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Today, my devotion talked about situations that feel like a tangled mess too knotted to figure out. Mostly these occur in relationships. Does anyone else ever feel like relationships are hard to navigate sometimes?
People are complicated, messy, and unpredictable.
Sometimes a girl can get worn out in a situation and feel like giving up. But before I give up, I've learned to hush up.
Spending some time getting quiet can really be the best remedy for tangled situations. Taking a step back from all the emotion, frustration, and exhaustion to sit quietly with Jesus will do more to untangle a mess than anything else I've ever found.
Originally, I had planned to write 10 things that happen in the quiet. But for heaven's sake, people in messes are too tired to read 10 things when 5 will do just fine.
Here are 5 beautiful things that can happen in the quiet:
1. In the quiet, we can feel safe enough to humble ourselves.
In the heat of a mess, the last thing I want to do is get humble. I want to get loud and prove my point. I've learned I have to step out of the battle and humbly ask God to speak truth to my heart for things to start to make sense. Never have I had a relationship issue where I didn't contribute at least something to the problem. Usually, I can only see this something in the quiet.
1 Peter 5: 6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand..."
2. In the quiet, God will lift us up to a more rational place.
When we are in the heat of a tangled mess, crazy emotions drag us down into a pit of hopelessness. The only way out of the pit, is to make the choice to stop digging deeper and turn to God for a solution.
1 Peter 5:6 continued, "...that he may lift you up in due time."
3. In the quiet, anxiety gives way to progress.
We can pour our anxious hearts out to Jesus who loves us right where we are, how we are. And because His love comes without judgement, we soften and feel safe enough to humbly admit we need Jesus to work on us. Trying to fix another person will only add to my anxiety. Letting Jesus work on me is where real progress can happen.
1 Peter 5:7, "Cast your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
4. In the quiet, we see our real enemy isn't the person with whom we're in conflict.
This person with whom we're in this tangled mess feel like the enemy. They might even look like the enemy. But the truth is, they aren't the real culprit here. Satan's influence on both me and the person offending me is the real culprit. I can't realize this in the heat of the moment. But in the quiet, I become alert and can gain a strategy for acting and reacting in a more self-controlled manner.
1 Peter 5:8-9, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith..."
5. In the quiet, I can rest assured God will use this conflict for good- no matter how it turns out.
If I make the effort to handle this conflict well, I can be freed from the pressure to make everything turn out rosy. Sometimes relationships grow stronger through conflict. But other times relationships end. Because I can't control the other person, I must keep focusing on the good God is working out in me through this and leave the outcome with Him.
1 Peter 5: 10-11, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."
How might this help you today? Have you discovered anything else good that happens in the quiet? Let's talk about it. To post a comment, click on 'post a comment' below and follow the prompts.
______________________________________
Congratulations to Tricia in KY for winning 2 copies of my latest book 'Am I Messing Up My Kids?', which is an expanded version of 'The Bathtub is Overflowing But I Feel Drained'. Please contact Holly@Proverbs31.org to get your copies Tricia!
Today, my devotion talked about situations that feel like a tangled mess too knotted to figure out. Mostly these occur in relationships. Does anyone else ever feel like relationships are hard to navigate sometimes?
People are complicated, messy, and unpredictable.
Sometimes a girl can get worn out in a situation and feel like giving up. But before I give up, I've learned to hush up.
Spending some time getting quiet can really be the best remedy for tangled situations. Taking a step back from all the emotion, frustration, and exhaustion to sit quietly with Jesus will do more to untangle a mess than anything else I've ever found.
Originally, I had planned to write 10 things that happen in the quiet. But for heaven's sake, people in messes are too tired to read 10 things when 5 will do just fine.
Here are 5 beautiful things that can happen in the quiet:
1. In the quiet, we can feel safe enough to humble ourselves.
In the heat of a mess, the last thing I want to do is get humble. I want to get loud and prove my point. I've learned I have to step out of the battle and humbly ask God to speak truth to my heart for things to start to make sense. Never have I had a relationship issue where I didn't contribute at least something to the problem. Usually, I can only see this something in the quiet.
1 Peter 5: 6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand..."
2. In the quiet, God will lift us up to a more rational place.
When we are in the heat of a tangled mess, crazy emotions drag us down into a pit of hopelessness. The only way out of the pit, is to make the choice to stop digging deeper and turn to God for a solution.
1 Peter 5:6 continued, "...that he may lift you up in due time."
3. In the quiet, anxiety gives way to progress.
We can pour our anxious hearts out to Jesus who loves us right where we are, how we are. And because His love comes without judgement, we soften and feel safe enough to humbly admit we need Jesus to work on us. Trying to fix another person will only add to my anxiety. Letting Jesus work on me is where real progress can happen.
1 Peter 5:7, "Cast your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
4. In the quiet, we see our real enemy isn't the person with whom we're in conflict.
This person with whom we're in this tangled mess feel like the enemy. They might even look like the enemy. But the truth is, they aren't the real culprit here. Satan's influence on both me and the person offending me is the real culprit. I can't realize this in the heat of the moment. But in the quiet, I become alert and can gain a strategy for acting and reacting in a more self-controlled manner.
1 Peter 5:8-9, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith..."
5. In the quiet, I can rest assured God will use this conflict for good- no matter how it turns out.
If I make the effort to handle this conflict well, I can be freed from the pressure to make everything turn out rosy. Sometimes relationships grow stronger through conflict. But other times relationships end. Because I can't control the other person, I must keep focusing on the good God is working out in me through this and leave the outcome with Him.
1 Peter 5: 10-11, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."
How might this help you today? Have you discovered anything else good that happens in the quiet? Let's talk about it. To post a comment, click on 'post a comment' below and follow the prompts.
______________________________________
Congratulations to Tricia in KY for winning 2 copies of my latest book 'Am I Messing Up My Kids?', which is an expanded version of 'The Bathtub is Overflowing But I Feel Drained'. Please contact Holly@Proverbs31.org to get your copies Tricia!
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