“This Sucks!”

Ever have one of those days? One of those days where you just think to yourself, “This sucks!”

Well, that happened to me recently. It was during the time when my husband was out of work with a herniated disc…I had started work at age 52 for the first time in like 20 years and had received a bad report from my doctor…and quite honestly just feeling like this whole year had been a barrage of attacks. I was quite possibly feeling sorry for myself.

I was sitting on the sofa during what was supposed to be my ‘quiet time’ with the Lord, but instead of praying I was really just thinking back over the year…everything this year has offered us 😉 and about the present season and I just thought, “This Sucks!” ( I don’t usually say “sucks”, but that was my thought at the time) I was about to speak it out loud when the Lord stopped me and gently spoke to my spirit that not only does this season NOT suck but that when we belong to Him there is never a season that sucks.

Wow!!! Those words rang so loud throughout my being even those they were spoken with such gentleness. I sat there in silence and I thought about those words for a few minutes. As I was thinking about them they were getting deeper and deeper into my spirit because God was showing me my life through His eyes. Those words were coming alive in me. They were reshaping my thoughts…renewing my mind…changing my perception.

I was like, “You’re right, God. Nothing sucks when we are in You.” (As though God is ever wrong)

Scriptures that have been staples in my life…especially this year…were flooding my mind.

“No weapon formed against me will prosper”~ Isaiah 54:17

“I know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”~ Romans 8:28

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking nothing.”~ James 1:2-4

“I know that tribulations (test, trials, hard things I walk through) produce perseverance; and perseverance produces character; and character produces hope, and Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”~ Romans 5:3-5

“His grace is sufficient.” His grace is the enabling power to help me overcome everything that is in my path. “In Him, I can do all things.” “Everything the enemy means for harm…God will use it for His glory and my good.”

So many more, but you get the point! Instead of feeling sorry for myself and thinking about how “bad” my life was at the moment, I began to think about the truth of God’s word. The truth that all of these things were serving to make me look more like Him. Just surrender to the process. (Haha…my word for the year!)

The Lord took captive the lie that the enemy had placed in my thoughts and silenced me before I could speak that lie out and He revealed His truth to me! He opened the eyes of my heart to see the truth! To see that He was working for good in this situation. I just needed to trust Him and allow Him to work.

I surrendered, declared His word and watched my day get better! I watched this season get better! I watched God move in those six weeks. I watched Him teach us great truths from His word. I watched Him build our faith as we surrendered to Him during the suffering…which was producing perseverance…and character…and hope. And we know that hope does not disappoint. (Romans 5:2-5) I watched Him bring healing to Steven’s back instead of surgery as it had been looking. I watched Him prove Himself to be faithful once again!!!

So I want to declare to you right now that there is never a time that sucks if you are in Christ! If you are a son or daughter of God…I don’t care what’s going on in your life at any given time…it does not suck! Give your attention to God and allow Him to open the eyes of your heart that you might see Him working. Bring the lie captive and replace it with God’s truth. Allow Him to reshape your thoughts…renew your mind…and give you a new perspective on life.

God is trustworthy! No matter what’s going on…whether it’s from the enemy or just a hard time that God is leading us through…we can trust that it is only making us more like Him if we stay surrendered. He cares more about who we are than where we are.

Trust Him! And if you ever hear the thought, “This Sucks!”… say out loud, “Yeah, for you devil!” 👊🏻

This old song came to my mind as all of this was transpiring.

“God of the Mountains”

Life is easy when you’re up on the mountain and you’ve got peace of mind like you’ve never known.

But things can change when you’re down in the valley don’t lose faith, for you’re never alone.

The God of the good times is still God in the bad times. The God of the day is still God in the night.

We talk of Faith way up on the mountain talk comes so easy when life’s at its best.

Now it’s down in the valley, of trails and temptations that’s where your faith, is really put to the test.

The God of the mountain is the God in the valley!

Next time you’re tempted to think or say, “This Sucks!”, stop and think of everything you have to be thankful for and remember God is working in it all for your good! He is God of the good times and God in the bad times and He is fighting for you.