By Andrea Muirhead
I have just turned forty. I don’t feel forty. Not sure what forty is supposed to feel like. I recently had a chiropractor tell me that I had some natural degeneration that is caused by growing older and an eye tech tell me that my prescription was the same, for now. I guess that is what forty feels like.
Some of you are laughing at me because you’ve been there, done that, and you are feeling fine. Some of you can’t imagine what forty might feel like. I guess I’m in the middle of you all. I think I like being in the middle, you always get the covers!
Feelings. They are tricky things. They really can control us. Sometimes we can control our feelings, choosing to get into a better mood, but sometimes we cannot. I do not claim to know what to say to those who struggle to feel good. But here is what I know.
God is pleased with me and you! Not because of anything we have done, but just because He is God. Psalm 18:19, “He was pleased with me, so He rescued me. He took me to a safe place.”
God loves me. Unconditionally. Irrationally. He loves me. John 3:16, “God so loved the world so much that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost but have eternal life.”
God has a plan for my life! How exciting to know He is in charge. Ephesians 2:10, “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he has already planned for us to do.”
God is with us. We are not alone. We do not need to be afraid! Hebrews 13: 5-6, “God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.” So we can feel sure and say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. People can do nothing to me.”
I do not always feel this way. In fact, the world around me fills my mind with lies. The world encourages me to feel bad about my forty-year-old self and my forty-year-old life!
My encouragement to each of us is to read and reread God’s words of life! Whether I am currently feeling good or bad, after reading of His great affection for me, I can’t help but feel better! So keep reminding yourself how God feels about you and soon, you too, will begin to feel that way too!
I love this!! Oh and I’m super pleased with you too!!
Thank you Victoria for putting in a nutshell what is true for me as well as you. Retreat to me means back away and draw near at the same time. We are so blessed that our God loves us advancing and retreating unconditionally but also wants what is best for us.