I am blessed to have a lot of support from my church, friends, and family in my life. But recently, I've been struggling to stay positive, to stay encouraged, to keep my eyes looking forward to Peru. Over the past month there has been a combination of reminders from my Realtor about the circumstances of the housing market that does not seem to be getting any better for condo sales and a significant slowing down of gaining the financial support that is necessary for me to have in order for me to get to Peru. For others, your cirmcumstances might be a lost job, or not finding a job at all after graduating from college, medical complications that has affected you or a loved one, or marital separation/divorce. These all seem to be circumstances where no matter how much loving support that you have from others, they can't change the circumstances as they are. So, my question again, is, who do you turn to? What messages are you listening to inside yourself? How do you keep from letting discouragement from creeping in?
This has been a prayer of mine during my quiet time that I've been asking God to help me with. God has given me this answer in the bible during my devotional time. The best person to encourage you and I is ALWAYS available to us. You just need to pray to Him, open up your bible and read, and be ready to listen to Him. I've been reading through 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Ephesians during my devotional time the past few weeks. I follow a bible in a year plan, so I was not actively searching this out, but just following the guide before me. The amazing thing is that God knew my heart and knew when I needed to read those words of encouragement. This is what He told me: "God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, thoughts, or hopes". Eph 3:20 AND "The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it. 1 Thes 5:24 . These verses are for me incredibly encouraging because I know that God is faithful and HE WILL DO IT! HE WILL put on the hearts of others to support me, and HE WILL provide a solution to my condo issue. These verses may not be the encouragement that you need for your specific circumstance, but I know that the bible is FULL of God's promises and encouragement and I hope that when you find yourself looking for encouragement like I did, that you open up your bible and read what God wants you to hear to encourage your heart like He has mine.