Friday, May 5, 2017

Word of Encouragement: Counselor’s Corner: Cast your Cares on God


I have been having difficulty falling asleep at night. I am waking up tired and feeling unrested. The Lord brought to my attention that I am carrying many heavy burdens. Over the recent weeks it seems the enemy has done his best at dumping piles of garbage on me. I was okay with the first load he dumped on me, but then the loads become more frequent and heavier, pretty soon I was feeling weighted down. I did not mean for this to happen, but if we are not careful we can be caught off guard and entrapped by the snare of the enemy.

Have you ever had one of those days, weeks or even months where it just seems to be one thing after another? Pretty soon it can feel as if we are drowning in a sea of trouble. This is exactly what the enemy wants! When we begin to feel burdened, heavy, or weighted down by troubles; you can rest assure it is the enemy behind it. If we feel uneasy, restless or have waves of anxiety we are being bombarded with tactics from the enemy to keep us from God’s prefect peace. We cannot have peace if we are under constant fear. The enemy will bring worst case scenarios to our minds and he often uses people to bring bad reports to us. Has anyone ever dumped on you their garbage and you leave feeling just as burdened as they were? This is a disguise by the enemy to use someone else to elicit fear into our souls. Other times we can just be burdened by carrying life’s pain and difficult circumstances.

Are we supposed to carry others burdens? No, if we do we are surely going to experience waves of anxiety, stress, and fear. We will also become physically sick if we carry burdens that we were not meant to carry. I know that you may be thinking, I can’t help carrying the burdens of others. If other people hurt, I hurt too! If others suffer than I cannot enjoy my life either. There is a difference in having compassion for others and CARRYING their burdens. We can have compassion for others by praying for them, listening to them, and intervening ONLY as the Holy Spirit directs.

Sometimes we can have a false sense of responsibility for others, this is usually seen in individuals who have come from a family where they had to take the lead or be the responsible one. We can have a false sense of taking care of others, and believe we are responsible for ALL other’s needs. Just because a need is presented to us does not mean it is ours to pick up. You will know when the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something for someone else, it NEVER will be forced, manipulated, or because of any guilt. If you ever hear thoughts like, “You should be doing that or if you don’t help no one else will,” that is the enemy directing you. God directs and leads with gentle promptings or a peace that you will get. You will never have to figure out how to help someone if God is directing, because He will show you.

Rest and let go of ALL that you are carrying that has caused you to be downcast. If you have not been experiencing God’s joy and His peace, ask yourself what you are carrying that has become a heavy load? What do you need to drop off at the feet of Jesus so that you can feel light again? Perhaps it’s the cares of your family, sickness, or a prodigal child. Whatever it is, we were never meant to be in a continually state of heaviness.

What are you carrying that you need to leave at Jesus’ feet?

Cast you cares on God and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Word of Encouragement from the Counselor’s Corner: Change Your Perspective


If you have endured a long season of hardships and setbacks, you may have already come to realize the circumstances in your life may not change but your perspective about them can.

A definition of perspective is a particular attitude or way or regarding something. Changing your perspective can change your attitude. How you react to your circumstances is largely based on how you perceive your circumstances.

Optimism is a choice! Being optimistic or pessimistic is something you become through your perspective of experiences. How can two different people experience the same set of circumstances and one chooses to look at the “glass half full” and the other person chooses to see the “glass half empty?” CHOICE. You can CHOOSE to play the victim, and believe if you just did not have this or that in your life your life could be so much easier. You can CHOOSE to blame others for your hardships. Or you can CHOOSE to take full responsibility for your life and stop blaming others for your circumstances. Flip every difficult circumstance in your life to see what is good and if you can’t see any good in your situation then began to thank God for how He is going to cause good to come from the bad in your life (Romans 8:28).

Be mindful how you speak about your circumstances. The words you speak will have a huge impact on your attitude, not to mention speaking out how you feel can give the enemy an open door to bring more trouble into your life. Retrain your thoughts and eventually you will rewire your brain. If you are not used to speaking faith and positivity over your difficulties, retraining your brain can seem foreign but watch and see how much better you begin to feel when you do!

Reflect or journal: What are you saying about your challenging circumstances? What or who in your life is causing you unrest? What is your attitude toward that circumstance or person? How could trusting God more in these situations alter your attitude or perspective?

Sometimes our trials can change for the better and other times we change how we begin to look at them. Perhaps you are a black and white think, either your situations are all bad or they are all good but what if you began not to just see the bad in a situation but the good?

Inner peace that comes from God does not have to reflect our outward conditions. If you are a child of God, peace can be with you at all times and everywhere! Accepting your life brings inner harmony. Be wise to know what you can change in your life and what you cannot, and accept what you can’t.

Change your focus. If your circumstances are beginning to pile up and you can’t seem to make any sense of anything, do something else. Take a mental break from thinking about your problems, and plug into something that is refreshing.

Changing your perspective about your difficult situations can cause you to have more peace, joy, contentment and improve your physical health.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Word of Encouragement from the Counselor’s Corner: Be Still as God Fights Your Battles


When we are facing trials our instinct can be to try and figure out how to solve our problems. If you are a natural problem solver like I am it can be most difficult to be still because in our minds “do nothing” as problems surround us may seem impossible. A natural problem solver wants to solve their problem quickly. Problems have solutions, so problems that seem to have no solutions are terribly upsetting to the problem solver. Resting and waiting on God to intervene in our problems can be frustrating to someone who is a natural fixer. Many times we believe God is slow in acting, or perhaps we believe we have a better solution than God so we go ahead and forge ahead with our plan.

When we wait on God He promises to renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31).

Take time to separate from all that distracts you and be still before God. Don’t have your agenda or your plans on how you think God should intervene, but sit quietly before the Lord and listen for His still, small voice. Get to a place that is quiet-your sanctuary where there is quiet. Begin to rest your mind and hand over your cares and worries.

To be calm does not mean that the storm is not around you, it means the storm is no longer with you. You can have peace in your storm. The storms may rage all around you but you are free from the effects of them. Your storms no longer trouble you because you know who you have trusted in the midst of your storms.

When conflicts come and they will, we can remain untroubled by them, at that point we can say we have truly experienced abiding peace. Peace does not have to come only when all your circumstances are great, but peace can come right in the middle of your storm. When we approach trials in our lives in a calm manner we can step back and see the bigger picture and keep a much better perspective in the situation that at the time may seem like it will drown you. Not only can we keep a calm mind during stormy seasons in our lives, but when we remain serene and composed it can help calm the fears of those around us.


We just need to be still and let God fight the battles for us. Being still does not mean excessive analyzing your problem, worrying, or trying to find solutions to your problems. If you have a problem and you have prayed and no answers seem to be coming your way, stop trying to figure out how to get your problem solved. Could it be God is working on your problem and needs you to step aside? 

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