Empty net..Worn heart..God can handle it all!

Determined? Yes. Discouraged? Yes. Seeking? With all my heart and soul. Hopeful? When my anxiety doesn't overwhelm me. Human? Yes, entirely. Which means I am far from perfect, I am certainly going to fail a lot in this life. Supernatural? Yes, Christ in me! Which means I have a choice daily to start by recognizing how incapable I am but how capable the Spirit is that lives within me. I am currently reading Max Lucado's, "Next Door Savior" and I just hit a great chapter entitled "Discouraged People". The scripture reference is Luke 5:1-11. I read the familiar story of Jesus telling Peter to cast his nets again. This was after a bad day of fishing, we are talking 0 fish. So, you can imagine how worn out he is, ready for a hot bath, dinner and straight to bed. It is one of those days that I can only identify with as one that leaves you feeling empty. I don't have a thing left to give and I don't see the point of even making an effort. I have found over the last year or so that there is a serious and sometimes very tangible battle going on between the mind and the heart, the natural and the supernatural. How do we prepare for this battle? By staying in relationship with our God, by digging deeply into the Word, by calling upon our sisters and brothers in Christ when we are at our lowest. It is hard to ask for help isn't it? I don't like to ask for help and I don't like admitting I can't handle something. So let's go a bit deeper: What happens when it seems God is not enough? I have been there and I am certain if you have not experienced it yet, you will. I believe God allows us to hit this low to ensure we have completely emptied ourselves of well, ourselves. To find at the bottom of it all, that we can look up and see Jesus. He is there. When you are sitting in the dark, wondering how am I going to go to sleep tonight with so much weighing on my heart and mind...sink into the realization that God wants to take it and bear it for us. Like any method or tool we adopt through a therapy process whether it is for your marriage, for dealing with a condition like OCD or Bipolar Disorder, for an addiction, whatever your battle may be--we have to choose to practice and use the tools we've been given every single day. When we use those tools in partnership with our supernatural tools--prayer/scripture/time with God, we can overcome. It is no different than eating a healthy diet and adopting an exercise routine to keep our physical bodies healthy and in balance. Somehow we have to find this balance for our lives on a natural and a supernatural level, and when we do we can experience peace and relief. Thank goodness Peter's day didn't end with an empty net. He did what Jesus asked him to do, cast his net and oh, what an amazing thing happened!
I encourage you today to know you are loved and prayed for, God is bigger than what you are facing today and He will help you. There is nothing He can't handle.