How to stay positive and never lose faith during tough times

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Permalink Reply by Carla on March 16, 2019 at 1:43pm

Hi Nakesia;

Tough times can certainly knock us off balance.  The best advice I can give for this is from personal experience.. Pray through it.  Let our Lord amaze you as He answers prayer and shows you how HE is with you, and HE will never leave you.

Share your testimony with others to encourage them.

Be very intentional about remembering how He has carried you through tough situations in the past.

If you're trying to stay positive and keep the faith in your own strength you'll just be disappointed and discouraged.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your steps.

When you see Him working in your life through answered prayer, your faith will be strengthened.  

Regarding staying positive... I just have to say this: I believe in staying positive, but you have to be careful around this.  'the world' will tell you to 'just think positive'...  it's kind of a bunch of lies.  I don't see anywhere in scripture where Jesus tells us to 'stay positive'.  The danger is in the thought process that there is some kind of power in positive thinking.  There isn't, so don't fall into that trap.  It will only discourage you and cause you to lose faith.  Proverbs 17:22 says:

"A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."  

Just be careful where your joy comes from.

If your joy is coming from your circumstances because everything is going well and easy in your life, you will live on a constant roller-coaster, because I promise you, more hard times will come. (John 16:33)

Don't let circumstances dictate whether it will be a good day or not.  Feelings come and go as our situations change, but the LORD is our foundation who cannot be moved.  HE is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Zephania 3:17 says:

17  "The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing."

Rest in the truth that HE saves, rejoices over you with gladness, quiets you by His love, and exults over you with loud singing. You are loved, you are not alone, and you will never be alone.

Drink in the truth of God's love.  It's not something you need to claim or manufacture... It comes from God because that's who He is.  God is love.  I posted a small clip from Romans chapter 8 here, but I suggest you read the entire chapter.

Romans 8

35 "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.

Blessings, Carla

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on April 21, 2019 at 10:14pm

I can't add much more to what Carla has shared. Since hers is great Biblical advice, I'm going in the other direction & sharing how I handle situations in my life. I've definitely faced some hardships just in the past 6 months. My husband lost his job & they had sent us to the other end of the earth to California. We're originally from North Carolina. It was actually another planet altogether. So, we're in this black hole with no job & our only hope was getting a tarp & draping it over a fence with the other homeless. We had 1 severance check & we needed to make some decisions & soon. If we stayed in CA, we would need a job quickly or that check would be gone. We didn't have savings, 401K or any kind of retirement. We paid a moving company $23,000 to move our stuff. We decided that if we were going to starve & be homeless, we wanted to do it back home where we knew everyone. We sent 1 1/2 years rent to a house we found on the internet. We had to drive 6 days filling up gas tanks, eating & hotels. We also got new tires for my Vette which was over $2,000 if not more. He had some work on his trucks as well before leaving just to make sure everything was good to go. That was $500. The home we found on the internet which we live in now is 2,000 square feet. Our home in California was 6,000 sq ft. So, I had to sell 2/3's of my belongings & what I couldn't sell, I threw away if it didn't cost too much in the first place. We packed up everything & hit the road. The company had moved us twice. They would ship our vehicles to the new places, pay a moving company to pack up our stuff & we didn't touch a thing. They got the plane tickets as well as placed us in a company condo until we found a home. That wasn't what happened this time. We get home & still had not got a job for a while. Our money got down to $200 so we had to make a decision. I had a paid-for 2014 Premiere Edition Convertible Corvette Stingray. There were only 550 of these made & mine was #63. I absolutely ADORED this car. It was so fun to drive. It only had 12,000 miles on it in 4 years. I added another 2,000 driving back home. I admit that I wasn't so positive about it but knew it had to happen to feed my family among other things. I sold it for only $50 less than what I was asking which was a true God-sent. He got a job this past February & is making 1/5th of what he used to make. The cost of living in NC is way cheaper than CA so a cut in pay isn't so bad. I must admit, I do miss the money. I went shopping for years & if I wanted it, I bought it. Price was never an obstacle nor did I ever look at the prices. I know the Lord is trying to humble me & I'm kicking & screaming the entire journey.

One thing about me is that I'm laid back. What the average person would stress about, I find the humor in it. I look at the situation asking myself, how would this situation be different if I sat & stressed about it? Can my anxiety change the outcome for the better? Something has to be really bad for example, happening to my kids, for me to get anxious. Most things in life I just hit them head on & if I don't get the results I was seeking, I just accept it as being God's will in my life for whatever is going on. I know that He knows better than me. I just jump to the next step. 

Through all of the issues I have just encountered, it was such a blessing to come back home. The sacrifices have been worth the payoff. My best friend's dad once said to write down everything you stressed about worrying about what might happen. Then, weeks or months later, go to that list & see what actually happened in these situations. You find that what you thought was going to happen never did. Stress is a huge factor in many health issues. Why give yourself a heart attack worrying about something you can't change to begin with?

I do think it has something to do with people's personality as well. I also believe that you have to force yourself to see the brighter side. If you can't see the brighter side, laugh about it. It truly does make for good medicine. 

As far as faith, that hasn't been an issue for me for the most part. I always know that regardless of the situation, regardless of my choices & regardless of what I decide to do, He's got this. I know that 100. I knew this the entire time we were going through this. 

Sorry so long & revealing my life story but just wanted to share my way of handling things.

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