If you have been reading my blog Una or my blog in Spanish Una Leona, you know I have been going through a difficult time. I was placed in such uncomfortable situations that I began to question if God really had my back. I questioned this only to realize He really does. I think the most important thing I could tell you is to never ever make decisions out of your emotions. Make decisions out of what the Holy Spirit is saying.
So how do you get through a rough time? No matter what it is, the things I wrote below are to be a constant in your life. They will get you through the roughest trials you could ever face.
1) Worship
You close your eyes. You look up to heaven. You begin to worship the wonder and majesty of Almighty God. Your heart and mind realize how wonderful, powerful and amazing He is. Truly nothing could ever compare to Him. You see His greatness and everything else seems so minuscule before Him.
So, why do you worship? You worship because your mind and heart need to come into alignment with the greatness of God. You worship because your problems and dilemmas are small before Him. Your heart, mind and spirit shift in the midst of worship. You need to worship.
2) Pray at all times
The more you pray, the less time you have to overthink. When our minds and emotions are shaken, we tend to think a million things at a time. It is better to talk to God and take the counsel of God rather than your own counsel. Many times, we can get into panic mode or become incredibly sad through our own thoughts and emotions. We allow the enemy to lie to us in the weakest areas of our lives. So, we need to pray. We need to seek the face and counsel of God. We need to trust Him even when it doesn't make sense.
For me, it seems like God is always taking me through the most uncomfortable situations. It's easier to shut Him out and not talk to Him. The truth is, I don't understand what He is doing, but I don't have to understand. I need to have faith and trust Him. I need to continue talking to Him and believing that whatever He is doing, He is doing it for my own good.
3) Journal
When you write, you can put all of your feelings and thoughts on paper as opposed to replaying them in your head. Journaling and praying frees you from overthinking and overanalyzing. It is also good to be able to read your own thoughts. Sometimes you don't realize how absurd your thoughts are until you put them on paper.
Journaling is a big release for me. It helps me put my rawest thoughts and emotions on paper. It also allows me to be honest with myself and with God. Sometimes we need to process our thoughts and emotions through the pen and paper to get to the root of things. God has used and continues to use writing to deliver us from many strongholds. If you are not sure about this, read the Psalms David wrote.
4) Listen
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Something amazing happens in the stillness when we shut out our voices and just listen to God. Listening to Him is the best thing we can do in any situation. He always knows what to say and how to say it. He calms us down. He gives us hope. He affirms us. It is a blessing to listen God Almighty. He tells us what we need to hear when we need to hear it. He is patient. He is loving. He is the Best Counselor.
If you want to listen to someone, listen to God. His wisdom surpasses our own, so even when He makes the smallest statement, He speaks volumes. God is always telling us something. He is always trying to get our attention. He wants to speak to us about who He is. He wants to show us who we are in Him and who we are together in the midst of our circumstances. He knows it all. He knew what we were going to go through before we did, and He knows what happens next. Listen to God. He knows what He is doing.
So, this is how you get through a difficult time victoriously. The truth is, we always need to live lives of worship, prayer, journaling and listening. You should also know that these disciplines take different forms. Worship and prayer entail reading the Word as well. I didn't want to make a category for it because we tend to think of reading the Word as we read a book. But when we read the Word, we're worshiping, we're praying and we are listening. We are also filling our minds with God's thoughts instead of our own.
No matter what you are going through, continue to worship, pray at all times, journal and listen. Seek God's counsel and fill yourself with His Word, thoughts and presence. You will walk through and walk out victoriously.
