” We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of our constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”
– 2 Corinthians 4: 8-10
When it feels like the weight of the world is crashing down on you, what is your response?
When it feels like you are a broken shell of who you once were, how do you react?
When your feelings are so overwhelming that you can’t even make out a single thought in your head, where do you turn?
While suffering from mental health, all of us have felt this way at one point or another. I can tell you my exact answer to all of these questions: I lay down in defeat and I cry, or I run away and distract myself. What I hardly ever do? Stand and fight.
In that lonely place in my mind, I don’t think that I’m enough. I don’t believe that I can make it out. I don’t know how to fix it and make myself better, even though it’s what I desperately want. All I know in those moments is that I just want it all to stop.
Fighting your own mind is tiring. Battling the same screaming thoughts is exhausting. At some point, it just gets too much to do alone.
These verses give us so much hope. God never abandons us. No matter what we are going through, what thoughts we are having, or what physical battles we are fighting, God will never leave us.
There is so much comfort in knowing that even when I feel so lonely, so misunderstood, and scared that I’m actually not alone.
Let’s jump through this line by line! There is so much beauty in these words and I don’t want to miss any part of it!
Our Troubles
Paul first writes that we are pressed on all sides by troubles, but reminds us that we are not crushed or broken.
Whenever situations and life’s troubles get overwhelming it can feel like we are mentally, physically, or even spiritually breaking. We can all point to times in our lives where thing after thing after thing piled up on our to-do lists and our situations became so overwhelming that we felt like we might actually break.
But if we could take a step back from these situations and look at them through the lens of discernment, we would see that not everything on our to-do list was meant for us. Not every situation is looking for us to solve it. The big things in life that are troublesome, like illnesses and loss, are things that we need to be processing with God, not trying to handle by ourselves.
As women, we often take on more than we are supposed to be handling. Instead of giving up control, we give up our sanity. Instead of delegating, we put more and more stress on ourselves until we feel crushed and broken beneath all of the pressure.
Paul writes that when we feel this pressure, even though it might feel like we are crushed and broken, we aren’t! When we rely on God’s power and strength we can get through any situation. But do we always do that? Do we rely on God’s power or on our own willpower? I urge you to really think deeply about that question. Ask God to show you discernment over what you should be devoting time and energy to in your life and what you need to take a step back from. The answer might surprise you. The freedom that you will feel when following His direction in your life will be freeing.
Our Questions
As we walk through life, we question ourselves, our choices, situations and we even question God. In these verses, Paul says that while we may question, we still never give up or quit.
When I was at my lowest point in life and I had to enter an Eating Disorder Treatment facility, I prayed to the Lord for healing. I prayed for His strength to help me recover and get better. I made Him a promise during this time. I promised God that I would always follow His direction. I told God that I would do what He told me to do. When I looked at my life and looked at where listening to myself, my emotions and the enemy got me, I knew that I never wanted to be in this kind of low place again. I wanted to live the life that God had prepared for me. Above all, I wanted to discover the person that God created me to be.
One of the first things that God directed me to do was a morning devotional. So every morning, I got to the treatment facility early and I spent time with God reading His word and praying. During treatment, I used words that He gave me through prayer as affirmations when meals would get difficult. After treatment, in December 2019, God told me to start writing. He didn’t tell me what He wanted me to do with it yet, but I started writing on a blank google doc. By February 2020, He prompted me to start this blog, where I have been writing weekly (almost!) for a year and a half.
When we are obedient, God uses us. God can’t use us if we are off in the wilderness doing our own thing, living our own lives far from Him. God waits patiently for us to come to Him. And when we humbly come before Him, He will give you direction, purpose and He will set your path straight towards the life that He planned for you. He isn’t going to tell us the whole plan upfront. He gives us small steps of obedience to follow towards the bigger purpose that He has for us.
There is NOTHING WRONG with asking God questions. It’s completely natural to want to know what next steps He wants you to take, or what He wants you to do. God will answer them on His timeline. Personally, I’ve been asking God about the next steps for this blog for over a year, and just this week I got VERY clear instructions. Patience, faith, and obedience- that’s what it takes to follow God’s purpose for your life.
So when you have questions, when God hasn’t quite given you an answer yet, we are called to still serve Him. We are called to persevere even when God is quiet. It is easy to abandon ship when you haven’t heard anything from God about what to do. But instead of dropping it, we are called to persist and keep doing what we are doing until God tells us what to do next in His time.
