Moving Through Life’s Changes with Victory

By: April J. Lisbon, Ed.D.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if there were no changes? Have you ever felt like the shifts of life get you down? Has this created a space or spaces within your life where you feel like all hope is lost?

Moving through life’s changes can be hard to navigate when you feel off balanced. Often times fear, depression, angst, and anger fills are hearts and minds to a point where we are ready to give up.

However, as the Word of God is true to it's promises and as stated in I Corinthians 10:13, He will never give us more than we can handle. When the pressures of life seem to wear you down, remind yourself that the Word of God is the equalizer to help you navigate the battle in the mind.

Understand that God never intended for life to be hard for any of us as He saw the weight of the world on the cross. Yet He also knows that the only way we can win the war of the mind is by never giving up. Standing on God’s promises is the key to helping you move through life’s changes.

Never walk this battle alone. The Word says that the battle is not yours but it’s the Lord’s as written in II Chronicles 20:15. You have already won the battle of the mind. Now walk in your victory in Jesus’s name.

If You Want The Perks, You Have To Do The Work

How many times have you heard someone say, “I wish I had what he/she has”? It may be a successful business or ministry, a slim figure, a happy family, or early retirement.

It’s easy to feel this way when you haven’t taken into account the hard work and self-sacrifice it took for them to get what they have. But the truth is the good things God has for us don’t just automatically happen.

We have to invest something—time, money, our abilities—in order to have everything God has planned for our lives.

The Easy-Way-Out Myth

Too often we want to skip the hard work and go directly to the results. People are always looking for the easy way to get what they want – a quick fix or some magic formula. 

They want to lose weight without having to cut calories or exercise. They want to have nice things without having to save the money to buy them. Nobody wants to suffer or sacrifice.

But the fact is, you and I will never have the things we want to have in life if we aren’t willing to practice the discipline and self-control it takes to have them. To put it bluntly, if you want the perks, you have to put in the work!

Discipline Is Not a Dirty Word

The Bible tells us that all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). Discipline isn’t fun, but it is essential for our character development and to prepare us for the end result of our hard work.

Self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit that develops when we do the right thing consistently, over and over again, for a long time. It’s about getting rid of an “I wish I had” attitude and having an attitude of “I’m going to go for it!.” 

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