When Life Has You Down...Let God Pick You Up! (Part 2)

Welcome back to "When Life Has You Down...Let God Pick You Up!" (Part 2). It's so nice that you came back to join me again this week! We know that our lives ebb and flow like the ocean tides. And it is during those low periods in our lives that we really need Our Lord and Savior to help put everything back together.

Last week, in Part 1, we turned to 1 Peter 5: 5-10 to begin our discussion on what we need to do to get ourselves back on track. First, we learned that we need to "surrender our will" to God. In other words, we need to "humble" ourselves by submitting to His will.

We saw that if we can learn the way of humility, then the Lord will lift us up in His own way. Isn't that great? I know that being in a submissive position to anyone would be very awkward for most of us to even want to attempt. However, we are not submitting to just "anyone". We are submitting to God! We live in a day when men are all seeking their own way, but the child of God who wants to please the Lord will learn to allow God to have the place or preeminence in his life (Colossians 1:18).

We also learned that we are to assume the place of slavery. Not slavery in the traditional sense, but slavery as in "wearing the apron" of a slave for Christ. In other words, I have no will but His will. I have no plan but His plan. I have no desire but His desire. Only then can we accept the plan of the sovereign.

Because, if we can learn the way of humility, then the Lord will lift us up in His own way. As long as we seek to promote ourselves, we will never amount to much for the glory of God. However, when we turn loose of our lives and willingly place ourselves under the Lord, He will use us for His glory!

Finally, we learned that we should send our worries to God. When the worries of life press us down, we do not have to bear them alone! He tells us to give Him everything. We're not so much as to keep even the smallest part of a burden to ourselves. We are told to give it all up to Jesus!

Today, in Part 2, we will continue our discussion about pulling ourselves out of a deep descent by first learning how to "Strengthen Our Walk With God" 1 Peter 5:8-9. In verses 8-9 we are told that we need to be "sober and vigilant". This means that we need to get serious about some things, especially where the devil is concerned.

Who do you think wants to get your life in the pits anyway? Who do you think is actively interested in seeing you miserable? Who do you think is working against you every day of your life? Yet, as we strengthen our walk with the Lord, we see the path to victory over the devil!

In these verses, we are urged to be serious about the Devil's reality. Jesus believes in him, the Bible believes in him, God believes in him, therefore he must be real! He is called the "adversary" which meanss "an opponent, an enemy". In fact, "the devil" means "slanderer; or false accuser". The sooner we come to realize the truth of Satan's reality, the sooner we will see the need to strengthen our walks with God.

Secondly, we must be serious about the Devil's ferocity. The devil is compared to a "roaring lion" in this verse (1 Peter 5:8). Why a lion? If you think about it, there are some similarities between the devil and lions, such as:

1) Lions are forceful. They are 14 to 21 times stronger than a man! Satan is far stronger than we are as well.
2) Lions are ferocious. They should be treated with fear and respect because of who they are. God's children would do well to learn to respect the Devil. Not to necessarily fear him, but he does have power that is far superior to our own natural abilities.
3) Lions are fearful. A mature lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away. The reason they roar is to create fear in the hearts of those who hear them. This is just what the devil does too! He roars to create fear in the hearts of God's children. Why? Because fear paralyzes faith! If he can get you to listen to his roar, he can paralyze your faith and attack your life!

The last item I would like to touch on this week, in strengthening our walk with God, is that we need to be serious about the Devil's susceptibility. Dear friends, the good news about the devil is that he can be defeated by the child of God!

The secret to overcoming him and changing his roar into a meow is to "resist" him! This means to "stand up against" the devil. Be steadfast in your faith, knowing that the Lord has already defeated the devil and that victory for the child of God is found in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:9).

Learn the truth that if you will resist him, he will flee from you (James 4:7). Learn that true victory comes to those who will walk in "faith" (1 John 5:4). Get to the place where you have doubts as to the truth of 1 John 5:4. Get to the place that requires that every child of God grow in the Lord and that we strengthen our walk with Him daily through prayer and the study of His word!

Now, I have to apologize to you at this point. It appears that we will have to continue this discussion next week. I was hoping to conclude our study this week, but there is still one more item to cover and I would like to do it right.

When we return next time, I will wrap this discussion up by talking about how "seeing the work of God" can also help us work our way out of life's low points. I urge you go back over today's discussion, along with last week's. There is a lot of material to review, but it will all come together for you next week in Part 3. Until then, have a blessed week!

Prayer:

Father, I pray for all those in need, for all of my friends and my family. I pray for your strength to see us all through, when life is the hardest and when times are good. Amen

God bless you,

Darlene