Back & forth between hope and doubt

[Ivy]

I don't really understand why I do that so much, what it says in the thread title, go back & forth between feeling doomed, and then feeling confident that God is in control.

One day I'll feel so blessed and encouraged and certain......and the next day, I'll feel like everything's just getting worse & that I'm going down the drain.

I don't get it. Which is real? Why am I confident one day and the next day am wondering if God has forgotten about me, or wondering what bad thing is going to happen?

I really am a worrier.

Also, in the last year, I've had to have some major parting-of-ways, people that were in my life for years. I feel pretty lonely & afraid & I'm fretting about the economy too, to be honest.

And I feel regrets about some of the mistakes I've made. My mom encouraged me that God's Plan B can be even better, and I was right on with what she said........then three days later I was in the dumps & thinking everything's just falling apart.

I just wish I could stop worrying so much and feeling these bouts of hopelessness.

 

[cesty]

The devil works hard to get us to do this kind of thing. That is, to worry.

One of the best ways to counter this type of attack, is to claim God's promises when it occurs. Of course, to do this we need to commit them to memory, which is something that every Christian should be doing anyway.

I think that if you do this you will worry less and enjoy life more.

I have a page on my website/blog where I address this matter.

I can't post the link to it here because I have too few posts.

However, if you click on the link in my signature that will take you to my website. At the top of my website you will see a tab called: Bible Memorization

By clicking on that link you will be taken to a page that I believe will prove to be very helpful to you!

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Php 4:19)

 

[Galadriel]

I have this problem as well, I do the same thing. Heck it can be within the same day that I fluctuate, go back and forth between feeling "hey its ok God is taking care of things" to thinking "holy cow what am I gonna do about this one?" Its hard. I know I struggle sometimes not to worry about things, I think I am getting better at it, but I think it is a process.

 

[Ivy]

One of my friends was encouraging me the other day that it's just like when Peter was walking on the water toward Jesus.....when he kept looking at Jesus, he did fine, but when he started looking at the wind and the waves, he started sinking.

I think you're right--it's a process of learning to keep our eyes on Jesus. I'm trying not to beat myself up for those times when I start to freak out. That doesn't help at all. I'm trying to just exercise my will to keep looking at him in spite of the fear.

God's always been so so so faithful to me. In a way, my life circumstances are different/harder, but it's not like my God is different. He's still the same one who helped me the other times!

 

[kisstheson]

I really am glad to find your post here. I'm praying about what I should share and I am also placing you in the heart of Jesus.

 

[deg]

Hi Ivy.

I travel through the very same thing. My situations are different too, but overall I tend to get tossed to and fro, back and forth. I've sloooowly been learning about how standing in faith has nothing whatsoever to do with what we feel, or how hopeless we are, or how joyful or hopeful we are, or how much we feel that 'we believe.' Hope can be vain too. Our hope isn't in hope, so you don't have to worry what you're feeling, even though it's nice to have hope along with you.

I think faith is just standing on what God said, pure and simple. You may feel horrible, have thoughts that 'if you really were standing on God's word, you'd feel better and affirmed.' Ignore em, pass through the sea, and you'll come out on the other side, if God really has said something about your trial. But if He hasn't said anything about it, it would definitely help to get a solid word from Him regarding the situation.

If The Lord is your God, and you've decided to follow Him, then you don't need to be afraid. Who is bigger than God?

Isaiah 41:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

To not fear sometimes requires a conscious, deliberate decision of effort and willpower. There could be a thousand other things at play, but sometimes you just need to make up your mind, make a strong, reinforced, continually applied decision to not fear. Willpower will be part of the victory, if that's what you need.

BTW, the solution is not in staring at Jesus. Look up to Him, yes, but be strong against the fear too, because Jesus is King. You're His child, and as the psalms say, you have the privelege of 'binding his princes' to teach them wisdom. That basically means you get the honour of subduing spiritual forces.

"My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

I will say that one more time because the point is important.

"BE STRONG in the grace." Don't just be in the grace. Weakness isn't a virtue, nor is it to be condemmed. We are told to be strong. Therefore be strong.

Acts 3:7
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted (her) up: and immediately (her) feet and ankle bones received strength.

 

[deg]

Still More on God's Promises and God's Law - August 3rd

Bob Hoesktra

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed. (Romans 4:16)

The Lord desires that we should have great certainty concerning His promises. Our God does not want us to be plagued with apprehension concerning the fulfillment of His promises. In all that God has promised, He intends for us to stand in bedrock assurance: "that the promise might be sure to all the seed." This certainty is based upon two interwoven sets of spiritual relationships: one between His promises and His grace, and another between His grace and faith in Him.

The first spiritual relationship mentioned here (that makes the promises sure) is between His promises and His grace. Living by God's promises allows us to walk in the all-sufficient grace of God. The heavenly dynamic behind the promises of God is the grace of God. If God's promises are to be sure in our lives, we must relate to them "according to grace." If we are counting on any other hope besides grace to make God's promises certain, we will never stand in full assurance of the promises being fulfilled. If God's promises depend upon our performance, we will never walk in full assurance. If His promises depend upon the faithfulness or ability of others, full assurance will always elude us. The fulfillment of God's promises depends wholly on His grace.

Now, how do we treat God's promises in a way that does not disregard the grace that is behind them? The only acceptable response is faith. "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace." Every other response creates a discord with grace. This was the great mistake that Abraham and Sarah made early in their pilgrimage with the Lord. When they relied upon their own ingenuity (using the slave girl, Hagar, to try to supply the son God had promised), they were operating outside the realm of dependence upon God. Basically, they were trusting in themselves.
Behind all of the promises of the gospel is the promised Savior, who would die on the cross for our sins. If we attempt to base any of God's saving work on our performance, we are setting aside God's grace. We are inferring that His death for us was unnecessary or inadequate. "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21).

Father God, what a marvelous plan You have for Your children! You lay out Your purposes by means of great promises. You put Your wondrous grace behind every promise. Then, You ask us to place our faith in You to graciously fulfill all that You have committed to do. Lord, what assurance this gives me concerning Your promises!