When A Nudge Feels like A Hard Thump

I’ve heard some of the strongest and fiercest women of God declare they’d never depend on a man for their happiness. They say they’d never allow the man in their lives to be their everything. If this were true, their hearts wouldn’t be completely shattered when heartbreak comes knocking at their door.

Women are often selfless caretakers of those that are objects of their affection. Whether it’s children, parents, siblings, spouses, or significant others, some of us have an innate ability to nurture. Because of this, we sometimes make the men in our lives the central focus of our worlds. This can happen without us even noticing what we’re doing. Slowly we allow our relationship with God to slip to second place and make our other relationships our first priority. No matter how you might try to slice it, this is going to be a recipe for disaster. And most of us don’t realize it until heartache or the pain of disappointment comes knocking at our doors.

Romans 8:1(NLT) says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Condemnation paralyzes a person, because it makes us feel so bad about ourselves, that we fall into a state of putting ourselves down constantly. We don’t think and feel the way that God thinks and feels about us. So, condemnation doesn’t do anyone any good. In Matthew 6:33(NLT), Jesus Christ tells us, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” This is instruction and direction from heaven. It is why God created us. He created us to be His children, and as His children, we are to seek His Kingdom above all other things, and we’re to live righteously.

Jesus Christ doesn’t give us these wonderful instructions and directives to put us in prison. Exactly the opposite. He tells us these things to free us, to help us walk in the destiny God has in store for us. When we don’t seek God first, He doesn’t punish us. He doesn’t love us any less. Instead, God tells us the right thing to do so that we can reorder our steps and begin to walk in harmony with His Word and Will. He forgives us as soon as we ask Him. So, we should also forgive ourselves and be committed to turn things around by praying more, increasing our study time in the Bible, and spending more time with God. This is the way to be continually blessed.

No person on this earth has the ability to make us more or less than what God has made us. Psalm 28:7(NLT) says, “The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” God is our Sufficiency and Source of all blessings. He is the Source of our joy. Often, you will hear a person say that their husband, wife, or children is their everything. These are very sincere statements and they probably come from a good place, but a spouse or a child cannot give you life. Only the Spirit of the Living God gives life. He alone deserves all glory and honor.

A good attitude is to always recognize that spouses, families, and loved ones are treasures that come from God, but we must never put the gift before the Giver. When we begin to do this, and we let our relationship with God slip out of first place, we may endure some painful situations. Sometimes the person we treasure most will stop treasuring us. This can hurt really bad, but we shouldn’t sink into despair and become paralyzed by the pain. Life’s nudge may feel like a pretty hard thump, but it should be viewed as a wake-up call to reprioritize. James 1:2-4(NLT) says it best when it tells us, “2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Life will repeatedly teach us the lesson of seeking God and putting our relationship with Him before any other thing. It doesn’t have to be a hard lesson, but sometimes we make it this way because we ignore the reality of our identity as God’s children. We don’t ever have to go through hardships alone, because we have a loving Father that is close, and He will rescue us every time. God is love, and He teaches us how to love through Him, so that the very best can be done for everyone. So, let’s not allow our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ to take a backseat, because honoring the Lord is truly the only way that we can operate at our best, and be the best for those we love. ■

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.

“When A Nudge Feels like A Hard Thump”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.