Don’t Let Him Pick You Apart!

 

I bet just about every woman knows the verse in Philippians 4:6(NLT). It tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Look at how simple Heavenly Father has made this for us. First, He tells us what not to do, then He tells us exactly what to do in order to restore His peace in our lives. We shouldn’t worry about anything because worry isn’t the nature of a believer. Faith and gratitude are our nature, and anything outside of those two doesn’t tell the truth about the goodness of God. Many of us know this, but we let worry and doubt get the best of us anyway. We’ve got to stop giving over our power and authority in Christ this way. We can’t allow the devil to pick us apart, especially now.

I’ve heard many women that are believers speak about the incredible circumstances and situations that God has brought them through. From marital abandonment and financial ruin to domestic violence and abuse, they’ve dealt with it all and some of them did so with darts flying from all angles. As soon as they felt some degree of ease about one thing, two or three other situations came out of nowhere. They felt like throwing in the towel, but they didn’t. One of the common threads in their testimonies of overcoming incredibly painful situations is the lesson they learned about anxiety and doubt. They wasted a lot of time worrying about whether God would come through or if He’d allow them to fall through the cracks. He always delivers on His promises and in the end, He rescued them from darkness and despair.

We all know the grips of that sinking feeling. It brings you so low that you can’t even define the depth. Every part of you feels upset and bothered, and nothing—no thought or feeling, seems to bring comfort. In our darkest moments, we know God’s healing power, and we also know that He’s commanded us not to worry, but we make ourselves sick with worry any way. No matter how many times our friends, loved ones, and spiritual mentors tell us to give it to Jesus, we vacillate back and forth, giving our burdens to him one minute and taking them back the next.

As God’s children, we can learn a lot about having a constancy of faith by the pattern of good parenting that many of us have demonstrated to our own biological children. We love our children and will do anything for them. We must remember that God is the One who has given us the heart and mind for parenting. We didn’t come up with it on our own. We love our kids because He first loved us. Not only has He shown us real and genuine love through Jesus Christ by giving him as a sacrifice for the sins of all people, but God created us with the capacity to respond to each other with His love. We are made in His image, and we understand that His love is the force that propels us forward.

As good parents, we would never harm our kids, but will do everything in our power to protect them. To make sure their well-being is preserved, we would move heaven and earth if we could. God’s love is infinitely higher than the love that any of us can give. In Isaiah 55:9(NLT), He said of Himself, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God loves us more than we can ever imagine. Our thoughts can’t think that high. It’s a deep, unconditional and abiding love, and nothing can separate us from it. No one can love like He loves. To get a glimpse of how He views our worry and doubt, consider the thought of your biological child sitting somewhere, feeling scared, and worrying that you have refused to take care of them or that you won’t do it for some reason. This would hurt you to the core. Imagine how God feels when we don’t trust Him to take care of us.

All good relationships are built on individuals responding honestly, compassionately, thoughtfully, and lovingly to one another. God set relationships up to operate this way. These responses build faith and trust, and without faith and trust, a relationship will collapse or be injured. You and I are here on this earth to build an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of life! Jesus Christ tells us that he is the door to the Father. We must have the faith of Jesus Christ to please God. Faith and believing in Him is how we respond to His overwhelming love.

Fear is a cloak of deception that the devil tries to pull off as being real. It is a false evidence of reality, and worry is a sign that we have bought into the lie. We can’t let the devil continue to pick us apart with his tactics and tricks. Let’s resist his plots by doing as Philippians 4:6 says and get really specific in our prayers. We have the authority of Jesus Christ to plead his blood over situations and circumstances. Colossians 1:13 tells us that his blood cleansed our sins, and through the blood of Jesus Christ, God has delivered us from the power of satan’s darkness and transferred us to his Kingdom. We don’t belong to worry and doubt, and we should never claim them.

Yes, it takes time to develop the habit pattern of choosing faith and not fear, but God tells us how to strengthen the muscle. He said, “Thank him for all he has done.” This is a strategy for Godly living. A person can’t be thankful and fearful at the same time. To keep fear from rising up and overtaking our hearts, Heavenly Father commands us to think of His goodness, and do it continually. This is how we constantly hit the “ON” button of faith. Philippians 4:6(NLT) tells us that as we practice thankfulness and gratitude to God, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

