Comfort from God

Today I was reading in the Book of Psalms in the Bible. I have never actually read through the entire Old Testament (a goal I still want to achieve), but I found great comfort in the verses I read today from Psalm 18.

"I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."

"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."

"I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid."

"The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me."

"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" (Psalm 18:1-6, emphasis added).

I really loved the message of comfort and strength that these scriptures share. God can help us in so many ways.

He can be our rock to provide a solid foundation on which we can center our lives and build our families.

He can be our fortress to protect us and our families from evil influences of the world if we choose to stay with him. (After all, a fortress is no good to you if you're not inside it).

He can be our strength. When we feel like we have no energy, patience, or desire left, we can pray to him for the strength to continue. If we pray with real desire, he will increase our capacity to deal with our circumstances, even if our circumstances don't change.

We can trust him. If we're in a situation where we've been hurt by others or lied to, it's hard to trust those who have hurt us. But, it is a great comfort that we can always trust God. In the Bible it says that God "is the same, yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). He does not change, so we can trust and rely on him and the constancy of his love for us.

He is our high tower. In biblical times, fields were often guarded by men who stood in high towers because it gave them a greater perspective. They could warn others when they saw someone coming and be ready to protect the fields. In my life, there have been a lot of times where I feel stuck knee-deep in a mud puddle, overwhelmed with pressures of the world, family responsibilities, work, and the events of life. In these times, I try to remember that God has a broader, higher perspective of the purpose of my challenges and opportunities and where they will take me. Remembering that he knows more helps me have the courage to continue forward and have peace as I do.

I know that we can pray to the Lord in our distress. We don't have to be perfectly happy when we come to God in prayer. We can share our heartache, fears, sadness and frustration. He will always hear our voice and answer our prayers in his will and timing.

Whether you're a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim or a member of another faith, you can find great comfort in God's words. Pick up whatever your religious text is with the intent to find comfort from God, and he will answer you.

I'd love to know what some scriptures are that have brought you great comfort. Share them in the comments below, and remember God loves you!

Grateful for the Glass

Yesterday, I finished a wonderful book series called The Walk Series by Richard Paul Evans.

There are five books in the series, and they are written as if you are reading the diary of a man as he walks across America after losing everything in his life.

He meets a lot of interesting people on his walk and learns about forgiveness, hope, healing, love, and a lot of other things.

One young woman he meets particularly caught my attention because of one thing she said. As they walk together for a while, she explains how she has been in and out of foster care and is on her own now. She grew up in an abusive home and had a lot of challenges in her life.

Yet, as they talk and as he gets to know her, she is a very happy, hopeful person who prays in gratitude to God every night and comes up with a lot of ridiculously punny jokes. :)

The one thing she said that caught my attention was after she shares her story and Alan (the main character) says something along the lines of, "You're one of those people who sees the glass as half full, aren't you?"

She replies, "I'm just grateful for the glass."

Bam.

I don't know why this line was so powerful for me, but I had never thought about the glass of water analogy in that way before. What if, instead of looking at the glass and judging it as half full or half empty, we were just grateful that there is a glass to hold our water in?

I know I'm not alone in having challenges, and for me, this year has been a bumpy road where I've been tempted to see the glass has half empty or even totally empty. After reading The Walk Series, I gained a lot of insights including the importance of gratitude.

Regardless of how much water I have in my glass, I'm grateful to have a glass to put it in. A constant in my life I can always rely on.

You may disagree with what I'll say next, but as I thought about what the glass could be in my life, I came to the conclusion, that the glass represents my relationship with God.

I believe in a God who is my Father in Heaven and who is aware of all the challenges I face. He knows when I feel sadness, fear and heartache. He also knows when I feel happiness, joy, and healing.

God is always there for me regardless of what I've done or how I feel. Just like the glass is always there regardless of how much water is in it. God listens to my prayers and no matter what else is happening in my life, He is the one constant I can turn to.

I believe that God is also there for you. You might not believe in God, and you might feel like you don't have any water left; but, remember that there is someone who loves you and who is watching out for you.

*Note: All credit goes to Richard Paul Evans for the quotes I shared from his book.

Even Jesus Got Tired

If you're a mom like me, you probably find yourself wondering where all your energy went and why you're ready for bed at 2 p.m.

Maybe you're not a mom, but you still know what I'm talking about.

You may be a dad working two jobs to provide for your family.

You may be a student staying up late to keep your grades up and complete assignments.

You may be an involved community leader working to balance volunteering, events, work and family.

Or maybe you're all of these things combined.

Whatever your situation may be, life can be tiring. Any time we do something we use up energy, and it often seems like I don't have enough energy to do all the things that I like to do.

For me, it's struggling to find enough energy and time to care for my son and husband, study the scriptures, go to the temple, exercise, socialize, run errands, clean the house...you get the idea.

Now, I'm not blaming my circumstances for my lack of energy because I always have the choice to decide what I spend my time doing. No one is forcing me to take care of my son and husband or clean my house; I do the things I do because I choose to spend my energy in doing those things.

But sometimes, I get REALLY TIRED.

A few weeks ago, I had a day where I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and at the brink of tears.

I had the thought to read out of a book my mom got me before I had our son. Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorenson. She focuses on how the roles and responsibilities we fill as mothers relate to the roles and responsibilities Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.

What I read in that book was an answer to my prayers:

"Even Jesus Christ was weary at times. After He learned about the death of HIs beloved cousin, John the Baptist, Jesus sought solitude. 'When Jesus heard of it, He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart.' A mother of small children can understand that solitude is often hard to find. The people still 'followed him on foot out of the cities.' Jesus 'saw [the] great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them,' and He taught them and healed them. After awhile, His disciples tried to turn the crowd away, but Jesus said, 'They need not depart.' When we make the same concessions with our own children despite our weariness, the Savior will sustain us and send the Holy Ghost to consecrate our teachings for their good and for our strength."

Even Jesus Christ got tired as He went about teaching and doing good. He put others' needs before His own and served them which left His own desires for solitude and rest unmet. 

I'd never really thought of Jesus Christ getting tired, but it is comforting to me that He knows what it feels like to be tired after a long day of caring for others, working, studying, volunteering or whatever we do each day. I know that He is there to sustain and support me as I continue to follow His example of unselfish service.

I hope that this touched you in some way and gave you the courage to continue one day at a time and remember that the work you do to help others, in whatever capacity it may be, is important.