Staying focused sounds okay in theory, but what about in reality? In reality, there's always a storm raging, and it's loud.
I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced a violent storm at least once in their life, even if this may look quite different on the surface. And I was privileged to meet several people in my life, from different countries and social classes.
I assume that you have already seen one or the other, where everything is always happy clappy, and you have often wondered how that can be.
You probably know the saying, "All that glitters is not gold"?
It's true in this area as well.
But let me give you a virtual pat on the back for standing your ground against the storms in your life and not giving up!
I am proud of you!
Allow me to illustrate you two examples? Thank you :)
I do this figuratively and divide people into two groups, namely non-believing people and believing people.
They live under the same conditions - they live here on planet earth - they need finances to make a living, and the physical and they need food to supply the body with energy.
(Short digression: faithful does not mean religious! Religion is primarily bound to rules, but faith has a relationship with Jesus. But more about that in another post)
First, let's look at the non-believing population.
They need to earn money to pay bills, eat and drink regularly to give the body energy, and of course sleep a few hours.
However, this group believes that they must do this on their own. They must make every effort to always have a job or to find a job themselves, because otherwise no one will provide for them. So far, everything is logically explicable.
It must provide food by its own strength - to broaden the spectrum we take not only food for the body, but also mental food.
It must find a restful and good sleep by its own power. For these last two points nowadays people like to use meditation or positive affirmations. You see it there too, you have to get it out of yourself.
This all sounds very exhausting, doesn't it?
You have to pull yourself out of the swamp by your own hair, so to speak.
This population carries the responsibility of the whole world on its own shoulders!
Time to look at the believing population.
She also has to work to earn money. (Should you believe in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we need to have a serious talk about the original meaning of the rainbow!) But they know that the One who provides for them is the Almighty and has a good plan in mind for them.
If they should lose their jobs, they may trust that Yahweh Jireh (* The God who provides) will guide them to the next. Believers also have to write applications and look for a job. The difference, however, is that they trust that God will do everything necessary to make their efforts bear fruit and lead them to where He has planned them to be. Even though this (usually) comes with an expiration date. They may listen to his voice, he will provide.
Have you not also experienced the situation in which you said, that had to come so or that you met "XY", had to be so?
I do not believe in coincidences, only in fates and these do not come from the "universe" but are guided by God.
To take up the broader spectrum here as well, it provides food for the body as well as food for the mind. Food is also paid for with money, and food for the spirit is fetched from books, podcasts and so on. The difference, however, lies in Matthew 7:7 where it says: "Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you" (AMP) In concrete terms, this means that everyone may turn to God when they lack something, and do not have to somehow manage it on their own.
Just imagine how good it is to sleep knowing that you don't have to do everything yourself, but have someone you can always turn to?
That takes some of the pressure off, doesn't it?
He wants to take off your burden and mine. The only problem with that, often we don't like to let go of our burden. We are so used to clinging to it that it feels far too familiar to let go of it, and reaching out proverbially into the unknown frightens us.
Let's imagine that a child is carrying a heavy bag, a heavy backpack or anything else heavy. Wouldn't the first impulse be to take the heavy load off that child?
This is exactly how it is with God.
He already has a wonderful plan for everything and is waiting for us to be ready to accept it. It is not His plan that we ourselves toil with burdens that actually do not belong to our "area of responsibility".
We may hand over our burdens and worries to him without a guilty conscience. He has the capacity to carry this, we are not made for it.
But God is a gentleman, he always gives us chances without pushing us. We just have to be aware, one day it will be too late.
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Become aware that you have nothing in your hands, even if we live in a supposedly "safe" country.
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From one second to the other everything can be over, your whole life can be turned upside down.
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Why not trust the one who created everything?