Each day, we make not just one decision but many - if we are made conscious of it. Perhaps one of which might be how people around you tries to convince you who you are or what you are like or how bad you are. Or maybe it is how circumstances around you started to shape you as you feel almost like you are drowning in the world around you. 

Whatever it may be, we are ultimate gatekeeper to what we believe in and particularly so when it is about us or our identity. How valuable and powerful this authority we have is! Yet, it is unfortunate (and only human) that we sometimes make the wrong decision, silently yielding to the voices that condemns and tears us down from within. 

Desperate as we may be, bleak as things may seem, the good news is that we never have to rely on ourselves to be perfect or defend ourselves all the time from our environment - God is worthy of your trust, and Him alone is able to birth the good and pleasurable joy in our life. 

We may think that things happen by chance or how "lucky" we are - but it was the Lord who made that decision when the lot is cast into the lap (Proverbs 16:33). He is your personal Shepherd who desires to lead you to rest, righteousness, the restoration of what you thought was a dead end, and for you to walk in full boldness (Psalm 23).

Science tells us that when infants are brought into this world, they already know how to self-regulate, and most important of all - they are designed with relationship in mind. This has not changed. We, are created to live in a relationship with our primary caregiver - God, and with others. Trust Him. 

Proverbs 16: 33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

- Elizabeth Tan

“When the people complained, it displeased the Lord.”                        Numbers 11:1 NKJV

If you think complaining is no big deal, read this: “When the people complained…the Lord heard…and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” A wise man once said, “I complained that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” 

God has blessed you in 101 different ways, and He doesn’t want to hear you whining. What were the Israelites grumbling about anyway? “Adversity” (NAS). For some of us adversity comes through illness. For others it’s a faltering career, not enough money to pay the bills, or a family situation that happened years ago and now you’re left shouldering the responsibility. Some of us made poor decisions earlier in life, and as a result our plans fell apart. Now we’re struggling with marital problems, blended families, and the consequences of our choices. We all have to deal with some level of adversity. 

We each have something in our life that God doesn’t want to hear us griping about! Understand this: It’s hard to live with adversity, but when you complain you forgo the grace that will get you through it. By choosing to complain and cling to the image of a perfect life, you forfeit the grace that’s available to you and will bring you victory. 

So change your way of thinking. Get down on your knees and pray: “Lord, I want the landscape of my life to be different; to experience the joy You give to those who leave the wilderness of ingratitude and move into the Promised Land of thanksgiving.” That’s a prayer that will change you!

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/stop-complaining-2/

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubt is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James is talking about God’s wisdom that enables us to endure trails joyfully.

Enduring trial with joy goes against our natural inclinations. When trials hit, we’re all prone to ask, “Why is this happening to me?” But that is usually the wrong question. 

Sometimes, God graciously reveal to us the reason for our suffering, but not always. How can I understand this trial from God’s perspective? How can I navigate through this storm in such a way to bring glory to God? How can this trial help me to grow in maturity? Someday in eternity, God will likely make it clear why Christians suffer, why something terrible was allowed to happen. 

It is as God once said in Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ His ways are beyond human comprehension but clearly He does have a purpose in suffering and so he prepares us to endure it joyfully. As God tells Isaiah, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah. 55:9). 

- http://bible.org

Are you are faced with a situation or trials that you naturally think you will not be able to overcome? You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4: 4). For everyone born of God overcomes the world (1 John5: 4) so let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess because He who promises is faithful (Hebrew 10:23). 

Yes, God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10: 13).

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, covetousness, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. Not, not, not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] (Hebrew 13: 5 AMP). Worship the Lord your God and His blessings will be on your food and water. He will take sickness away from you (Exodus 23: 25). 

These are promises of the Lord. The flesh is weak but the Spirit is willing, when the Lord speaks and gives His promises for victories, breakthroughs, healings and wholeness, claim it and know that the Spirit within you is greater than any enemies at work in your life. "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16: 33). Thank you Jesus that through our faith in You, we are victorious! Amen.

- Irene Soon 

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Ge 50:20 NIV

In the movie Up in the Air, actor George Clooney is hired by a major corporation to handle big layoffs. His job is to fire people. In one scene when he’s about to fire an aging middle manager, he notices on the guy’s résumé that he’d been trained as a French chef. As the man expresses despair over losing his job, Clooney reminds him of his original dream and asks him this soul-searching question: “Back when you started, how much did it take to buy you away from your dream?” At that pivotal moment the middle manager thought back to the time he decided to settle for a steady paycheck in exchange for what he really wanted to do with his life. Are you doing that? Understand this: The day you were born God had a track for you to run on and an assignment for you to fulfill. So the question you must ask yourself is this: “Is the difficult situation I’m in right now a God-given opportunity for me to go back and fulfill the dream God gave me in the first place?” Looking back on the most painful chapter in his life, when he was betrayed by his family, Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” His greatest loss led Joseph to the fulfillment of the dream God gave him in the beginning. Is that your story too? Are you realizing that you’ve settled for second best, and now God’s giving you a second chance; a chance to do the thing He put you in the world to do?

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/are-you-selling-your-dream/

In his book Failing forward: How to make most of your mistakes, John Maxwell wrote “If you tend to focus on the particular events in your life, try to put things into perspective.” When you seek to put every trial in perspective, you will be able to discern the philosophy of the Apostle Paul who was able to say, “ I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content (Philippians 4:11)

There is certainly a depth of knowledge and humility that Paul has displayed in saying such considering he had been beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and imprisoned. Paul was able to endure such ‘detours’ or perhaps what we the modern society define as ‘failures’. He understood that failures too serve as a purpose to bring you closer to your God-given dreams and what mattered was him continuing to move forward. Paul’s faith in God enabled him to maintain such perspective.

Which has more hold in your life? Your God-given dream or your past mistakes that are stopping you from pursuing the dream God has laid in your heart? God has given each one of us unique abilities and passions. Do not let your fear or past failures outweigh your faith.

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

- John W.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10

In the 2003 US Women’s Open, the relatively unknown Hilary Lunke secured the greatest prize in women’s golf—and a place in history. 

Not only did she win the US Open in an 18-hole playoff, but it was also her only professional victory. Her surprising and inspiring win underscores the fact that one of the most exciting things about sports is its unpredictability.

The unpredictability of life is not always so thrilling, however. We devise and strategize; we make plans, projections, and proposals about what we would like to see happen in life, but often they are little more than our best guess. 

We have no idea what a year, a month, a week, or even a day might bring. So we pray and plan, and then we trust the God who knows fully and completely what we can never predict. That is why I love the promise of Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

"Life is unpredictable. There are countless things I can never know with certainty. What I can know, however, is that there is a God who knows all and loves me deeply. And by knowing Him, I can “be still”—I can be at peace." - Bill Crowder

- Writing of Our Daily Bread ( Bill Crowder)

God intends for you to enjoy life. He made all things for you to enjoy, and He created the very senses with which to enjoy them. Every good and perfect gift that God has sent down from above, He created for you, His child, to enjoy  - James 1:17.

Enjoy the pleasures that God has given you as much as you please and as much as you need. Just don’t enjoy them more than Him.

If you have an inordinate desire for too much of certain things, then it becomes a form of worship, and that’s a sin. “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” the Bible cautions us. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Don’t let the blessings of God take first place in your life, because God will not take second place. He wants your love above all else. He says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).

Let us be sure that we put God first; loving and worshipping Him above all, and thanking Him for all of these other things that He has given us to enjoy. Praise the goodness of the Lord.

- Anonymous