Whenever I am in the depths of despair, which is not often—but it does indeed happen to all of us from time to time—I have found a secret that miraculously changes my perspective. Would you like to know the time-tested practice that has revolutionized my emotional stability as well as my spiritual tenacity?
I simply remember who God is! I begin to focus on His unchanging characteristics and in the identity that He so lavishes on us, His beloved children. I take my eyes off of my circumstances and place them firmly on the one true God.
I remind myself that my God is mighty and that nothing is too difficult for Him. I ponder the immutable fact that His arm is not so short that it cannot move. I also declare out loud—for all of the demons in hell to hear—that greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world.
I confidently recall that my God is a faithful God. When I am faithless—He is faithful still! Every promise that He has made He will keep, and every battle that He has fought He will win! His faithfulness extends to the heavens and extends to a thousand generations! He is the same yesterday, today and forever!
I focus on the sweet knowledge that He is love. He loves me just the way I am and I never have to prove myself to Him. If I never write another book, He will still be crazy about me! If I never speak at another conference, He will still be head over heels in love with me.
I rest in sweet peace as I remind myself that He is unceasingly kind. He is not an angry God who is just waiting for me to mess up, but He reaches toward me with His compassion and His kindness. How wonderful is that?
How sweet to know that God is a good, good God! His goodness is relentlessly chasing me down through every season and in every circumstance of my life. He knows of no other way to be than perpetually good. When I turn around, I see that His goodness and His mercy are following me all of the days of my life.
When I lay my head on the pillow at night, I remind myself that He never slumbers and that He never sleeps. As I learn to trust Him and His character, it is then that He keeps me in perfect peace!
When I remind myself of the matchless character of God, the valley of despair disappears more quickly than the dew on the morning grass. I am refreshed as I rehearse every adjective that the Bible uses to describe the God who made me, the God who loves me, the one who saved me, the Lord who has forgiven me and the King who sits on the throne of my heart!
Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. She has written five books: No More Ordinary, Holy Estrogen!, The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart and Defiant Joy! Her most recent book, Refined: Finding Joy in the Midst of the Fire, will be released on Aug. 1. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.
