Friday, February 21, 2014

A New Way of Life—from Worrywart to Warrior



I’ve been a worrywart for a long time.  It’s served to cause me stress and even experience illness as a result.  In fact, many people deal with worry, stress and illness on a regular basis due to life experiences, disappointments, and other events that can leave one feeling pretty down and low.

As a Christian, worry and stress have always gone against the foundations of faith and trust in God that those of us who were born into a Christian home were always taught.  Our humanness gets in the way of our Christian-ness and we lose sight of the fact that though Jesus died, He rose and continues to rule and take care of us even now.

I started my adult life full of the belief that everything would be as I expected:  I would have a great job, husband, 2.5 kids, home with the white picket fence, and financial stability—to me, that was a full life. 

As you all know, life doesn’t always work out the way we planned.  I’ve endured infidelity, divorce, breast cancer, layoffs, bankruptcy, loss of my house, death of my father, and so many other life events that could surely take me out mentally, spiritually or physically.   At one point, I even thought I was a jinx—that I brought only heartache and despair to anyone who interacted with me.  I was in a pit of despair.

Over time, however, I kept coming back to the belief that God was with me.  I never stopped going to church, so God had a few hours to let me know that He was with me and that He would take care of me.  Over time, I found that my faith was getting stronger and though I still faced tests and trials, I had the proof that God was continually on my side—His validations continued to come through difficult times.  I began to see myself as a warrior:  a person engaged or experienced in warfare and shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.

Being a warrior doesn’t mean that everything will happen as I planned or as I liked.  It means that no matter what happens, I will always believe that God is in control and that He knows what’s best.  I used to think that my struggles were because of something I did wrong and that I needed to pay some “penance” for my being such a horrible person.  Yes, I know that we need to pray for forgiveness of our sins that we commit, but our sins aren’t always the reason we go through.  Sometimes it’s to bring us back to God, or to be an example to others; for me, a big reason was to increase my faith. 
God is good.  Believe that.  He knows EXACTLY where you are, what you’re doing and how you feel.  Even when He is quiet, He is there.  The key is to develop and maintain the Warrior stance—believe through your anguish and your tears that God will bring you through.  Then walk in that belief!

My aim is to help you.  There are so many components to being a Warrior.  Not just in your spiritual life, but in your life in general:  spiritual, mental and physical.  A Christian Warrior’s life is an optimal life.  My life’s work is now focused on living an optimal life—a life focused on eating, exercising, living, and striving for the best relationship with God.

Here’s to a wonderful beginning of discovery, improvement and a stronger relationship with God.

Onward!! 

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