Browsing Tag

tough times

Running on Empty – Learning to Lean on God’s Help

Posted on September 14, 2015

Have you ever ran out of gas when driving? You were driving down the road just fine, and then all of the sudden, your car doesn’t want to go anymore. It sputters, slows down, and finally rolls to a stop. You realize, you’re not going any farther. You’ve run out of gas.

Its easy in life to feel like you’re out of gas. There are so many things asking for our attention. We have jobs, church, school, homework, maybe even babysitting your little brother and at times it just seems overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like you can’t go on. Its sort of like you just ran out of gas in life.

The Bible speaks to this in Matthew 11:28-30 in the Message Translation:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus said that when we’re tired, worn out that we can come to Him. We can learn to not take the stresses, cares, and worries of life on us, but rather learn to lean on Jesus. He’s the one that can show us ways to de-stress our lives. Lots of times all we need is a little God perspective on the situation.

So when you’re stressed out and feeling like you’re running on empty, remember you’re not alone. You’ve got Jesus ready to help you out all you have to do is ask Him for it.

[Tweet “When you’re stressed out, remember to lean on Jesus. He’s got a way to help you out. – @studentdevos”]

Pray: Jesus, I thank you that you’re here to help me in every stressful situation that I face. I choose to look to you for help when I’m running on empty. I believe that you’re showing me the steps to take or changes I may need to make to de-stress my life. I ask for your help with all I’m facing this week, and know that with your help I can make it. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

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Help! My Friend is doing bad stuff.

Posted on August 31, 2015

Have you ever had a friend that began making choices you didn’t like? Maybe they started using alcohol or drugs. Perhaps they got into porn or started becoming sexually active. It can be really hard to know what to do when someone you care about starts to make choices that you can see are wrong.

With those thoughts in mind, we’ve gotten a list together of some suggestions to help you when your friend starts doing bad stuff.

Speak into their life – If you have the ability to talk to this friend, do it. See if you can find out why they are making these choices. Don’t yell at them or give them a hard time because of what they’re doing, but be there to listen. Believe that when you talk to them, God will show you something to say that will encourage them to make the right choices. Finally, be careful when you talk to them to not come across as mean or seem like you know it all. Be genuinely interested in what they’re going through and believe that God will use you to encourage them and remind them of the truth.
Pray for them – This can be such a hard thing to do. Many times you want to see instant results. You want your friend to stop what they’re doing and start living right. However, sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend is to pray for them. A great place to start is to pray the prayer that Paul prayed in
Ephesians 1:17-18 (Message) – “Ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do…”
Pray that they will be able to see clearly what they are doing and the plan God has for their life.
Always love them – Sometimes when friends make bad choices they don’t act very kindly to you. They might lash out at you or stop hanging out with you. It doesn’t matter how badly they treat you, you should love them.
1 Cor 13:7 – “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” NLT
Never give up on friends when they’re making bad choices, instead choose to love them and be there for them no matter how they treat you.

Dealing with a friend who is making bad choices is hard. But with God’s help, you can be a support and help for your friends that are in need. You can love them, pray for them, and even talk to them to encourage them. Regardless if you see results or not, Its important that you choose to love your friend no matter how they treat you in return.

Pray: God, I come to you in the name of Jesus and I pray for my friend. I ask you to open the eyes of their hearts that they might see who you are and how much you love them more clearly. I ask you to help me with wisdom so I know what I should do in this situation and how to help my friend. I believe that you are showing me the right thing to do right now in the name of Jesus, Amen.

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What History Tests Teach About Tough Times

Posted on June 24, 2015

Taking tests are never fun. Usually the night before a big history test is filled with lots of cramming and memorizing all the key facts in hopes of getting a good grade. Many times, studying involves staying up really late, hoping that by looking at your book a few million times those facts will stick in your head.

Then comes the moment of truth. On the day of the test, you find out if all your studying paid off. Tests like these aren’t easy. Each test comes with its set of facts, terms, battles, or important events. Its when you’re in the moment of taking the test, you really see if all your hard work studying paid off, or if you should have invested more time. On a test, you either know the answer or you don’t. There’s not really a middle ground. You either know the answers or you don’t. Its in the tests that you find out if you put in enough preparation. Like it or not, the time you spend studying before the test and memorizing the facts and terms makes a big difference in your test results.

Tests however, aren’t just something that happen in History class. They come to us in life too. Life hands us lots of tests. Sometimes they’re easy, but other times they’re really difficult. However, just like taking your history test, your preparation before the test makes all the difference. So what does preparing for a test in life look like?