Our Failures
When life knocks us down, it’s easy to stay curled up in the fetal position and close our eyes; pretending that nothing happened and that we are fine.
Failure is a part of life. And the biggest lesson that we learn when we get up and move on from failure? Failure doesn’t define us. Life’s failures usually teach us more important lessons than life’s successes ever will.
But most of us can’t move on past defining ourselves as a failure. We stick that label on ourselves and we never peel it off, instead, we walk around defeated. Because of past failures, we don’t take chances or risks. We go towards the safety of the choices we know the outcomes of instead of stepping out on a leap of faith.
When we label ourselves as failures, we stay stuck in life- not able to move on from the event and process the emotional baggage of it.
Paul tells us that when we get knocked down in life, we are to get up and keep going.
Paul tells us to live life being tough and resilient, not safe and scared! It is a CHOICE! I can’t stress this enough: We have SO many more choices in this life than we think we do. Every single person has the same 24 hours in their day, and the same power to change their mindset. It just takes consistent hard work.
One more thing that I want to point out: Having a mental health issue does not make you a failure, nor does it make you weak. Mental Health issues mean that our thoughts and the way that our brain processes things knock us down quite a bit. But even while we are knocked down by panic and anxiety, we can choose to turn to the Lord and ask Him to help us. Even when depression has us stuck in our minds, we can play worship music. Even when our thoughts are controlling and LOUD, we can choose to scream back the truths from the Bible about who we are in Christ.
I’m not saying that it will fix things immediately, or that you will never suffer from mental health issues again if you do these things. I’m saying that when you focus your mind on who is actually in control, who is fighting your mental health battle on the spiritual plane with you, and who created you from dust, then you get your mind to actually focus on the RIGHT things, not on all of the things going wrong around you.
Our Enemy
Paul writes that we are hunted down, and yet God never abandons us.
One of the devotionals that I wrote that sticks out in my mind is called ‘Climbing out of the Pit‘. In it, we discuss the traps and pits in life that the enemy lays down for us. These pits are made especially for us and designed to ensnare us so that we can’t get out.
The enemy literally hunts us down to keep us away from God and our purpose here on this planet. We don’t give the enemy enough credit for what he is able to accomplish in our lives if left unchecked- utter and complete chaos.
But no matter where we are hunted, no matter what pits we fall into, we will never be alone. God will sit with us in these pits that we fall into. God runs with us and carries us as we are hunted. God gives us direction so that when we are ready, we can stand and fight.
These pits are not always immediately recognizable once we get in them. Sometimes they are pits that we willingly jump into. Even then, God does not abandon us.
In all of the trials and tribulations, in all of the failures, heartaches, and grief, in all of the times that we feel alone and scared, we can stand firm on the truth that God is with us in that very moment.
Our Faith and Testament
As we go through battles in life, and we overcome hardships, people start to see God through us. We become part of the light of the world that shows people who God is. Even though our bodies will one day pass away, our souls will live eternally with God in heaven. But our lives here on earth will be a testament to God’s power and glory. We can show others how even through the hardest of times, God never left us. He never decided that we weren’t worth the trouble. He ALWAYS comes through.
Trials and suffering happen because we live in a fallen world full of sin. As believers, we are called to spread the Good News of God so that more people will see the Light.
I know that it seems like your suffering isn’t worth it. I know what it feels like to want everything to just be a little easier and for life to just not be so difficult. Everything that we go through is for a purpose and a reason. Every battle that you overcome is part of your testimony.
God will use you and your battles when you let Him in. He will use you when the time is right and when you are willing to be obedient to Him.
Let’s Stay in Touch!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s devotional! Below, I’ve got a few resources and other devotional recommendations for you to check out if you enjoyed this one!
Follow me on Instagram @heightsinheels and on Facebook and Pinterest at Heights In Heels!
Also, sign up for my weekly email newsletter below! I send out a new devotional weekly, as well as a freebie or two! In a few weeks, my MEMBERSHIP will launch!! Sign up for my emails to get more details about how to join and what to expect!
Speaking of emails, feel free to email me at [email protected] to drop in and say hi, to send a prayer request or to let me know what you thought of the post! I absolutely love receiving emails from y’all!
Want to be inspired and stay up to date with new postings? Weekly and monthly recovery updates sent to your inbox with new posts, freebies, coupons, calendars and more!
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Other Devotionals You Might Like
Resources for You!
The Cliff: A 15 Day Eating Disorder Recovery Devotional
I Want to Be Perfect: A Devotional E-Book
Transitions- A 15 Day Devotional
I am always praying for you,
