Struck Down But Not Destroyed (replay)

Struck Down, But Not Destroyed2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”I saw this verse written on a page in my book today and thought to myself, man if there was ever a time that we needed to hear this.  The world is crazy right now.  There is so much tragedy and pain.  It seems like it all keeps coming in waves.  It is like one thing after another.  Life seemed like maybe it was beginning to calm down a bit and then all the violence in Afghanistan and now the hurricane in Louisiana.  It seems to be nonstop these days.  If you watch the news a lot you can easily get overwhelmed and scared.  I think it is important to stay inform and I also think that we need to protect ourselves at the same time.  If you find that watching the news makes you anxious and fearful then maybe watch less of it.  You can be informed without having the news on 24 hours a day.  Remember that we are in charge of protecting our thoughts.  We get to decide what we allow to influence our mind.  There needs to be some balance between the craziness of the world and the grounding influence of God.  For instance, if you are watching an hour of the news, maybe watch an hour of something that makes you remember all is not bad.  Maybe listen to a podcast or read a spiritual book.  Anyway, back to this scripture.  It does seem right now like we are “hard pressed on every side.”  It seems like bad things are coming at us from all sides.  Like in those movies when the walls start closing in and the room gets smaller and smaller.  Life can often feel like that.  It can be hard to breathe sometimes because we feel squeezed on all sides.  It is important to remember when we feel like this that although we feel pressed, we are not crushed.  We are still here, the trouble has not gotten the better of us.  God will not let that happen.  He may let us fall down with the weight of it all, but he will not let is crush us and he will be there to pick us back up again if we do fall.  The next part says perplexed, but not in despair.  I don’t think there is a single person in the world, or at least in this country that is not perplexed right now.  Trying to understand what is going on in the world right now leaves us all confused.  A global pandemic, how does that happen?  Why does that happen?  All the systemic racism in this country, how did we let that happen?  How do we begin to change it?  Why all the natural disasters, the wild fires, the hurricanes & earthquakes, the flooding?  What is going on in this world?  Although this is all very confusing, hopefully we are not in despair.  What is despair?  Despair is the complete loss or absence of hope.  I can see how it could be easy these days to fall into despair.  I could see how many could be starting to question if we have hope.  What about the people that are in Louisiana right now.  The last two years have been awful for everyone and I feel as though our country was just starting to come back to life a little.  People seemed to be looking towards the future with a little more light and hope.  Then this hurricane comes and devastates so many people.  Or what about those that have lost people in Afghanistan, or what about the refugees of Afghanistan.  It is easy to understand why people might be falling into despair. We must fight these feelings of despair.  Yes, times are incredibly hard right now.  Yes it seems like it is coming at us from all angles and we can’t seem to catch a break.  But there is always hope.  If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it.  The last part of the verse says persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  Is this how you are feeling?  Are you feeling persecuted?  I know many in this country are feeling this right now.  If this is you, know that you are not abandoned.  God never leaves your side.  He is there with you even when you are feeling persecuted.  God actually told us in the bible that we would be persecuted.  Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  God is there with you through this all and He even states that your reward is great in heaven.  If you are feeling struck down right now, know that God will not let this situation destroy you.  It may feel like you are destroyed, but God won’t let that happen.  You may be down, but you are not down for the count.  God will help you get back on your feet again.  Trust that He is there for you and lean into Him when you feel like you don’t have the strength to do it on your own.  He is strong.  He can handle the weight of your problems.  Sometimes we don’t have to lean on God because we feel like He is too busy or because we don’t want to bother Him.  He is your heavenly Father, He would like nothing more than for you to “bother Him” with your problems.  He is up there just waiting for you to do just that.  You may be thinking to yourself, that all sounds well and good, but you don’t know my situation.  You don’t know what I have been through, or what I am going through.  How can I not be in despair when I have lost someone, or I have lost my home, my job, my health, etc.  You would be right.  I don’t know your situation.  I don’t know what you are feeling.  I do understand how easy it is to fall into despair and lose hope that things will change.  I can tell you a few things I did to keep myself from despair when things seemed really bad.  Hopefully you will find something useful in these ideas to either keep you from despair, or help you climb out of it if you already find yourself in despair.  First, I prayed a lot.  I kept a journal and I wrote to God a lot telling Him all the things I was thinking, wondering, praying for, wishing for, all the things.  Second, I listened to praise music that reminded me of God’s promises and that He is always there for me.  It was uplifting praise music that would lift my spirits when I was sad.Third, I didn’t dwell on the situation.  I did not spend a lot of time thinking about what may or may not happen in the future.  I dealt with the immediate problem at hand and tried to plan for what may come up but I did not focus on all the ways things could go wrong.  There is always time to deal with that if it happens.  Although, most of what we worry about never happens.  Even if it seems like you know where the situation is headed, things may change.  So much can happen in a short amount of time.  I did not try to predict the future.  The fourth thing I did was to study scripture and I was reminded about all the things the people in the Bible went through and how God was always there for them.  If He did it for them He will do it for me.  After all, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” Hebrews 13:8. The last thing I did was I chose to be hopeful.  I don’t think hope is just something that you either have or you don’t have.  I think Hope is a choice.  Actually at our prayer group we were giving a word that said just that.  I think I will leave you with these words from our Heavenly Father.  "Trust in Me, do not be afraid. You must choose to hope and trust in Me. It is a choice, it is not a feeling. When darkness comes choose hope, love, and trust. Choose me.Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord we ask that you bless everyone that is struggling right now. Lord we ask you to help us know that we may be persecuted but we are not abandoned.  We may be stuck down but we are not destroyed.  Lord Jesus, please keep us from despair.  When darkness comes help us to choose you Lord Jesus. Help us to choose hope and love and trust. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Help us to feel that strength Lord.  Help us to not feel defeated.  Lord we pray for all those affected by the natural disasters going on in the world right now.  We also pray for those in war torn countries.  Lord our world is hurting and we need your help.  We thank you for all that you are doing for us Lord.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My beloved children, let me transform your minds. Let me change your ways of thinking. I am pouring into your minds my graces. As I do, your minds will start shifting from old ways of thinking to new ways of thinking.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace