He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. – Revelation 21:4 NIV

When I sit and really think about what Heaven will truly be like, I can’t imagine the wonderful things we may see or experience. But even though it is a subject that often baffles me, it also is a great source of hope. The hardships and pains that we experience in this world will no longer be able to harm us, and we will finally arrive safely at our forever home.

One of the parts I have come to look forward to about finally getting to heaven is that our bodies will then be made new, healed, and free of pain. The past few years I’ve really been struggling with my health to the point of no longer being able to do certain things at a moment’s notice. I’ve spent countless nights wide awake and in pain. And quite a bit of time with multiple doctors.

I don’t mention these personal issues to get any kind of sympathy, but to give an example of one of the many reasons I look forward to the day we all get to join our Father. In an instant all of that pain and sickness will be gone. And even if I don’t get all the answers or a solution here on earth, I’ll be made new when that day comes.

So whatever you may be experiencing today – heartache, loss, or maybe you too have a chronic illness – Please know that one day these things will be no more. We are merely broken vessels passing through on our way to our Father’s house.

Reflection

1. What is the one reason you can’t wait to experience Heaven?

2. Take a moment and reflect on just how amazing those first moments will be once we arrive. How can you live in light of the hope we have in Heaven?

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray that You will help us to hold on to the hope of one day joining You in Heaven. We long for Your presence. Help us to remember that the pains of this life are only temporary and that You will never leave us or forsake us. In Jesus name, Amen.

*This post was first published on the Lane Of Roses blog here. You can find more daily devotions when you visit their site!

This is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.– Psalm 118:24

As I ponder all that lies ahead in the new year, I often find myself reflecting over the trials and triumphs of the previous. My favorite thing about a new year is that even if you’re still in the same place, it feels like a fresh start. After a bit of reflection of this past year, I’ve decided that my word for this year is joy.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a pattern in my life of being way too in my head during moments when I should be reveling in joy. I’ve seen my desire to be one step ahead, or to fix something in my life, start to overshadow all of the good. Instead of being fully present in those joyful moments, I’ve chosen to give into anxiety and fear about circumstances that I can’t even control.

I’ve found myself thinking, “If I can just get to this point by this age…” or “One day everything will fall into place and I can finally relax” and so on. Instead of being stuck drowning in a never-ending stream of thoughts that really are not helping anything, I want to embrace the present and rejoice in the joy that He freely gives us every day.

What God has been teaching me lately is to appreciate what I have and to find joy in those little everyday moments. While we may struggle, even daily, surely we can find one thing to find joy in. Even if it’s a simple as sipping your morning coffee, or taking your furry friend for a walk. I think sometimes we get so busy with stressors related to work, family, or other relationships, that we may miss out on what is right in front of us.

This year I want to embrace the little things instead of rushing past them to get to the next item on my to do list. I want to enjoy simplicity and be fully present in each moment, good or bad. I don’t want to continue to walk through my days in an almost dazed state. And each day He is showing me more and more little ways to find those simple joys in the present.

Reflection

1. What is one simple thing you can find joy in today?

2. How can you keep embracing the joy that He gives us when circumstances aren’t working out how you would like them to?

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray that You will help me to remember that Your mercies are new every morning. Help me to see all the wonderful joy and blessings in my life, even when I feel discouraged. I trust in Your plan today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

*First posted with Lane of Roses.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve often been referred to as “the weird quiet girl.” When I was younger, I really did think I was a complete freak show. I would often wonder why others seemed to almost effortlessly make friends or even keep a simple conversation going, while I, on the other hand, had a stomach that was in knots and had to overanalyze every single scenario before even answering a simple question. Honestly, sometimes it was easier to just not speak at all.

On the outside I may have appeared to be just shy or super awkward, but what many didn’t see was the war I had going on inside. When someone struggles with anxiety it’s not always visible. In many cases, too, if you know you have an anxiety disorder, you’ve found that it has become a topic that is almost too common to be a discussion in today’s society. It’s been over-generalized to the point that if you actually have the ugly, crippling kind of anxiety, people will write you off as just being overly sensitive. When in reality, having an anxiety attack is like being trapped in a room where all the air has been completely sucked out and you feel as though you are suffocating.

While some days are better than others, I honestly can’t remember a time I haven’t had to deal with the anxiety dragon rearing its ugly head in the most inopportune moments. As someone who has dealt with different forms of this for years, there are many ways I’ve tried to manage it. However, the only real one thing that has given me any bit of peace in this battle is spending time with the Lord and reminding myself of His truth.

Sometimes when you’re already in a panic mode it can be hard to find a breakthrough, but I’ve come to find that the more time I spend with Him, the more I’ve been able to redirect my thoughts. When you’re feeling that consumed by anxiety about a situation or even a person it can be so easy to believe the lie that you are alone. A lie that may make you lose sight of the fact that God is always with you.

