Tag: time

Barefoot Devotions

Faith Over Fear: Season One // Day Five

Hannah B.

Season One // Day Five

Pondering

Grief is a deeply painful emotion of human life. You are often left feeling emotionless with an empty blanket of space as you learn to navigate through the events life has placed before you. You grieve for many reasons, such as a loss of a loved one, a friendship, an animal, or a job. Grief is a normal and natural human response to the pain you are feeling. As you navigate through the different emotions, know that it is okay to grieve, you will grieve differently than others, and there is not a set limit on how long you will grieve. It’s an emotionally draining process that requires a closeness with God even in your anger. If you allow the emotions to sweep you into the empty blanket of space, you will be swallowed into a pit of despair. Your heart will become blinded by the darkness and the emptiness of emotions you are trying so desperately to escape. Jesus is calling you away from this path as he desires to be near to you during your time of need. You can rest assured knowing he is close to your broken heart.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near the broken hearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.

Praying

Heavenly Father, you know the depths of my grief and the raging emotions that are swallowing up my heart. Guide me with your sustaining hand as I am trying to work through this time in my life. I am drawing near to you as your word says, knowing you are close to me during my brokenness. I am placing my trust in you knowing that you have my best interests at heart and you will deliver me through this season of my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!

Practicing

  • Take your circumstances and your emotions that are swallowing you up and place them in the hands of God.
  • Go to him in prayer and tell him about your troubles and allow Him to work in your heart to change you, mold you, and shape you into the person you are supposed to be so that you are aligned with His will.
  • Ask Him to take the hurts and help you navigate through them and believe with confidence that He will. Thank Him in advance for doing this for you.
  • Fight through the emotions, the pain, and the discouragement and keep moving forward. Never look back unless you’re praising God for what He has done. 

 

Xoxo,

Hannah B.

P.S. I hope you are enjoying this series and learning to rise from ashes and blooming into your faith. It’s not easy. It’s a cycle and it gets better. We always have hope! It’s not too late to catch up on Day One through Day Four.  If you did enjoy reading this, please take the time to share on your social media feeds so that your friends can enjoy too. Be sure to find us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Barefoot Devotions // Faith Over Fear Series

Faith Over Fear: Day Five

Hannah B.

Season One // Day Five

Pondering

Grief is a deeply painful emotion of human life. You are often left feeling emotionless with an empty blanket of space as you learn to navigate through the events life has placed before you. You grieve for many reasons, such as a loss of a loved one, a friendship, an animal, or a job. Grief is a normal and natural human response to the pain you are feeling. As you navigate through the different emotions, know that it is okay to grieve, you will grieve differently than others, and there is not a set limit on how long you will grieve. It’s an emotionally draining process that requires a closeness with God even in your anger. If you allow the emotions to sweep you into the empty blanket of space, you will be swallowed into a pit of despair. Your heart will become blinded by the darkness and the emptiness of emotions you are trying so desperately to escape. Jesus is calling you away from this path as he desires to be near to you during your time of need. You can rest assured knowing he is close to your broken heart.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near the broken hearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.

Praying

Heavenly Father, you know the depths of my grief and the raging emotions that are swallowing up my heart. Guide me with your sustaining hand as I am trying to work through this time in my life. I am drawing near to you as your word says, knowing you are close to me during my brokenness. I am placing my trust in you knowing that you have my best interests at heart and you will deliver me through this season of my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!

Practicing

  • Take your circumstances and your emotions that are swallowing you up and place them in the hands of God.
  • Go to him in prayer and tell him about your troubles and allow Him to work in your heart to change you, mold you, and shape you into the person you are supposed to be so that you are aligned with His will.
  • Ask Him to take the hurts and help you navigate through them and believe with confidence that He will. Thank Him in advance for doing this for you.
  • Fight through the emotions, the pain, and the discouragement and keep moving forward. Never look back unless you’re praising God for what He has done. 

Xoxo,

Hannah B.

P.S. I hope you are enjoying this series and learning to rise from ashes and blooming into your faith. It’s not easy. It’s a cycle and it gets better. We always have hope! It’s not too late to catch up on Day One through Day Four.  If you did enjoy reading this, please take the time to share on your social media feeds so that your friends can enjoy too. Be sure to find us on Facebook and Instagram too!

The How To Series

How To Find Your Inner Mary

Hannah B.

The story of Mary and Martha is one that many women (and men) can relate to. I know I can. It’s something I have often struggled with and still do. My mind always seems to be thinking of all the endless house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and all the other tasks that need to be completed before the day is up.

It’s endless. You may get everything done for the today and you can finally sit down and enjoy a clean house but how long is it going to last? I know between my kids and my dog, it’s about 90 seconds. Then I am on repeat and throw my arms up and ask myself why I even bother. You find that you’re exhausted and any ounce of joy you had has vanished.

There is always something to do but what if we can make these tasks feel less like a burdened chore? What if we can have joy and peace throughout our day?

I know you are wondering, how do we do we find the balance between our inner Mary and Martha? Let’s take a look at the story found in Luke 10:38-42:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

Does this sound like you at times? Have you ever just wanted your family to help you with the dirty dishes in the sink or the piles of dirty clothes? I know that the endless housework, grocery shopping, taking kids to practice and games in addition to your 40 hour work week is so consuming that we often forget to take care of our self. We get too busy running from place to place, thing to thing and checking off each item on our to do list that we forget to breathe and stop and smell the roses.  We end up feeling overwhelmed, frazzled, and upset and when it’s all said and done we’ve been robbed of our joy.

Jesus himself said, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and, it will not be taken from her.”

So, what did Mary do? She stopped. She put aside all distractions even if the tasks at hand were not completed. She sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. Was Mary upset and worried? No, she chose what was best and allowed time to sit, be still, and listen to Jesus.

Have you ever noticed that when you do spend time with Jesus, reading your Bible and praying that the day just goes smoother? There may be an issue that arises but you are better equipped to handle what has been thrown your way and at the end of the day, everything sorts itself out with you worrying and fretting about it.

Jesus rewards us for being still and spending time with Him. He provides our hearts exactly what we need for the day ahead of us and allows us to smell the roses and taste His goodness. When you allow your inner Mary more time with the one who desires to spend time with you and wants what is best for you, He will give you joy and peace throughout your day.

The How To Steps:

  1. Set aside time in the morning to spend reading your Bible, praying, and talking to Jesus. It’s important to do this before your start your day doing anything else.
  2. Put aside any distractions.
  3. Read God’s word, Listen to Him and talk with Him.
  4. Be still and know that He is God.

When you allow your inner Mary more time with Jesus, our fleshly Martha ways become less frazzling and discouraging.  You are then refreshed and ready to conquer your day.

Even if it’s 15 minutes you will be refreshed and start growing in your relationship with Jesus. You will begin to see His goodness in your life, even the smallest details! You will desire more and more of Him and you will see that more joy has been placed in your heart.

Xoxo,

Hannah B.