in the face… I let myself down. I begin to feel like a complete failure in almost every area of my life. This makes me feel like I’m going to go NUTS!  I’ve recently come to (A SHOCKING) conclusion : “THIS IS NORMAL!”

All of the situations listed above (and more!) can drive a person to feel like they will go NUTS!

Putting our own strengths aside, putting our own expectations aside, and trusting God are insanely HARD. It doesn’t matter. We will never know just how strong we are in HIM unless we give Him the chance to show His strength in us. God doesn’t promise to make things clear. He just wants us to TRUST HIM with every situation.

I want to share a passage from the Bible with you. It’s Psalms Chapter 3.

5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

David was in a world of hurt. People were rising up against him- even his own son.  Despite the circumstances engulfing his life at that moment, he decided to Trust God. He trusted God enough to lay down and rest- putting his life completely in God’s hands. (verse 4) Was David perfect? Absolutely not. Neither are we.

We are all in a different situation in life. We ALL have struggles, and trials we need to trust God with. Although we are all different, with different situations, God has some basic things in His word we should realize about our unique situations.

How to Handle the Nutty things in life:

1. Realize you Can’t handle the cRaZY alone! You need to remember God is with you.

Psalms Chapter 18 (Verses 1-15)

1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

God was so real to David. God was so Important to David! God was his Strength, His Rock, His Fortress, Deliverer, EVERYTHING! He trusted God completely. This is how God wants us to feel about HIM. God’s response to David feeling so Strongly about Him is amazing.

We read 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, coals were kindled by fire from His mouth. He came down with darkness under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly.The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

God protects His people. He definitely protected David here. He promises the same thing for us.

• Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

• Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
• “The hand of God will never lead you where the GRACE of God cannot keep you. “

Despite David’s trials, God kept him safe. David remembered that God would be with him. We don’t have to face the craziness of our trials alone either.

2. Realize God has a plan for your life… despite the CraZY!

Psalms 18 (Continued verses 16- 20)

16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

David probably felt like he was drowning in life… God drew him out. God delivered him. God was his stay.

19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

God had amazing plans for David, and He has amazing plans for us! Remember, David was not perfect, but God delighted in Him. He delights in us, and has plans for us despite us feeling like we are drowning!

• Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
• Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
• We don’t have to understand what God is doing, but we do have to trust what God is doing.
• Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

• God allows hard times and trials to come into our lives for a reason. (I don’t think He’s trying to make us go crazy… The Crazy is what happens when we don’t focus on Him.)

3. Don’t focus on the CrAZy.

Psalms 18 (Continued again!)(verse 21-30)

• Verse 28- “For thou wilt light my candle”, God enlightens our darkness. We tend to focus on problems when we don’t know how to handle them, but that’s not what God wants.  He will show us His plans IN HIS TIME. Don’t focus on the things that drive us crazy. Allow God to work his wonders in every situation in our life! He can work miracles… and He wants you to trust Him.

• We’ve all heard the “Serenity Prayer” - “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.”  -Reinhold Niebuhr
• There’s a lot of wisdom behind that quote…. We can’t always change the CRaZY we are surrounded by, but we can prevent some of our own personal Craziness by “accepting the things we cannot change”

• Some of the situations we are in CAN BE  changed or influenced by us. Sometimes, we are able to prevent some of the CRAZY by changing what drives us crazy. If you can change it, DO IT!  but if not.. oh well. Put it in God’s hands- like David did- and find comfort in Him.

• We’ve all heard the expression “There’s a silver lining in every cloud.”
• If you can’t change the bad- focus on the good.
• Numerous times in this passage, David is reminded of his Salvation…. If nothing else, at least we have that!
• John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
• For every Crazy thing we may face… don’t let it get you down. Focus on the Good.. Focus on the LORD!

4. Don't actually Go cRAzY! Don’t go Nuts.

• “Sometimes, our biggest challenge is that we are trying to do too much while facing the very real limitations that accompany the different seasons of motherhood.“ - Mandy Arioto
• Sometimes, as hard as it may be, we have to say “NO” to other people, and their plans/ expectations for us so we can do what GOD wants us to do. and NOT go crazy.
• There’s only a couple people in the Bible who were crazy… It’s not a good thing to be crazy!
• the Maniac of Gadera- Legion - Nobody wanted to be around him. (I’m not bringing Legion up as an excuse so you can go crazy and have people leave you alone!) Crazy is not good.
• Kind David pretended to go crazy

Psalms 18 (Continued again! Verses 31-50)

God Gives us strength to do what we need to do.. in the Path He has for us. (vrs 32)

We always have our shield of salvation (vrs 35)

Through God’s gentleness, we can be great. We need to constantly claim it though. (35)

God doesn’t want us to falter, he makes our way clear for Us… if only one step at a time.

Don’t go crazy, Let God deliver you from all the trials/fears/ worries, etc that we have in life.

It’s OKAY if your life is not where you thought it would be.

It’s OKAY if your plans/ goals for yourself/ your family have not yet been hit.

God Promises us Victory in our lives- with His help. We need to actually- TRULY believe that He will help us, and then Trust Him!

Look around you- we are surrounded by other ladies, who literally feel like they will go crazy on a daily basis (myself included). Life is hard. Disappointments happen. Hurts happen.  We've got to stop being so hard on the other ladies around us. We've got to stop being so hard on ourselves. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. We've got to move on.  Our strengths and weaknesses were given to us for a reason: We all have a different purpose- accept it, embrace it, live it. Claim it.

Take one step at a time, one breath at a time if you need to. Let’s make it a point to DAILY encourage ourselves, as well as the other ladies. We all feel like we will go crazy on any given day/week. Encouraging other people will help you to be encouraged as well.