When I was driving in my car randomly one day, I started thinking about my struggle with anxiety. I remember asking God when I could get myself together, when suddenly this popped into my head,

“The root of all of your anxiety is fear. Fear is not from the Lord.”

And just like that, it was like a little truth bomb went off.

Now, while I would love to say that I’ve been completely healed from all my anxiety-related issues, I haven’t. However, I am starting to find light in the darkness by reading His word and reminding myself of His truths when I feel anxiety beginning to cripple me. Below are 5 verses that I hope will help you find a bit of truth and peace in times when you have an anxious heart. Try meditating over these verses and see what He begins to reveal to you –

1. Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with his feathers and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” This is my absolute favorite verse. It is an awesome reminder that regardless of what happens, God had got you.

2. 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.” Sometimes all you really can do in a stressful situation is call out to God. He hears you girl!

3. 2 Timothy 1:7 “For the spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” If you are feeling fearful remind yourself that that spirit is not from God. You are an overcomer.

4. Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” Even when you can’t see a way out or if you feel stuck, God will bring you through it.

5. Psalm 23:6 “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” In his presence, you are never truly alone and His never-ending love is always with you regardless of what you may be thinking about yourself at the time.

Anxiety disorders can come in various forms and it’s important to me to let you know that if you suffer from any type of anxiety that you are not alone. It can be hard to drown out the noise sometimes, but I’ve finally discovered that reminding yourself of His truth daily is the best way to start.

If you are struggling with anxiety, depressions, or any other mental illnesses that you cannot seem to tackle on your own, please seek a professional medical health specialist.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1-800-273-8255

“I feel like I’m having an identity crisis in my mid-twenties,” I muttered to myself over my morning coffee.

As I started to think about this, all I could picture was the image of an empty cup. At first, I thought this was kind of odd, but as I sat there I started to understand that this was clearly a metaphor for my life. From there, I began to really contemplate what I’m filling up my “cup” with. Was I filling myself with truth or was I letting my mind get clouded up with the constant noise of the world around me? Whose voice was I truly listening to? Was it His, mine, or theirs?

After recently being pushed out of the company I was working for (and after my initial “why me God?!” mini-meltdown had passed), it started to occur to me that maybe I had been putting too much pride in my job title. In a matter of days, I went from being an account manager at a growing marketing company to a freelance writer. To be honest, I was completely terrified to tell anyone, including those closest to me, about my career change. What would they think of me? I immediately began to place their disappointed reactions on my shoulders before I had even told them what happened. However, when I actually did end up telling them, instead of them coming from a place of judgment and harsh words like I assumed during my initial freak-out, most came to me with truth and kindness.

Growing up I always prided myself on getting good grades and then when I got to college that pride turned into getting the degree.

We live in a society that is so achievement-driven, so it’s only fitting that with each passing year since graduating college, I have felt so much more of an emphasis to get my career together. I thought that if I could just accomplish this goal or get that promotion I would then really be doing something with my life – even if the job wasn’t the best fit for me. Deep down I believe it was because I wanted those who had doubted me to know that I had it all together; that I finally made it. I wanted to feel like someone was proud of me and to know that all of my hard work had finally paid off; when in reality I had the position, but lacked the purpose. Instead of pursuing all of the dreams that God placed on my heart, I let myself become convinced by the lie that this job was as good as it would get for me. I let this opportunity, which appeared really nice on the outside, distract me from the ultimate mission.

Take it from me, striving for this validation from a job title or a group of people will only leave you feeling empty and mentally drained. The only one who can who can truly fill our hearts (and cups) is the God who made us, chose us, and continues to love us despite our self-perceived shortcomings.

When things don’t go the way we may dream or plan, it can be scary. If you’re a planner like me, not knowing what is next is enough to prompt an anxiety attack or a sudden urge to dive into a pint of ice cream. When this uncertainty or fear hits, we should cry out to the only one who fully knows us because only He can bring us that sense of peace we so desperately long for when change comes. Having a relationship with God is knowing that even when you feel lost, left out, or unqualified you can always come home.

Looking back on everything that has happened over the past few months, I’m starting to see and believe that losing this position is part of an even bigger picture. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do,” so while I may have lost that particular position, I am choosing to focus on this fact: there is still good work left to do; and while it may have looked like a loss initially, He will use this for His glory in some way.

It’s usually during the in-between time where you’re coming out of one season of life and going into something new that you learn, develop and grow into the woman you were created to be. That’s where you will find your purpose. What I’ve come to realize is that your life’s purpose isn’t tied to one grand accomplishment or event, but all of the little moments in between. It’s in the way you pursue to know your creator and show his never-ending love, light and grace to those around you.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” While it may be difficult, I’m choosing to embrace this new season and keep pursuing His plan and purpose above my own.

It can be so easy to get wrapped up in a title, position or person that we may lose sight of what matters most. Our vision for our life often gets fogged up by what we fill it with, and you can’t pour from a cup that’s empty.

