Nothing Can Hold You Down!

March 14

Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence. - Og Mandino

This simple admonition, "Count your blessings..." is God's invitation to us to take inventory of ourselves, of our lives, of our circumstances. He would have us to do so because in that simple accounting exercise we will come to the conclusion that in spite of the things that are amiss in our lives (and everyone's life has trials of one sort or another) the evidence of the Lord's loving hand upon still abounds.

He does not ask us to negate the challenges we face or to deny the impact of the actions and attitudes of those who have set themselves against us. He doesn't expect us to live a lie in order to improve our perception of our circumstances. But He would have us to recognize the truth of the Word that says, "If God be for us, who can be against us!" Romans 8:31—and HE IS FOR US!

He is for us. That is not always evident amid the clamor of negativity that impacts our lives. It is not always easy to hear His "still, small voice," I Kings 19:12 in the cacophony of competing shouts of accusation and condemnation that assail our ears. It is not always easy to discern His love when so much disdain is thrust in our face. It is sometimes impossible to feel hope when the weight of depression virtually crushes us.

But, Jesus IS for us. As Rich Mullins said so beautifully in "My Deliverer Is Coming," ...I doubt my heart, I doubt my eyes...but I will never doubt His promise. Through the hurts we endure, through the challenges we face, through the self-recrimination that we impose, the Lord is endeavoring to bring us to a realization of the immeasurable totality of His promises in our behalf.

Jesus wants us to know that we know that we know that we know –HE WILL NEVER FAIL OR FORSAKE US! (Hebrews 13:5) The problems He allows to touch our lives are designed with the intent that through them HE WILL REVEAL HIS FAITHFULNESS! So we listen for His voice of comfort when the winds of adversity blow. So we look for His hand of kindness when other hands would point accusing fingers in our direction. So we endeavor to sense His assurance of hope when our own heart is encompassed in despair.

And in so doing, we find that which He has intended for us all along—we find His peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7)—and when we do, we further discover that we are so precious to Him that He will indeed effect miracles in our behalf. He will indeed give us the beauty of His up-lifting promises in exchange for the down-trodden weight our spirits. We will discover without a doubt that "His banner over ME is love," Song of Solomon 2:4. Hold that banner high over YOU every day, for if you do, no person, no weight of care, no negative emotion can hold you down!