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If you design a plan with the goal of obtaining physical health for yourself, and follow the letter of your self-made law, you build a security based on false righteousness and self worship.

If you rightly decide that God's love is to be the focus of your life, but then with the intent of creating your own opportunities make a list of your idea of ways that you can serve Him, you once again fall to the deception that you can become righteous through a plan of your own making.

You are to be God's love in the midst of the circumstances in which HE has placed you. Your opportunity to serve the Lord does not wait for some future time in which you plan to be more fit, have more energy, or to have obtained opportunities to serve Him according to your own ideas of what constitutes great deeds for the Lord . Be His voice, His hands, and His heart today, in the circumstances that you are in.

Don't underestimate your Lord. He is more powerful any life decision you have made that you now view as having been "good" or "bad." His is the hand that has guided you to the exact place you find yourself today. Begin now, this instant. Fall back into His arms, and then press forward in His Name.

Scripture: "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8).

Crime and Punishment vs. Beauty from Ashes

In the face of hardship, you may feel that you are being punished. This is a common error of reasoning and it occurs because the Lord uses all things for the good of those He loves. The error occurs as you see blessings begin to flow from grief or pain; flawed human logic deduces that the sorrow was inflicted in order to bring the blessing. Because He is able to use even painful events to work His will and to remind you in whom your faith rests, you assume that you are being reprimanded for some wrong. This is not so. He knows your heart. He knows you. The Lord’s ability to bring beauty from ashes does not reflect upon your weakness, but upon His strength.

Scripture: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpse" (Romans 8:28).

"and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting for the display of the Lord's splendor" (Isaiah 61:3).

The Lord is With You

When your emotions are in turmoil it is difficult to act upon what you know to be true rather than railing out at others from grief or fear. You may rest because the Lord is your help. You may release fear because you know that He is with you and He will help you.

Do not be afraid, Little One. The Lord has not departed from you. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart...(Psalm 73:26)". This means that although your flesh may become weak, that by the power of the Holy Spirit in you that your flesh will be strengthened. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit..." (Zechariah 4:6).

Beloved, He is sorry for your pain, but think of how you feel when a child expresses great anguish over a wound that is not very deep. The Lord knows that your heart hurts, and He is with you--do you hear? God is with you! The Lord makes all the difference. Human beings can't destroy you when He is present in you. This wound does not go deep not because it is not grievous, but because He is. Don't look at the hurt, look at Him.

Do not be afraid to lay down, the Lord is with you. Do not be afraid of lack of sleep or even of no sleep; He will provide for you. Do not be afraid for your loved ones, everything is in God's control. Trust Him. It comes down to this, trust Him.

Scripture: "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes" (Psalm 118:8-9).