What are you filling your cup up with? Are you filling up your heart with His truth and promises, or are you filling yourself up with others’ opinions, thoughts and expectations for who you are or who you should be? What wonderful things could happen if we would stop being a generation living in the definition of our circumstance and choose to be women living a life defined by God? Let’s choose to be bold, fiery women who believe that His goodness is written in the beginning, middle and end of every season.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” – Proverbs 19:21

This was my first post with SoulScripts and I’m excited to share it here as well. If you are involved in an unhealthy relationship this one is for you.

Have you ever entered into a dating relationship without discussing the really hard stuff first? Coming to the conclusion a little late that you didn’t even have a chat with God about the intentionality of that relationship before it began? Yeah? Me too. I’ve been there.

I was in college when I met him. He told me everything I wanted to hear; it was different from any of my previous relationships. In the beginning our love was easy. He was kind and supportive, giving no hint of what the relationship would eventually become. Because of this, I would make excuses for him when things slowly started not adding up, or when he would take little digs at my faith. I was so completely wrapped up in what I thought was this great crazy love that I couldn’t see my way out. The last thing I wanted was to lose the person that had become my identity.

Looking back there were red flags I chose to ignore in order to keep the relationship going. I made myself believe that eventually everything would go back to the way it seemed in the beginning.

Here are a few examples of when it may be time to reevaluate:

1. He lies even when he doesn’t have to. It may not be a huge elaborate lie; in fact,  it may be “small”, so you ignore that uneasy feeling in your gut nagging you and trying to tell you that something is wrong. “Small” lies are LIES, and they’re not to be overlooked.

2. He belittles you and makes you feel small. He might criticize your appearance, friends, or even your chosen career path.

I remember one time in our relationship, I had shown up to his house after class without my full face of makeup on… and I was wearing sweats. In a disgusted tone, he told me that I “looked different” and abruptly walked away. Those kinds of comments made me eventually believe that I wasn’t worth love from anyone if I wasn’t hitting a certain male standard of outer beauty.

3. You’re not a priority in their life. If they can go weeks without talking to you, for no reason and don’t care to tell you why, then something is off.

4. They are kind and considerate one day, but want nothing to do with you the next. This constant play on your emotions leaves you stuck in a back and forth spiral, which eventually makes you start to believe that you must be crazy.

5. He wants you to compromise your physical boundaries. Just because someone is your boyfriend/significant other, that doesn’t make this okay.

Even with these red flags and when our relationship began to fall apart, I felt like God wasn’t listening. I kept praying and praying and praying. Praying that our relationship would work out and that he’d shape him into the man I knew he could be for me. I didn’t feel like I could pray for God’s will because I couldn’t see past mine. Instead of letting go and giving this relationship over to God, I kept fighting, completely losing myself in the process, and molding into who this guy wanted me to be instead of who God says I am.

What I didn’t realize was that instead of praying, in a way, I was actually begging. Pleading with God for what I thought was the best for my own life. At the time, I didn’t fully understand that I was too captivated by my own vision, I never truly saw His.

Over the next few years of constant back and forth, and trying to rebuild everything that went wrong on my own, I was so exhausted. There had to be a better way than how I was living!

It took me a long time to realize that God always hears our prayers – He just may not answer in the way we expect. I had to be completely broken by this relationship in order to learn how to listen for the whisper of His voice.

I was so mad at God during this season of my life. I couldn’t see that there was a purpose to it all; that God was with me the entire time. Now, I can see that the loss (breakup) of that person was really God’s protection over me.

It’s hard to let go of someone once you’ve invested so much time and energy into them, but in my experience, if the relationship isn’t Christ-centered you’ll continue to find yourself at odds with each other, even over the smallest of things.

Every time I’ve thought I was taking a major loss in some area of my life, it turned into some form of gain; whether that’s by having a newfound wisdom, or a new blessing in disguise. For example, if I’d kept going back to that same relationship, I would have never met the wonderful, godly man that I’m dating now and discover what it means to truly be in a healthy, supportive, well-balanced, loving relationship.

If you’re in an unhealthy relationship with someone who is constantly cutting you down, I pray that you’ll ask God to direct your heart and relationship. If you’ve experienced any of those red flags I mentioned earlier, it’s time to surrender this relationship to the Lord and ask Him what to do, what’s next, and where to go from here.

Ask yourself: is there something I need to let go of that’s holding me back from pursuing a real relationship with God and trusting in His plan for my life?

It doesn’t have to be the negative one-sided relationship like mine was. Maybe it’s a relationship with a friend, family member, or a negative work environment. Whatever hardship you may be going through, I want you to know that His plan and will for our lives will always be far more valuable than we’d ever expect.

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good spirit lead me on level ground.” – Psalm 143:10

You can find the original post here.

Happy Monday everyone!