God is Teaching

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Here I Am (Downhere)

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Sometimes I get so frustrated, I get very depressed, I feel horrible, I see no hope in my future and feel that nothing I have done has helped my problems, and I can see nothing more for me to do, I feel hopeless. That is a terrible feeling.

When the disciples were in a boat on Lake Galilee, Jesus had been praying by himself, when he went to meet the disciples he walked on the water to where their boat was. there was a storm making big waves. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water and thought he was a ghost. Jesus reassured them that he was not a ghost, but Jesus. Peter said "If it is you ,Lord, then tell me to walk on the water to you." Jesus told him to come. Peter got out of the boat and began walking toward Jesus, but the waves were very big and Peter started looking at the waves instead of Jesus. Peter got scared and then he began to sink. Peter called out, "Help me, Lord!" and Jesus grabbed Peters hand and held on to it and Jesus and Peter walked on top of the water back to the boat.

I believe that this is an example for us, to show how we should handle our life and it's problems. The waves represent problems and our fears. They get so big that we forget to think about God, His teachings and promises. When we focus on the waves (problems, fears) we get overwhelmed by them and we start to sink under them. When we remember to call to God for help, and to depend on him for help then God holds our hand and guides us through and around the waves.

I remember when I was married and trying to cope with my husband's behavior, I had tried everyhing I could think of doing when he would get in a raging anger. Nothing I had ever done had been able to stop the confrontation except leaving the house and staying away for an hour or so. When I realised that their was nothing that I knew to help the situation, I was very upset, anxious, and depressed. I started asking God to show me what to do, but that didn't work either, because I was still trying to do something. I finally completely gave up and asked God to do and say what would be the most helpful in the situation because nothing I tried helped, only made it worse or just didn't make it better. A few days later my husband came home and walked in the door allready in a rage, he was scaring me, I prayed and asked God to takeme over and do or say what needed to be done, and then I just waited, a blanket of peace came over me, and I found myself calmly saying "that's not true" to my husband's accusations and belittling of me. every time I said "that's not true" he would give me a strange look and then yell at me about something else. he changed the subject 5 or 6 times and then he stormed outside with a rake and raked leaves. when he came in he was calm and we ate dinner with no further problem. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it, but God had showed me a better way to react.

God has been my "secret friend" from when I was a child. I talked to God alot from when I was in elementary school. I didn't tell anybody that I was reading my bible or praying to God. It was a private thing to me, just between me and God. Thank you, God for being my friend and teacher! I asked God a lot of questions, told him all of my troubles, complained about problems, I even cried and yelled when I was really upset and frustrated. I didn't understand what was going on in my life and in the world(wars, murders, abuse, muggings, kids fighting, kids being nasty and hurtful to other kids). as I got older I listenned real hard to the pastor's preaching and I wrote down Bible verses that he mentioned and then at home, in my room by myself, I would read the Bible and try to understand what the pastor had said. When I was confused about right and wrong I read in the Bible and prayed to God to help me to understand and remember what he said in the Bible. This helped me in highschool and college to say ""no" to boyfriends when they tried to get me to things which God said are only to be done if you are married. And to say "no" to drinking alcohol in highschool and to have only one or two drinks at 4 hour parties in college. This helped me say "no" to a car load of friends in highschool when they wanted me to drive them to a spot that had an area full of bars and other things.

Now when I feel distraught, overwhelmed, depressed, don't see a way out of my problems, I pray to God and tell him everything and how I am feeling. Then I turn on some worship and praise songs and sing with them and focus on God's glory, love, promises, the eternal life to come without fear, pain, hunger etc.

I still have a lot of problems to deal with that overwhelm me, but God is helping me to remember to look at him instead of the problems and ask him for help and pray like Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, " not my will but your will be done, Lord God, my father."

I believe that it is not God's will for all of our problems to go away. I believe that there are problems that God wants us to go through, while asking God to help & save us and with Jesus holding our hand. in 1st Corinthians, Paul teaches that God helps us to go through problems so that we can turn and help someone who is going through the same problem. Paul also said that he had a problem that he could not fix and that he had prayed to God a lot, asking God to take the problem away. But the problem never did go away. Paul also was stoned several times for teaching the Gospel (the good news about God's love and plan for our forgiveness and adoption into God's family). When a person was stoned, it meant that a group of men surrounded you and through stones at you until they thought you were dead. God helped Paul to survive the stonings and to be able to continue to teach people about God.

God is teaching me that I need to trust him in the middle of problems, when they are not going away, when I don't see a solution for them. Jesus said "in this world, you will have many problems, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" Jesus also said "take up your cross and follow me." On the cross Jesus suffered for everybodies' sins, past, present and future. I believe that our cross is our suffering because of our sin and the sins of other people that affect us (like an abusive husband, a drunk driver, like robber, like terrorists, like faulty maintenance on train tracks and train cars and airplanes ...). God wants us to continue to obey His teaching, continue to praise him, continue to have faith in him and trust him with our lives - to follow him even in the middle of problems.

Jeremy Camp - There Will be a Day

SONG - SOMETIMES HE CALMS THE WAVES AND SOMETIMES HE CALMS HIS CHILD

I have to look for this song, then I will add it here.