God doesn’t leave our relationship with Him to chance. He tells us exactly how to respond to Him, and to do it in a way that causes Him delight. Our obedience and commitment to respond to God with faith and gratitude will invite the indwelling Holy Spirit to saturate us with God’s peace. This peace guards our hearts and minds, but we must live in Christ. This means we must do our part, and Philippians 4:8(NLT) tells us exactly what that part is. It says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” We can change the way we handle obstacles and adversity by resisting the urge to respond to what the devil is trying to do, instead, we can respond to the goodness of God, be thankful and abide in His perfect peace. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Don’t Let Him Pick You Apart!”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Your Storm Is Not the End of the Story

Talk to almost any believer who has been walking with Jesus for a while, and they will tell you the same thing: after some of the hardest seasons of their lives, they witnessed some of the greatest moves of God. That doesn't mean the storm was easy. And it doesn't mean they understood what God was doing while they were in the middle of it. When you're walking through deep pain, you are usually not thinking about promotion or what God might do next. You're trying to survive. You're praying for the pressure to lift. You're wondering how much more you can take.

Some storms hit so hard that it feels like everything is unraveling at once. Just when you think things can't get any worse, another situation appears. The phone call comes. The diagnosis comes. The relationship falls apart. The door closes. That's life in a broken world. But here's what we have to settle in our hearts: God does not send evil into our lives, and nothing touches our lives that He cannot use to accomplish His good purposes. Romans 8:28 (NLT) reminds us, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Joseph understood this better than most. His own brothers betrayed him, sold him into slavery, and allowed him to be carried away from everything familiar. Then, after serving faithfully, he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. If anyone had a reason to believe his life was over, Joseph did. Yet years later, when he stood face-to-face with the same brothers who caused him so much pain, he was able to say, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.” (Genesis 50:20, NLT)

Joseph never denied the pain of what had happened. Betrayal is still betrayal, and evil is still evil. But somewhere along the journey, he began to see that God had never stopped working. The actions of others did not have the final say over his life. God did. And the same is true for us. We may not understand everything God is doing while we're walking through it, but we can trust that His purposes are never defeated by the choices of other people. The enemy can attack our circumstances, but he cannot overthrow the purposes of God. He can bring a storm, but he cannot change what God has in store.

One of the greatest things that a storm reveals is where we have placed our trust. When everything around us is stable, it is easy to believe we are standing strong. But when life begins to shake, we discover whether our foundation is truly built on God or on the things we thought would always be there. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-25 (NLT), “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say the rain wouldn’t come. He did not say the floodwaters would stay away. He said the house would stand because of what it was built on. Storms are not always a sign that something is wrong. Sometimes storms reveal that God is building something stronger in us than we could have built on our own.

So what do we do when we are in the middle of the storm and we cannot see what God is doing? We do what every believer before us has had to learn to do—we trust Him. Trust does not mean we understand every detail. Trust does not mean we never cry, never struggle, or never ask God questions. Trust means that even when we cannot trace His hand, we believe His heart. We believe that God is good, that He is faithful, and that He is working even when we cannot see the evidence yet.

The enemy wants us to measure God’s love by our circumstances. He wants us to believe that if life is difficult, God must be distant. But that is a lie. God has never promised His children a life without storms. What He promised is that we would never face them alone. Isaiah 43:2 (NLT) reminds us, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.” Notice the promise is not that we will avoid deep waters. The promise is that God will be with us in them.

So don't allow your storm to convince you that God has forgotten you. Don't allow the pain of what you are facing to make you doubt the One who has carried you this far. The same God who was with Joseph in the pit, the prison, and the palace is the same God who is with you today. He is still working. He is still faithful. He is still writing your story.

Your storm is not the end because God always has the final word. What the enemy sends to destroy you, God can use to strengthen you. What was meant to take you out can become the very thing that draws you closer to Him. Keep trusting. Keep standing. Keep believing. The storm may be a chapter, but it is far from the end of the story. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Your Storm Is Not the End of the Story”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

The Master’s House is Still Open

 

Luke 13:24-27(NLT)
24“Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’”

Jesus didn't soften His words in this passage, and neither should we soften what He meant. His message is both an invitation and a warning. The invitation is that the Master's house is still open today. The warning is that the door will not remain open forever.

Many of us naturally want to believe the door to God's Kingdom is wide enough for us to carry everything we've never surrendered. We want to believe we can continue holding on to certain attitudes, habits, unforgiveness, compromise, or secret sins and still walk comfortably through the entrance. We convince ourselves, "I know God isn't pleased with this, but it's not that bad." We compare ourselves to other people instead of measuring our lives against God's holiness, and before long our conscience becomes comfortable with what God is calling us to leave behind.

But Jesus tells us the door is narrow.