Most of your preparation for life’s tests is by spending time reading your Bible and getting God’s word in your heart. God’s word is what will keep you anchored when things get rough.

I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. – Psalm 119:11 (HSCB)

Making sure that you’ve got God’s word in your heart will help you when things get tough. When you study for a history test, you’re putting the answers in your head. Then when its time to take the test, you just have to recall what you studied. The same is true in the tests of life. Putting God’s word into your heart gives you answers to draw on when you’re faced with a difficult situation.

Tests and trials come to us all, but its what you’ve studied and learned before the test that keeps you going in the test. So don’t show up to the tests of life unprepared. Take some time to get God’s word into your heart. When you do, you’ll find that you’re ready to face anything that comes your way.

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. – James 1:3

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How To Be Happy – Part 3

Posted on April 27, 2015

Do you feel overwhelmed? Like you’ve got more on your plate than you are able to handle? If you do you’re not alone, check out what Romans has to say about that.

We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles. We can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! Romans 5: 1-6 Message

Since the joy of the Lord is our strength, when we shout our praise it gives us strength to go through the tough times we’re in. Most people only sing when they feel joyful. But the Bible instructs us to praise through the troubles. In other words, praise will get you through it faster and while you’re going through it, help you keep your smile in place. Whatever is troubling you, God has an answer. So get your attitude of victory because you’re coming through this trouble.
God loves you and has poured into your heart all you need. Take a minute right now to praise God for the things He has given you and you will find the heaviness of your stresses ease up. [Tweet “Praise is a great way to stay encouraged and make it through the troubles you’re facing. – @studentdevos”]

Speak the word : Father I know you love me and have given me all I need to get through this. I come to You today thanking you for your help (grace) and strength. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I’m coming through this trouble. I receive Your wisdom when I don’t know what to do. I receive Your healing for the pain. I receive Your love to fill me up. Your peace is mine and I keep my mind on Your supply and help. I continue to speak these things through the trouble.

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Tips for Dealing With Stress

Posted on January 28, 2015

Life is busy. Each day you try to cram in school, sports, music, friends, family, job, and God. It can be quite the feat some days trying to balance all the things you do or should be doing. Most likely you’ve got pressure from your parents to do well in school, sports or music. You’ve got pressure from your friends to hang out with them, to dress a certain way, or maybe even act a certain way.

There’s lots of stress and pressures that come upon you each day. Stress is a part of life, but what are some ways that dealing with stress can be, well, less stressful?

Here’s a couple of suggestions for dealing with stress.

Rely on others. When you’re really overloaded with the pressures of life, its okay to ask for help. You can rely on others to help. It might be asking a friend to help you with your math homework. Maybe you could ask your brother to help you this week with your chores at home by walking your dog. Or perhaps you could ask your parents for some advice in managing all your tasks.
It doesn’t matter who you ask for help, just remember, you’re not alone. There are people in your life that can help share the load. Don’t be afraid to ask others for their help or advice.
Rely on God. God didn’t put you on the earth to figure it all out on your own. He’s willing and able to listen and wants you to share with Him what you’re going through. Don’t be afraid to get open and honest before God. Share with Him your thoughts and get His wisdom on how to deal with the stress in your life.
Remove the extra stuff. Many times, stress comes by simply committing to too many things. You might have volunteered for the winter dance committee, the basketball manager, and spending time mentoring younger kids. While all those things are great, you realistically don’t have time to do them all. You may have to say ‘no’ to a few things that you want to be a part of. When you do, you’ll free up more time in the day to do the things that are really important.
Determine real pressure. Make sure that if you’re feeling stressed that the pressure you feel is real. Perhaps you feel stress because you feel like your parents want you to do better at soccer. This might not be the case. Your parents may not be putting any pressure on you to do better at soccer. This pressure is just in your head and in what you think they want you to do. You’ve got to learn to separate the real pressure from pressure that is in your head.
Communicate with others. If you’re stressed and you simply have too much to do, communicate with others about it. For example, if you’ve got a huge project due on Monday and a huge band concert that you have to practice for on Saturday, let your teachers know. Sometimes, if you’ve got a good track record with your teacher, they may let you turn in a project a day late. Its worth communicating with others to see if there is a solution to your situation.
Find stress relievers. Find out what helps you de-stress. It might be taking a long bath, reading a book, or taking a bike ride. Whatever it is, be sure to carve out a few minutes each week to do it. Finding things that help you relieve your stress is really important.

