Trust God’s Love – Counting My Blessings

It is impossible to experience God's peace when we're reliving yesterday or pre-living tomorrow. Here are 5 ways to have the peace you want every day. #InnerPeace #BibleStudy #Faith

It’s true!

It is absolutely impossible to experience God’s peace when I’m reliving yesterday or pre-living tomorrow. Peace simply cannot be applied to yesterday’s mess nor can it be pre-applied to tomorrow’s worries.

Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and regret the amount of time you wasted on guilt, worry, and anxiety?

Yeah, me too!

But I’m working on changing that. I truly believe that with God’s help I do not have to sacrifice today’s peace and joy to yesterday’s failures and tomorrows unknowns.

But I definitely need His help.

So, I’m working to apply the following disciplines every day … because I know when I do, well, I have the peace I want!

5 Ways to Have the Peace You Want Every Day

1. Celebrate today like it’s a bonus day.

Rev and I celebrate bonus days. In fact, today is our 4,176th bonus day.

What are bonus days?

They are the days we’ve been blessed to enjoy that were unexpected when he entered the operating room on September 20, 2007, for a pericardial stripping.

What’s that? A pericardial stripping is when a cardiac surgeon chips the thickened and hardened lining off a beating heart. It’s extremely dangerous. We were told the mortality rate, morbidity rate, and success rate were all equal. We weren’t offered a lot of hope.

And yet, God gave us His peace that day. And every day since Rev has written the Bonus Day number on the calendar as a reminder to celebrate and LIVE.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad today!
Psalm 118:@4

When we are busy treating today like the gift, the bonus, it is … well, it helps us to live intentionally. And intentional living focuses on now, refusing to dwell on the past or on the future.

2. Take every thought captive . . . purposefully reject guilt and worry.

I once read about a great idea that can help me seal today off from yesterday and tomorrow.

It’s called…

Living in an airlock space.

Imagine as you walk into today that the door to yesterday is closing behind you and you can’t open the door in front of you until it’s time to move into tomorrow.

Enter the airlock space with thanksgiving and leave it with repentance. No guilt and no worry.

I’m pretty sure, that’s downright Biblical…

So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

3. Do only what you are able to do today.

When is the last time you were able to accomplish everything on your to-do list?

Our lives are loaded with expectations. Some our own … many added by others. We have spouses, children, bosses, and friends we want to please. We’re serving and volunteering and…

It’s impossible to get it all done.

So, remember to manage each day with grace.

It’s okay to say “no.” It’s okay to set priorities. In fact, it’s not only okay, it’s God’s will. You absolutely cannot do everything for everyone. So, spend time with God and your planner. Pray and ask Him to help you manage your time according to His plans and purposes for you.

You may find that it’s time for you to say “no” to some good things so you can fully say “yes” to the most important things.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2

4. Trust God to meet your needs today.

Have you read the Bible account lately of the way God provided food for the Israelites in the Wilderness?

In the morning, as the dew evaporated, manna was left on the ground. And the people were to trust God by gathering just enough to eat that day. If they saved it overnight it smelled bad and was full of worms. (Exodus 16)

One day at a time … just enough. With the exception of Fridays, when they were told to gather enough for the Saturday Sabbath so they could rest as God commanded.

I love that!

God is able to meet today’s needs. And He will even meet them in ways that make it possible for us to take a Sabbath rest if we trust Him.

I often sense Jesus whispering,

“Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”
Matthew 8:26

And it’s impossible to have peace when my “little faith” doubts His ability to meet my needs.

But He also says…

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
Luke 12:31

And…

Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds.
Matthew 6:26

5. Just breathe. Breathe in His peace and breathe out the peace robbers.

I have a dear one who often takes a deep breath and says, “In with the butterflies out with the bees.”

Great visual right?

When the moment is difficult and I’m tempted to make it worse by adding the past and the future, I just have to stop and breathe.

Breathe out frustration, worry, anxiety, guilt, and overwhelm … and breathe in God’s gift of peace by…

remembering His past faithfulness and provision.
clinging His promises.
running to Him in prayer.

When I remember all God has done for me in the past; when I lean on His promises to care for me today and in the future; and when I surrender every anxious thought to Him in prayer … I have everything I need to know He will help me experience His peace through this moment as well.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:3

I’ll admit it…

It’s hard to live one day at a time.

It’s hard to let go of yesterday and refuse to worry about tomorrow?

Especially for those of us who are naturally anxious.

But the truth is…

Like it or not, life is lived moment by moment. One day at a time.

So, it’s up to you and me whether we will live one day at a time moments with peace or sacrifice them to on the altar of regret and worry.

