Looking on things of others....

Phil. 2:14- Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

 Ever have one of those days where you are just overwhelmed at some issue you are dealing with?  It always seems to be the same time that someone else calls you and tells you some issue they are dealing with.  That is when we react as any human would, and in our minds think ' you really don't what hard is, you should walk in my shoes for a day!'.  Before we know it we have enclosed ourselves in our little bubble and get the 'woe is me ',  'no one understand', or the ' I am better/stronger than you because of what I am dealing with' complex. But in truth our problems are only a matter of perspective.

Our life circumstance only seems so big because we are the ones right next to them. I have caught myself sometimes getting angry and frustrated at people for not feeling as bad for me as I felt for myself. But we all have our own burdens to bear.

That is when the verse in Philippians really struck home to me. God brought it to my remembrance that I needed to stop looking at myself and start doing as I need to and look to other people with the same compassion I expected.  To truly be the woman, wife, and mother I need to be...I knew I needed to stop looking at my problems and start helping others bear theirs.

Yes, my husband is deployed. Yes, I am raising our baby girl right now virtually alone. Yes, I am half a world away from my home, and there are a million stresses going on that I can't even start to number.  But do I not have a healthy baby girl? Do I not have a husband who loves me and is doing everything he can to take care of me? Am I not able to spend quality time with family that I didn't think I would get to see for a very long time? Yes, I do. My blessings are uncountable.

My heart breaks for the families who will never know the joy of seeing their soldiers again. For the family who have lost a 3 year old little girl in a tragic accident. For the families torn apart by sin, and slowly starting to repair. For the girl who's heart has been broken countless times and still manages to make it on her feet again. The one who is still waiting....
Those who's womb's are still empty, and those who are saying goodbye to a husband for the first time. Those who are jobless and not knowing of any money coming in...

Once my eyes were taken off the situation I am in and looked upon what was going on around me, my problems didn't seem like so much of a giant anymore.

 God gives us what He knows we can handle, and adds a little more so we can learn to lean on Him. But in our problems God knew we would by nature lose perspective on reality of a situation, and that is why He told us to " Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

Trials and Heartaches

Life never quite goes how you think it should.  A lot of times you can be sailing along smoothly and then out of nowhere hit a bump in the road. Sometimes they are small little hiccups, and other times there are canyon size bumps and holes that we have to try to pick ourselves up and make it through. Those are the ones that knock the breath out of us, sideswipe us, and leave us there to dry.
This is when many times we like to look up and shake our fists at God, saying "WHY ME?!"  "WHY THIS?!" "WHY NOW?!" and "WHY DID YOU ALLOW IT!".  In truth, God does sometimes allow things to come into our lives to help us to learn to lean on Him, and to teach us things. But other things are brought on by sin, and man's bad choices. 
How you deal with the situation life has handed you is what defines you and helps you grow as a person and in the Lord.  It is so easy to drop down and pull a bubble around yourself and start to feel sorry for yourself, but that is just the start on the road to bitterness. Bitterness, irregardless  of the situation, only harms the person harboring it.
Bitterness is the most infectious cancer of the soul.
We must realize that sometimes the situation we are in is not what God had planned. Because of some action of a person, or a personal choice you made, you are in what you are in. God is not to be blamed, but to be called upon to help carry what you have to bear. When you feel the bitterness and the anger creeping into your soul and thoughts, don't embrace them; turn your back.
God may not have WILLED this situation into your life, but He can make it WORK OUT for His glory and for our good.
Trials and heartaches come and go, and some situations take longer to heal from than others. But God knows what you are going through, and what it is going to take to help you make it through.
Let Him help you pick up the pieces.
 Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Many days I've prayed for You/ to take this all away/
But it seems to not be easing Lord/ I don't understand why it's this way/
It's taking so long for my prayers to be answered/ So I cling to the hope that you promised me/
To give me an expected end/ Lord help me hold strong til that day

So let the rain fall on my broken heart/
Let the lightening and thunder roll/ onto my soul/
I have no fear for You are near/ and give me strength to stand/
With Your grace alone and on the Rock/
I will not be moved.


- Amber