These are just a few tips to help you deal with stress. Life is stressful at times, but its great to know that when you’re feeling the pressure you can always go to God. God is always willing and able to help you with the pressures of life. He’s able to give you the wisdom you need to get through any tough situation. So no matter how stressed out you feel, take comfort in knowing that God is there for you and cares about everything that you’re going through.

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us – Ephesians 3:20 HCSB

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What Ice Cream Can Teach Us About Peace

Posted on October 29, 2014

Ice cream has to be one of the best foods on the planet. It tastes so good. It doesn’t matter what flavor or what topping you put on it, ice cream just tastes amazing.

Ice cream is used a lot too as a comfort food. If you’ve had a bad day at school, you can rush home and find comfort by eating a bowl or two of ice cream. If you’ve just broken up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, a pint of ice cream is just what you need! Ice cream really comes in handy when you need a little bit of comfort during a difficult time.

Just like ice cream is an awesome comfort food, the Bible can bring us comfort when we are facing difficulty. The Bible tells us that Jesus gives us peace.

I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid.” – John 14:27 (ERV)

Jesus gives us peace. Just like ice cream can bring us comfort when we’re upset, Jesus can bring us peace too. When tough times come, we can look to Jesus. He tells us we don’t have to be troubled or afraid. Jesus has not left us helpless and alone. We’ve got Him to walk life together with us.

So in the midst of tough times remember that you can look to Jesus for peace. Remember that He told you that He left us peace. We don’t have to live our lives afraid of what might happen. We can look to Jesus for peace and find comfort in Him!

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Help! I Lost a Loved One

Posted on October 27, 2014

Losing a person you love is never easy. When someone you love passes away, it is a very tough thing. You’re hit with so many emotions. Some people get angry, while others feel sad. Some feel guilty or blame themselves when something bad happens. There are tons of emotions that come when you are faced with the loss of someone you love.

So how do you channel those feelings of sadness, loss or even anger? Here are a few things I learned when I was faced with the loss of a loved one a few years ago.

Don’t let it affect your relationship with God. This was the biggest mistake I made in my time of loss. I had lots of questions about why the person I loved died. I didn’t understand. I was mad and let my unanswered questions hurt my relationship with God.
When a loved one passes away, you’re bound to have questions. You may even want to blame God for what happened. However, no matter how many questions you have or how mixed up you feel inside, God is not to blame. Don’t allow your questions to keep you from going to God for help and healing in this tough time.
Recovering from loss takes time. Losing a loved one is not something you just ‘get over’. It takes time. It will take time for you to feel okay. You might experience tons of difficult emotions, that’s okay. You might be faced with your family or life just not feeling right or normal anymore. That is okay too. It will take time for you to heal. Don’t be upset if you’re not feeling like yourself for awhile.
Losing someone you love is a big deal and it takes time for you to recover.
Get help if you need it. Sometimes you need to talk to someone about your loss. You might have a lot of emotions that you need to work through. Its okay to get some help. Go to a pastor or a counselor at your school. These people are trained to help you process your grief in healthy ways. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Losing a loved one is a big deal. However, you can take comfort in the fact that God is always there for you. He’s there to help you heal. You can put your trust in Him. He will be your strength and anchor when things get tough. Look to him to be what grounds you when dealing with the loss of someone you love.

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. – Hebrews 6:19 (Holman)

Why, God, Why?: What to Do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
This is a powerful book that will help you deal with the questions you face when dealing with the loss of a loved one.

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The Trap of Anger

Posted on September 22, 2014

We’ve all done it! We’ve gotten angry. There are a lot of reasons to get angry. You may have not gotten a good grade on your math test and you’re angry at yourself for not studying more. You could be angry because you see someone at your school getting bullied, and you wish that people treated others with more respect. Or perhaps you’ve gotten angry because someone auditioned for the school play and got the part you knew you deserved. Anger can come to us from many different sources.

Anger in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Its your response to anger that can make or break you in life. For example, if you got angry that you didn’t get a good grade on your math test. And let’s say you used that anger to motivate you to study harder for the next test. That response to anger would be good. You channeled your anger into something productive, like studying harder for a test.

Sometimes though, your response to anger can be bad. If you allow your anger to consume you you can do things you regret. The story of Cain in Genesis four is a good example of this. Cain got angry with his brother Abel and that anger drove him to ultimately kill Abel.

The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don’t, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went to the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. – Genesis 4:6-8 (ERV)

Cain made a bad decision out of anger. He chose to kill his brother Abel. Now, we know that killing someone is wrong, and most of us aren’t tempted to kill someone, but what do you do when someone gets something you feel is unfair? Do you talk about them behind their back? Give them the silent treatment? Or maybe try to get even with them?

