Between The Rock & A Hard Place

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks when your To Do List is entirely full of urgent and critical things? Often, there seems to be no easy answer to the every-pressing question of priorities. This new week hasn't even begun yet and I'm already far behind while also starting with a serious deficit of sleep. Since I am certainly not the only one wrestling between my Rock and a hard place, I believe it would be helpful for all of us to go to God's Word for some direction and encouragement.

1. Admit weakness and imperfection then yield to the grace and power of Almighty God.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

2. Flee concern about impressing anyone but your Creator and Lord.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 2 Timothy 2:3-4

3. Claim truth over discouragement.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

FATHER IN HEAVEN, help us to live by Your ways and promises. Please ease our anxieties and any pressures we feel. We want to trust You completely to guide us and meet needs. Help us to yield to You for everything — especially wisdom, discernment, hope, comfort, and perseverance. Thank you, Jesus, that You are our Rock and the sure foundation we can always depend on no matter what hard places we find ourselves in. Thank You for being completely dependable and sufficient, loving and powerful. Please put your power in us to do what needs doing — no more, no less — for the glory of Your holy name. AMEN

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Since I just returned from a week away and am personally appreciating that my husband held down the fort at home while I experienced precious adventure with one of our daughters, I am praying with extra gratitude for our partnership today. Please join us in praying for your own marriage or for the marriage of others you love. We all need friends to come alongside of us in praying for our marriages. Let's commit together, friends, to this covenant relationship!

A prayer for your own marriage—

GOD, MY REFUGE, thank you that you have given me a covenant partner through marriage. Help me not to take for granted the value of partnership. Because of Your power and grace, my marriage holds Divine promise to survive and thrive. Even when times are dark or when we feel weary, help us to persevere. God, I want to lift up my husband/wife when he/she falls. I want us to be growing stronger as individuals and as a team. We can only do this by the power of Your Holy Spirit, Lord. We also need the support of Christ-loving friends. Please bring people around us to encourage us when we are discouraged and show us, as a couple, how to spur each other on in love and good deeds. Make us the like a cord of three strands that is not easily broken. For the fame of Your name, God. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

GOD, MY REFUGE, thank you for my married friends — especially those who recognize the covenant partnership they have through marriage. Help them not to take for granted the value of their partnership. Because of Your power and grace, their marriages hold Divine promise to survive and thrive. Even when times are dark or when they feel weary, help them to persevere, to lift each other up when they fall and to grow stronger as a team. They can only do this by the power of Your Holy Spirit, Lord. They also need the support of Christ-loving friends. Please equip me and other friends to encourage them and spur them on toward love and good deeds. Make my friends like a cord of three strands that is not easily broken. For the fame of Your name, God. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

What a privilege it is to come together and share what is going on in our lives so that we might be encouraged by one another, learn from one another and pray for one another!

Today’s scripture and discussion question continue on the theme of sharing life and stories that bring glory to God.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7

According to these verses, what do shared distress and comfort produce?

Your life experiences and challenges are unique to you but something about your personal circumstances and how God has met you in them will resonate with others in equally unique ways. Your personal stories of growth in your relationship with Jesus have the power to resonate with someone the way that no one else's will. This is both a responsibility and an opportunity. How do these verses inspire or challenge you to share more boldly what God is doing in your life?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.