
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.” 2 Corinthians 4:8
I love to hear and meditate on this Scripture, but I honestly don’t like to live it. I’m in a season now where I feel the pressure and I feel the forces fighting against me. It is great because I get to trust in God and see my faith put to the test, but at times I feel a desire for a break from the turbulence.
I’ve learned throughout my time in and out of rough seasons, how to pull on God and get the most out of it. Resting in a turbulent season sounds easier said than done and in many ways it is. But as you keep going, it will get better. Your situations will often change, and your strategies will shift or sometimes even remain the same to help you grow.
Find your Scriptures in advance
It is very hard to fight a battle while you’re already in the middle of it. One of the main things you should do in your Christian walk is to stay meditating in the Word ‘in season and out of season’. In other words, at all times-day in and day out. Here are a few scriptures that I personally love to remember during a tough time:
"The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him." Nahum 1:7
"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up: the flames will not consume you." Isaiah 43:2
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed" Psalms 34:18
"I will be your God throughout your lifetime- until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." Isaiah 46:4
Relax as much as possible
When I first heard and learned of relaxing in the Lord/relaxing in general, I thought that I needed to be in a physical state of rest in order to truly be relaxing. However, while relaxing can be physical, it also relates to your mind. If you are anxious, afraid, worried, angry, or overwhelmed, your mind is not relaxed. Your body is not relaxed and you are not relaxed in your situation.
When learning to relax, it is essentially like living out the scripture of casting your burdens upon the Lord. Many times we carry our burdens out in our head and we rehearse them over and over again until we become even more overwhelmed or so distracted that we can’t even sleep. But a relaxed heart, mind, body, and spirit is at peace and is not running rampant with thoughts of how things are going and how things are to come. Cast your burden on the Lord and focus on relaxing more in your mind, body, heart, soul and spirit.
Trust Him
It is very hard to remain relaxed in a turbulent season when you are so untrusting with how things will turn out. For me, I feel like I have had so many different things on my plate that making sure I was trusting Him was put on the back burner. I focused so much on trying to just make it through and to check off all the boxes that I needed to even when it came to spending time with God. I put so much on me and felt like if I didn’t succeed then I was a failure and a terrible steward of the things that God has given me. However, who am I to put my trust and the burdens of my “success” and “failure” into my hands. It is the Lord who has blessed us with all of the wonderful things that we have and doesn’t He know what we need to carry them through. Doesn’t He know that we are weak and are not able to bare the burdens that come with the things we have received or even desire. We serve a faithful God and He knows what we need before we even figure it out. He knew exactly where we would be before we even got into the current problems/turbulence that we are in now.
Trust in Him and have faith that He will not abandon you or leave you where you are to fail. He is faithful to see you through the work that He has begun in you. He is there in the midst with you. Trust in Him and allow Him to carry you through with His strength.
God Bless!
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