Doing these types of things will not help you in the long run. It might make you feel better in the moment, but trying to get even or not treating someone nice isn’t the right way to respond to anger. When you get angry, you have a choice to make. Will you sin when you get angry and do something you may later regret, or will you channel that anger into something positive in your life. Ephesians 4:26 says it like this:

“When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,” and don’t stay angry all day. – Ephesians 4:26

When you get angry, choose to not get even or hurt someone else. Choose instead to channel your anger into something positive.

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Help! My Parents Are Getting A Divorce – Part 2

Posted on August 20, 2014

Dealing with your parents’ divorce is not a cake walk. Perhaps one of the main things bothering you emotionally is unforgiveness. Its easy when divorce happens to want to place blame on someone or even on yourself. You may think that if you had done something different, your parents wouldn’t be divorcing. Or perhaps you might place the blame on your mom because you think if she had just been more understanding to your dad, your family might not be falling apart.

In these situations, its easy to place blame and point fingers. You might want to hold a grudge to one parent or maybe even both. You find yourself being upset at them and wishing that things were different. So how do you begin working through these feelings of unforgiveness?

The first thing to do is forgive yourself. Your parent’s decision to divorce most likely had nothing to do with you. You’ve got to realize that you are not to blame. You have to let go of those thoughts that come and make you think that the divorce was all your fault. That is simply not true. You have got to choose to line your thoughts up with God’s word and choose to think on the truth. The truth in this situation is that your parents are divorcing because of reasons outside of you and your control. It is not your fault, so don’t listen to the lies that say it is.

Secondly, you’ve got to let go of any unforgiveness that you’re holding against others. You might blame your mom, or your dad for the divorce. And while it may be one of their faults, you’ve got to look past that. You’ve got to choose to forgive your parents for getting a divorce. You’ve got to choose to not dwell on their shortcomings but rather love them with God’s love.

The Bible talks about forgiveness in Matthew 18. There it tells us that we are to forgive and keep forgiving time and time again.

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. – Matthew 18:21-22

We are to forgive and keep forgiving. No matter what happens. No matter how much your parents don’t deserve it, we are told to keep forgiving.

One of the most important steps to overcoming after divorce is learning to forgive. Forgiveness will keep your heart right and keep you from getting bitter toward others. Choose to follow what God’s word says and forgive others and yourself.

Check out this book: Abba: Finding Comfort in the Father After Your Parents’ Divorce it deals with a lot of the emotions that you have to work through after a divorce and offers good advice and ways to allow God to help you heal after the pain of your parent’s divorce.

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Help! My Parents Are Getting A Divorce

Posted on August 13, 2014

Divorce is never an easy thing to deal with. When your parents go through a divorce you’re faced with tons of different emotions. You have to face living in a different home or splitting time between two different homes, possibly feelings of abandonment and many other things. What do you do when it feels like your world as you knew it is now crumbling around you? Who should you turn to and what should you do?

Get the help you need. Most likely your parents divorce is affecting you. Probably more than you might let on to your friends or other family members. Its okay to feel angry, upset, let down and hurt at different times. Its okay if you need some help sorting through all your emotions and feelings. Get some help if you need it.
Don’t be afraid to get help if you need it. You’ve got people in your life that can direct you to get the help you need. A good place to start is by asking your pastor or youth pastor. They’ll be able to direct you to someone that you can talk to, or help you themselves. They also will be able to give you some resources to help you deal with this hard time in your life.
Go to God. It is easy in hard times like a divorce to pull away from God. Maybe you don’t understand why this is happening to you. Its easy when you don’t understand why to want to pull away from God. However, in hard times is when you need God the most.
Spend time reading your Bible and asking God to help heal your emotional hurts. He is able to be a father to you when maybe your father isn’t. He’s able to be a friend when you feel all alone. God is faithful and will be there when it feels no one else is. Don’t turn away from God in tough times, but pull close to Him.
God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. – Psalm 147:3 (CEB)
Give yourself time. It will take some time to work through your emotions. Don’t be unrealistic in your expectations of how long it will take you to heal emotionally. It will take time before things feel right in your life. Don’t get down on yourself if you have a bad day. Know that some days will be better than others. Give yourself some time to heal.

Divorce is never easy. It is hard on all those involved. The most important thing you can do is to use this tough time to bring you closer to God. God can heal the hurts inside of you that no one else can.

Check out this book: Abba: Finding Comfort in the Father After Your Parents’ Divorce it has lots of Jenny’s real-life feelings and stories of going through her parent’s divorce and also solid Bible teaching about how to deal with a divorce.

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