Praise Devotionals to remind myself...

Lots of people I love are facing surgeries this week.  It's hard not to be anxious or worried, but what gets us through these scary times is knowing God is in control.  Today, I'm praying for each of my friends, trusting God to take care of them and bring them through in victory.  I love them so much, but HE loves them even more.  I know I can trust Him to take very good care of my friends.

At times like this, when the mountain in front of us seems so high and so tough to climb, I can't help but think of how often  I stress over things that don't really matter at all.  This is a devotional I posted last year.  Hope it will remind us all to keep our eyes on the big picture and not to sweat the small stuff.

 I'm not sweating the small stuff!

Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Happy thoughts make my day better. I feel more confident, more capable, more satisfied when I think on things that are honorable, right, pure, lovely and of good repute. Things that are excellent and worthy of praise - these are the things God tells us to dwell on. That's where we will find peace, even when everything in our lives is going crazy and feels out of control.

I stumbled onto this song by Francesca Battistelli and it made me smile. I can relate to every line. I can get stressed out over the smallest things. There's a lesson in the song. I hope I can remember it today.

http://youtu.be/pqqdA8LHN7I - This is the Stuff - Francesca Battistelli

I lost my keys
in the great unknown
and call me please
'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed

This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use
45 in a 35
Sirens and fines while I'm running behind
Whoa

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm
is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use
So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh
This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff
Someone save me
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
And I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff
You use
Oh Oh Oh Oh
This is the stuff You use.

I can let myself get bogged down in the little things that drive me crazy. The more I focus on those things, the larger they become in my mind. But God has given me a great tool to handle those kinds of thoughts. He says "take each thought captive to the obedience of Christ". I don't have to let my whole day be ruined because traffic on Highway 80 was stopped this morning, and Tyler was 40 min. late to school! = )

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

I can "capture the thought". Instead of pounding on the steering wheel and getting angry about something I cannot change, I can use that time to count my blessings. I can use that time to pray. I can redeem that bad traffic situation if I make the decision to just "capture the thought".

When I have a negative thought, I can ask myself, "is this a thought that honors God?" If it's not God honoring, then I better not dwell on it.

I love Facebook. It's a wonderful way to stay connnected to family and friends. I can "check in" each day and see how everyone is doing, and see what's going on in their lives. I've gotten reconnected with friends from school and stayed connected with friends and family who have moved away. What a blessing Facebook can be!
But just like God can take the worst things and use them for good, the Enemy can take a good thing and use it for evil.

I tend to be a "Pollyanna" - the dictionary defines that as "A person regarded as being foolishly or blindly optimistic. " I confess! I do try to see the glass as "half full" as opposed to "half empty". So it bothers me to see Facebook postings that seem to dwell on the negative. = ( I can watch a negative post become like a snowball rolling down hill. It gathers more and more size and speed as it rolls down, down, down... Everyone has something to add to the negativity. I don't like that. My "pollyanna" heart yearns for someone to break up that snowball so that it doesn't do any damage to people who might be in it's path. Sometimes, a brave soul steps up and tries to defuse the negative. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see that one little positive comment in the middle of all the negative. It's like a beam of light shining in the darkness of the moment, melting that snowball.

There's a saying "what you feed grows and what you starve dies". If I "feed" the negative thoughts in my head, before long they are not so little. I can get myself all worked up over the smallest thing.

But if I choose to think on my blessings, those good thoughts flood my mind and give me a much better attitude, and my day becomes much more pleasant and productive. Not only is my day better, my attitude can spill over into the lives of those around me.
Lots of my Facebook Friends use their "status" to share Scriptures and encouraging thoughts. I love that! Those postings bless my day. The negative postings... not so much of a blessing. = (

So today, I choose to be positive. I choose to dwell on God's blessings and not on my "lost keys".
There are much worse things happening in this world than my burning the casserole I had planned for dinner!

I'm blessed beyond measure! The little bumps along the way, well, I'll use them as reminders of all the times I have safe, smooth journeys without any bumps.
And what if the bumps God allows in my life are blessings in disguise? How many times have my "lost keys" kept me from being in the middle of an accident? That 5 extra minutes of searching for my keys may have saved me from a terrible wreck.

http://youtu.be/4mmgV6mPvb0 - Blessings - Laura Story

Holy Father, I'm so blessed to be Your child. You are so faithful. You are my Provider and Protector. You rescue me from my human weaknesses every day. Dear Father, thank You for loving me even when I have my little "pitty parties" and spend way too much time thinking about stuff that doesn't really matter. You give me everything I need, yet sometimes I complain that it's not enough. Please forgive me, LORD.
I forget how blessed I am just to be able to have a clean drink of water when I'm thirsty, or food on the table at every single meal. Thank You, God, for providing water and food for me.
Lord, when I see someone with a flat or stalled car on the side of the road, help me to remember the blessing of having a car that is reliable.
And when I wake up my son for school each day, remind me of the enormous blessing of having a healthy child.
Lord, I'm thankful for my job.
I'm thankful for a husband who still loves me after 25 years of marriage.
I'm thankful for my family and my friends.
Most of all, I'm thankful that You love me so much that You sent Your only Son to save me.
So today, Lord, if my computer crashes, if I misplace my keys, if my car runs out of gas, or some other annoying little thing happens, help me to remember all my blessings instead of dwelling on the little negatives. I don't want to be a complainer, Lord. I don't want to be a snowball of negativity. Instead, I want to be full of gratitude and thanksgiving for all my blessings!

Lord, please help me not to let annoying stuff take all my attention away from my many blessings. When I'm tempted to give in to the negativity, show me Your truth. I'm loved by the Creator of the Universe. That blessing by itself cancels out all the bad stuff.
In the Blessed Name of Jesus I pray. This day is for Your Glory! Amen.

P.S. I had this devotional almost completed but before I could proofread and send it out, I had to stop and take Tyler to school. About 10 minutes into our 35 minute trip, traffic came to a complete stop! It took almost an hour longer to get school than it normally takes.
Hmmm.... maybe that was a test for me. Thankfully, I had just been focusing on not sweating the small stuff, and I used the time to thank God for having a sense of humor. = )