Time & Time Again

I constantly find myself getting caught up in hurt, worry, doubt, and stress of different things in life. The current season that I am in is very busy and at times overwhelming. Between student teaching full time, working on the weekends, and planning a wedding, I sometimes find myself stretched thin and feeling like I do not have time for prayer. However, this week, God has shown me the power of prayer throughout my day as well as fully relying on Him.

The majority of my teen years, I was consumed by what other's thought of me. I worried about whether people liked me or not. I truly doubted that people liked me for me. I found myself stressed and overwhelmed about how everyone else's actions made me feel. These are all things that I still struggle with, more so lately as life has gotten busier.

We hear in church and from others about how we need to give our struggles to God. But knowing something and doing it are two completely different things. This week, as I have struggled with these heavy feelings, I have been reminded of the peace that the Lord offers, if I would just give it over to Him. It is a daily submission to turn it over to Him. But I have found that on days where I have left my hurt, my worry, and my stress to Him, that no matter what happens that day, I feel more at peace. Every single time, He has given me the peace that I ask for and has walked with me.

I heard a quote the other day that said, "how precious our souls must be that both the Lord and the devil are chasing after them." Every day as things come my way, it is my decision to let myself get consumed by it or to turn it over to God. The Lord loves us and He wants to help us carry our struggles and our pain. The devil wants us to be consumed with hatred, bitterness, and pain. None of these things are fruit of the Spirit. If we only turn over our situations to the Lord through prayer, He will bless us with peace over it. He will walk with us through it. He is a loving Father who will help us carry our burdens.

Each day I have to wake up and choose who I will give my day over to. I have to be intentional about making time for prayer and I have to be intentional in my prayers. This is a lesson I wish I had understood in my teens because life would have been so much more peaceful had I been fully willing to hand it over to God rather than trying to handle the situations on my own. But all that I can do now is make that decision everyday from here forward. Time and time again, He has proven faithful so why would I doubt Him now when struggles come my way?