Hello and Welcome!
It is a new week and a new day and I’m so glad you could join me as we continue our journey toward renewing our minds and improving our self-discipline. If you’re just joining me, you can read my article, A New Self Discipline Journey to learn more about why I am doing this, and how this may benefit you as well.
This week we are going to focus each day on getting to the other side of dark valleys. Each day this week I will provide affirmations, scriptures, and daily challenges regarding this topic. Next week will be a new one!
With that said, let’s start our morning together!
BREATHING EXERCISE
Before we begin let us take some deep breaths to calm our mind and prepare us for this mornings discipline.
MUSIC FOR A NEW DAY
I personally like to have some soft music in the background, so if that’s something you like as well below you will find a song you can play for the duration of our time together.
PRAYER For Strength In the Valley
Now that we’re calm, let us transition to a time of prayer. Over the next few minutes you can pray on your own or feel free to use the following prayer:
Father,
You’ve been with us, you’ve been before us, and you’re coming behind us. You know the path we walk, and the depth of frustration and despair we feel in our souls, and you know what’s around the corner.
I don’t always understand why some of the things we most want seem to experience shut down and closed doors. Especially when, from the outside perspective, it seems like a good thing for us. And yet, Father, we have had door after door slammed in our faces for reasons unknown to us.
And yet, I must trust You in all of this because You are the only one who sees what we do not. You are the only one who knows what we do not. You are the only one who understands what we do not. And in order to move forward, I must step back and trust that things are happening for a reason and that you are still in complete control.
I won’t lie, I’m not happy about how things are turning out. And perhaps one day, Father, I will be able to look back on this day and see exactly why things didn’t pan out the way I wanted them to.
But until that day comes, give me the strength to continue forward, to continue trusting, and to continue loving You and others the way you have called me to do.
In the name of Jesus, the one who has felt my shame and my pain,
Amen
My Own Personal Prayer | Brad Bates
AFFIRMATIONS for Faith In the Valley
Here are a few affirmations for this morning that you can put in your pocket and carry with you throughout your day.
As you read through them, repeat each one out loud at least three times before moving to the next. Take your time. Close your eyes and say them to yourself as well. Let these words sink into your heart and mind this morning:
- In the darkest valley, God is with me.
- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with me in all the storms of my life.
- In all things, God is working for good in my life.
- God is transforming my mind.
SCRIPTURES For Hope In the Valley
As Christians, our affirmations should be rooted in the strength and power of God who empowers us and strengthens us to face every trial and every day (both good and bad).
Here are some scriptures that further support the affirmations we just spoke to ourselves. Again, repeat each one three times out loud before moving to the next one. Take your time. Maybe try to commit these to memory as well:
- Psalm 95:7a, “…for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
- Psalm 61:2, “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
- Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”
- Romans 15:4, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
TODAYS CHALLENGE
Our challenge today is this: get through the day.
Hopefully today’s challenge doesn’t sound pessimistic. Sometimes, the greatest challenges we face are simply getting through the day. Sometimes, the challenge is simply getting out of bed and facing the day in general.
Since August, my family has been trying to sell our house and buy a new one. Every step of the journey has been met with opposition, closed doors, disappointments, and more. During that time we have also been down a car due to a car vs deer incident in West Virginia. So needless to say, for three straight months our family has been struggling for air.
We recently had to pull out of buying a new house due to some unexpected factors placing us at great risk if things didn’t pan out the way we had hoped. Since things have already gone terribly up to this point, we decided the risk wasn’t worth it and we ended the contract. We also took our own house of the market (for now).
At the moment, our only goal is to get through the day and do our best to recover from the struggle of the last three months.
One of the things I’m running through my mind is the question of “Why?”.
Why did the buyer back out on our house?
Why did I have to hit the deer during one of the hardest challenges of our lives right now?
Why is my car taking so long to get repaired?
Why are things so tough at our jobs and will things work out in the end as we hope?
Why did so many roadblocks hit us in just trying to improve the situation of our family by paying off our debt and moving to a nicer area?
Perhaps God is protecting us from a potentially ruinous decision.
Perhaps God is protecting us from ourselves.
Perhaps God is protecting us from some danger that we would have experienced had we made the move.
Who is to say?
Truth is, I may never know. But I hope when I look back on these days that I will be able to point to this and say “That’s why!” But then, I may not get that answer. And I will need to be OK with that.
Perhaps you’re in a dark valley too. Perhaps you’re asking the same questions I am….why?
My prayer for you, as it is for me and my family, is simply this, “God, help us get through the day”.
Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from businessman and motivational speaker, Chris Gardner:
Baby steps count, too, as long as you’re moving forward.
Chris Gardner
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