Habakkuk 3:17-19  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.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

Have you ever felt as though you are just barely surviving your days because of everything going on in your life?  Do you feel as though one more thing could just shove you right over the edge?  When you feel like that you are trying to walk in your own strength.  I totally get it!  Somedays I feel as though if just one more heartache or stress were piled on to my day, I wouldn’t know how to handle it and that is when I know……. that’s the problem, I am trying to handle it all instead of relying on God’s strength and trusting Him.  

We are all going to have a “few” days like that here on earth.  We live in an imperfect world and bad stuff happens!  Seriously the only way to get to the other side of it all and to have God’s peace is to allow Him to be your strength.  We need to trust Him more!  That is difficult I know when your heart is overwhelmed.  God sees your heart and He knows the tears you have cried and He wants to be your strength!  He wants to carry you through.  I have to admit that there are times when I write things like this and wonder what is coming my way and “can I handle it” and then I have to remind myself of everything I just wrote to you!  Life can be tough, but you were never meant to go it alone!

Maybe right now, this isn’t your situation ~ fantastic! Treasure this time to grow and serve.  God loves to see you on the mountaintops of life!  Draw close to Him and enjoy learning from Him there as well!  There’s always more we can learn from Him and about Him!  I would also encourage you to take a look around and see if there isn’t someone you can be a blessing to that is going through a really hard time right now in life.  Is there some little thing you could do to be His hands and feet?  Maybe that young couple or single parent you see could use a gift card to a local restaurant so they can have a night out without the kids, if you know them well enough, maybe you can even offer to watch their kids while they go out and just have a couple of hours to regroup alone.  Maybe that elderly lady in your church who lost her husband could use a beautiful bouquet of flowers to brighten her day.  Maybe you could find someone who would be willing to mow that single woman’s lawn this summer!  (Until you have done it, you have no idea what it is like to be a single Mom, juggling a full-time job or 2, and have children to care for, as well as a house, and a yard! Ugh!)  You will feel even more blessed yourself when you reach out to show His love to those around you!

Let’s choose to bless the Lord in all that we say and do today, whether we are needing to just trust Him more and rely on His strength or we are to be looking for others that we can help lighten their load by being Jesus hands and feet!  The best is yet to come but we need to walk it out with Him and together!

Quote: “Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.” ~ J. Philip Everson