How We Cope

I am re-posting this as I have gotten a couple emails asking us this very question: "How do we cope with so much faith in difficult times?" This post answers that question. And for future reference, I corrected the link under "My Faith" above--so this post can always be located underneath. I hope you find it encouraging wherever you are in your life's path today! God bless you!

This post has been a long time coming, but now is as good of a time as any to write it.

From time to time I get messages from readers who want to know how we cope, how we get through, how we still smile with all that is on our plates.

The short answer is: our faith in Jesus Christ.

But you might be wondering, how does it help?

It helps because it's the Lord that strengthens me to deal with everything He allows us to have in our lives.

If you're like me, you're now wondering how He does that when we can't see Him or touch Him or physically hear Him speak to us...

One way is that He uses people, like all of you, along with all of my friends at church, and everyone in my family to speak words of encouragement. He uses them to serve us in our time of need. He uses them to make us laugh, to cry with us, and to love on us when we need it most.

We are the hands and feet of Jesus. If we are willing hands and feet, we will serve one another always, but particularly when it is needed.

He also strengthens me through songs of worship.  I LOVE music.  I thrive on it--I can't (or wouldn't want to!) ever live without it.  I downloaded hundreds of awesome worship songs onto our Nano and listen to it virtually all the time--when I do housework, when I work on my computer, when we do art, when I cook, etc..  My kids LOVE it just as much as I do and the words are a tremendous source of comfort as they remind me of God's love for me and for my family.

He also strengthens me through prayer and through reading His Word. When I read His word, He speaks to me. When I read my Jesus Calling devotional, when I listen to a message at church or on a Christian radio station, He speaks to my heart through His words that I read and hear.

When I pray throughout the day and night, I sometimes hear a whisper--not a whisper that anyone around me can hear, but a soft voice inside me that speaks right to my soul. When we chose to make Jesus Christ our personal Lord and Savior, His Holy Spirit enters our body--He directs us, teaches us, and nudges us to do what the Father wants us to do.

If you don't hear it, but know you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior--don't fret!  All you need to do is to ask the Lord to help you "hear" Him and be still.

These "whispers" comfort me; like a cool breeze on a warm day or a breath of fresh air. It enables me to keep putting one foot infront of another when I don't feel like going on any further.

Because His word is His primary of way of communicating with us, I write comforting Bible verses on note cards when our life is particularly difficult.

Like right now. I have several neurological conditions that are still being defined, and I struggle to not be scared and full of anxiety while I wait to find out what it will all be and how it will all turn out.

I can't live without fear in terrifying circumstances on my own strength or ability, I can only do it on the Lord's. So one way that I re-affirm His Words of Promise to me (to us) is to write them on notecards and post them all over my house. To see a list of the comforting Bible verses that I use, click here.

I have on my nightstand, one on my headboard, one on my bathroom mirror, one next to the toilet and another on the shower door; I have one on the kitchen cabinet that holds all our medicines, one on the refrigerator door, and another on the freezer door. I have another on the bulletin board in our kitchen, and one by the front door to our house. They are virtually "all over the place" as my son says.

Reading them reminds me that God is faithful to His promises to love, protect, and care for us; when I have a moment where panic begins to rise up in me, I recite the one I am closest to and my anxiety fades.

The last way that He strengthens me is through something I do at the end of each difficult day. When things are tough, I make a list of things I can rejoice in (and praise Him and thank Him for) that have to do with the very troubling thing that I am facing.

If I am having trouble with my health, rejoicing in the fact that I have children doesn't count for this exercise (though it's completely rational to be thankful for your children!).

Instead, it might go something like this:

"Lord, I am sad that my left arm and leg are weak and I am fearful of what is causing it--BUT-- Lord, I rejoice in the fact that you hear my prayers. That you love me. That even though I know that this body that I am in will eventually fail, my soul will never die. That I have great doctors, great medical insurance, access to medicines that I can buy and take--ones that help my symptoms...even though I wish I didn't have them. I rejoice in the amazing church family you have given me--they come around us and supports us in our time of need by transporting me from here to there, and delivering meals and groceries to my hungry family. I rejoice in the husband you gave me and that You strengthen Him to care for me in my times of need......"

Hopefully you get the idea! Doing this exercise at the end of each difficult day (or throughout the day as needed) gets my focus on what is right and good about my circumstances. It shifts my perspective from poor me to blessed me. It makes a ginormous difference in my attitude and it helps me obey Phillipians 4:4:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!".

I hope this post has encouraged you; most importantly I hope you learned at least one new way to use your faith in the Lord to get through trials and difficult circumstances--because Lord knows we all have and will continue to have them.

I will end with a lengthy list of all the encouraging and comforting Bible verses that I posted all over my house. Feel free to copy them for yourself!

Psalm 34:19 "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all."

Psalm 118:6, 19 "In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. . . . He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."

John 14:1, 27 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Psalm 46:1-2 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."

Psalm 46:3-4 "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?"

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."

Psalm 28:8-9 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."

Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He.......will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

2 Timothy 2:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self- discipline."

Isaiah 58:9 "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I."

Deutoronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 46:4 "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you; I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

Habakkuk 3:17-18 "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

Habbakuk 3:19 "The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Phillipians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Phillipians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Psalm 121:7-8 "The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore"

Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Psalm 42:11 "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God"

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

With Joy,