The choice is ours.

Steve Maraboli said:

“Although time seems to fly, it never travels faster than one day at a time. Each day is a new opportunity to live your life to the fullest. In each waking day, you will find scores of blessings and opportunities for positive change. Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the unchangeable past or the indefinite future! Today is a new day!”

So will you join me?

Let’s…

Celebrate today like it’s a bonus day.
Take every peace-robbing thought captive and surrender it to God.
Do what we are able to do today.
Trust God to meet this day’s needs.
And breathe in His peace.

We can do this! You and I can live one day at a time with God’s help.

And finally, here’s one more question that gives me perspective…

Will this matter a year from now?

It’s surprising how often the answer is, “no!” And if that’s the case, it’s not worth what it’s costing me in peace.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

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I’m asking God to bless you today!

God says “no.”

Now what?

What are you supposed to do when you feel like God is the One who allowed your broken heart?

It is your heart’s desire.

And the Bible says,…

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.
Psalm 37:4

But for reasons beyond your ability to understand . . . God says “no.”

You’ve been good. You’ve tried to obey His commands. Maybe you’ve even dedicated your life to serving Him in ministry.

But He still seems to be saying “no.”

And in your quiet moments when and you’re being honest, you think … it’s not fair!

If you’re like me (at least me before I learned it’s better, no it’s best, to trust God’s perfect love) you’ll start by praying over and over again.

Asking, Pleading. Crying.

Then you’ll whine and complain like a child trying to get a parent to soften and give in.

But it’s taking so long. You’re still sick. Still single. Still longing for a child, a job, a home, a _________.

You look around and people who don’t even seem appreciative have that something you’re longing for, and you find yourself giving in to jealousy, tantrums, and anger.

This may be your story.

It’s mine. I wanted what I wanted and God’s ‘no’ was simply unacceptable.

And I’m ashamed to tell you, that like a spoiled child, I took things into my own hands refusing to wait on God’s will and timing.

I’ve learned that is not in any way … a good idea!

By God’s grace, He patiently allowed me to live the consequences of my choice and then He showed me a better way and I’d like to tell you about it…

5 Things to Do ... When God Says “No” and Your Heart is Broken

1. Remember EVERYthing God allows is filtered through His love.

Love is God’s character. He cannot do anything outside of who He is.

You and I can trust Him. If He says “no” or “not now” He has a very good reason … even when it’s hard to understand.

God is love. God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.
1 John 4:8–9

2. Trust God’s goodness is in EVERYthing He allows.

His goal for you is your eternal good not our momentary happiness.

As hard as that is to understand at the moment … even when your longing is for something good, He never allows something that He is unable to use for the good of His children and for His glory.

You may never know how your circumstances and story might touch the eternal future of someone who is closely paying attention.

The Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together^[m for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:27–28

3. Know that God sees the end from the beginning and may be protecting you.

We make God too small. He is eternal. He knows your past and your future. He knows all the lives you will touch and He knows how best to bless you not just today but with eternity in mind.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:13

4. Do what you are able today and leave the rest to God.

Get up and focus on trusting God today. Ask God to give you peace and the ability to focus on your blessings.

Whew, that was hard for me! (In fact, that became the motivation behind my writing “Counting My Blessings.”)

Let me also add sometimes I still have to stop and have a good cry and honestly talk with God about my disappointment and sadness … that’s okay! He understands!

But … I’ve also learned to not allow myself to spend the day there. I give myself a set amount of time to cry and cry out, I give it to God, and then I get up, get busy, and live my life!

“Harness the power of today. Seize the blessings of today! Make something happen, enhance your life, make someone laugh, help a friend, love, love, love!” ~Steve Maraboli

5. Lean deep into God’s love through prayer and study of His Word.

Carry His promises close and trust, trust, trust.

Digging deep into God’s Word began my healing process. As I read through God’s Word and asked Him to strengthen me through His promises … everything began to change for me.

Trust became easier and other blessings became more obvious.

For the word of the Lord holds true,
and we can trust everything He does.
He loves whatever is just and good;
the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.
Psalm 33:4–5

[Tweet “I’m not going to tell you it will be easy. It won’t.”]

It’s easier to believe the lie…

“The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands” ~Martin Luther

But I believe today with everything in me … if God allows or “doesn’t” allow something in my life, He will give me the strength to endure.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10:13

I believe God is at work in my life through His grace and mercy and even when He allows something painful and difficult … I am confident He will give me whatever I need to trust Him one day at a time.

I believe He will do that for you, too!

Because faith gives the hope we need to trust His real and present love…

Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.
Hebrews 11:1