That doesn't mean salvation is earned through our own efforts. Salvation is a gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. What Jesus is teaching is that entering His Kingdom requires a heart that is willing to surrender to Him. Grace is never permission to remain unchanged. It is the power God gives us to turn away from sin and become more like Christ.

One of the greatest misunderstandings in the Church today is believing that because God is gracious, He overlooks a lifestyle of continual rebellion. His grace is immeasurable, His mercy is abundant, and His forgiveness is available to everyone who truly repents. But His grace was never intended to excuse what Jesus died to free us from.

Notice what the people outside the door said. They reminded the Master that they had been around Him. They had eaten with Him. They had heard Him teach. In other words, they pointed to their association instead of their relationship.

Being familiar with Jesus is not the same as belonging to Him.

You can attend church every Sunday, know Scripture, listen to sermons, sing worship songs, serve in ministry, and still never fully surrender your heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God has never been interested in religious activity without genuine transformation. He desires hearts that know Him, trust Him, obey Him, and are continually being changed by His Spirit.

The beautiful news is this: the Master's house is still open. If you're reading these words, the invitation still stands. The door has not yet been shut. Today is still the day to repent. Today is still the day to lay down the sin you've been protecting, the bitterness you've been feeding, the pride you've been excusing, or the fear that's been keeping you from fully following Christ.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“The Master’s House is Still Open”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Growing Into the Life God Called You to Live

In Ephesians 4:1 (NLT), the apostle Paul urged believers to "lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God." Those words carry even greater weight when we remember where Paul wrote them. He was in prison because of his faith in Jesus Christ. His circumstances were painful, but his focus never shifted from God's purpose. Instead of dwelling on his chains, Paul encouraged the church to live in a way that reflected the life of Christ.

That message is just as relevant today. It's easy to become consumed with what we're facing—our disappointments, unanswered prayers, financial pressures, or emotional struggles. But spiritual maturity teaches us to see beyond our circumstances. Like Paul, we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to shape our character, no matter what season we find ourselves in.

When Your Circumstances Don't Define You

Paul's prison cell did not determine his perspective. His relationship with Jesus Christ did.

Most of us would understand if Paul had written a letter filled with discouragement or frustration. He had every human reason to focus on what had been taken from him. Instead, he focused on what could never be taken away—his calling in Christ. His chains could restrict his body, but they could not imprison the Gospel, and they could not silence the work God was doing through him.

There's a lesson in that for every one of us.

Life has a way of presenting seasons we didn't ask for. We experience disappointments, broken relationships, financial pressures, health challenges, and prayers that seem to go unanswered. If we're not careful, those circumstances can become the lens through which we see everything else. Before long, we begin measuring God's faithfulness by what we can see instead of trusting what the Father has already promised.

Faith That Sees Beyond Your Circumstances

That's why faith is so essential to our walk with God. Through Jesus Christ, we've been invited into a relationship with our Heavenly Father, and every healthy relationship is built on trust. We won't always understand what God is doing, and we won't always see how He's working behind the scenes. But we can trust His character because He has already revealed Himself to us through Jesus Christ. Faith is how we respond when our circumstances tempt us to believe something other than what God has spoken.

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT) tells us, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." This verse reminds us that faith is not merely believing God can do something; it is believing who He is. He is faithful, trustworthy, and good. Even when life doesn't make sense, we can be confident that our Father is working according to His perfect wisdom and timing.

Faith keeps our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ instead of our circumstances. It anchors us when the storms of life threaten to pull us away from God's promises. It gives us the courage to obey when we don't have all the answers and the confidence to keep moving forward even when we can't yet see the outcome. This is the kind of faith Paul demonstrated. Though imprisoned, he never allowed what he saw with his natural eyes to overshadow what he knew to be true about God.

Faith That Produces Spiritual Growth

That is why Paul urged believers to live a life worthy of their calling. He wasn't writing from comfort; he was writing from conviction. He understood that following Jesus Christ was not simply about believing a set of truths—it was about being transformed by them. Our identity in Christ is not determined by what's happening around us but by the One who lives within us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) says, “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." When the Holy Spirit fills our hearts, He gives us the courage to remain faithful, the strength to keep trusting, and the grace to keep moving forward—even when life doesn't look the way we expected.

Growing into the life God has called us to live begins with learning to trust Him. Before God changes our circumstances, He often changes us. As our faith deepens, our character is shaped, our perspective begins to reflect the mind of Christ, and we become the person He has called us to be.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Growing Into the Life God Called You to Live”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.