Life is like a roller coaster. Some times it’s thrilling and fun and other times you yell out, “Get me off! I am so done with (whatever you are facing).” Some days, you ride along where the track is smooth and even, uneventful. Then there are days where you wish the hills would stop coming, up and down, up and down you go. You don’t see an end in sight.
I have days like this, too many it seems, where my feelings and emotions run wild and free causing my roller coaster to not only have hills but loops and corkscrews to twist me around where I become exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. When this happens, I lose my focus.
Thankfully, God has taught me while I am riding out of control, to look up and know that He is with me. He has the uncanny way of smoothing out my ride so I can face what lies before me. God has also taught me that when I go to Him, He redirects my focus.
I receive immediate relief from the God that loves me!
My circumstances may not change, but my heart changes when I am in His presence. When I seek His face within the pages of His Living Word, and as I talk with Him openly, I receive immediate relief. He clears the congestion of swirling thoughts and emotions running rampant. Basically, God settles my soul. He settles me so I can think straight. He gives me clarity in what I am seeing and hearing.
God answers me.
The things that I face may not have changed, but I have changed. A calmness, a peace, an acceptance of His divine will takes over for God recharges my soul with His everlasting hope. He redirects me. He reprioritizes what is important in life.
I find that I can breathe again. The hills that I experience don’t punch me in the gut or cause me to flail around chaotically. I can ride level-headed. God helps me to feel sane once again. It’s amazing how a simple thing like looking up and asking God to reveal Himself changes your whole countenance. This is because He is love.
In His love, He speaks to you. Just yesterday, I was emotionally drained. I asked God for some help. He gave me Psalm 34:17-20. God told me that He will deliver me out of my troubles and afflictions. Psalm 147:3 says that God heals and binds my wounds. How is He able to do this? In 1 Peter 2:24, we read, “By His wounds I have been healed.” God’s Son did the unthinkable. He left heaven to become like you and me, only to die and take on all the sins of mankind onto Himself so we may live. What an incredible love story.
In Exodus 14:13-14, God told me not be afraid. “Stand still, Carol, and watch Me rescue you today.” God fights for me. All I have to do is to stay calm (and trust Him). In Psalm 23:3, God restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. God even reminded me in James 1:5 that if I lack wisdom, which I do all the time, I can simply ask for He gives generously to all without reproach. God is not disappointed in me. He loves me.
Finally, in Psalm 30:11, God turns my mourning (and stressed out mindset) into dancing. He loosens my sackcloth and clothes me with gladness. Why does He do many wonderful things for me, as well as you when you seek God? Because God loves you and me with an everlasting love, a love where nothing can extinguish it. His love is eternal.
God’s deepest desire is for you to go to Him. He wants to walk with you, talk with you, and show you the way to abundant living. He cannot lead you when you are flailing along letting the twists and turns of life throw you off course. It is good to remember that you are not made to run your own ride.
You were made for more, much more. Go to God and receive immediate relief. Your roller coaster will be a much smoother ride where you will enjoy it for God will be with you, and by His grace you will come to the end of your ride, perfectly whole and redeemed.
Carol J German 