All Things Skin, Wellness & Faith
All Things Skin, Wellness & Faith
BREADCRUMBS OF FAITH DEVOTIONAL 30: Finding Light in Affliction
Finding strength in suffering through God's promises preserves our lives and guides us through difficult times, as emphasized in Psalm 119:50 from this week's Breadcrumbs of Faith devotional.
• Taking every thought captive prevents the enemy from gaining a foothold during trials
• Journaling both struggles and answered prayers creates a record of God's faithfulness
• Seeking guidance from mature believers provides perspective when overwhelmed
• Focusing on gratitude shifts our perspective from what's lacking to what's blessed
• Recognizing that affliction often comes before breakthrough helps maintain hope
• Utilizing both prayer and community creates powerful spiritual warfare tools
• Creating a personal collection of promise scriptures equips us for difficult seasons
Join us next week for another encouraging devotional to strengthen your faith journey.
Hey, there, you're tuned into another episode of All Things Skin Wellness and Faith, a podcast where you'll learn simple ways to implement skincare and wellness techniques from a holistic approach. On this podcast, we'll explore practical ways to address skin health and overall holistic spiritual well-being, while deepening your faith. I'm your host, natasha Diaz, a licensed holistic esthetician, day spa owner and a faithful believer and follower of Christ, and it's time to get ready to get encouraged and empowered as we dive into all things skin wellness and faith.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello and welcome back to this week's episode of Bright Crumbs of Faith by All Things, skin, wellness and Faith, our weekly encouragement and devotional to help uplift you and encourage you throughout the duration of your week. This week's breadcrumb or word of encouragement, pretty much, I want to focus on suffering and affliction, and the verse that I wanted to focus on is out of Psalm 119, 50. That reads my comfort and my suffering is this your promise preserves my life. This is a scripture that I think we can hold on to pretty much very daily. As Christians and believers, we all go through suffering, we all go through times of affliction, but it is the word of the Lord that is our sustenance and I think that during those times we have to remember to focus on his word. I think that during those times it is very important that we do not let what the enemy speaks to us take over our minds, for the Bible also says to take every thought captive, and I think that's very important, because what that scripture states is to just be mindful of what you're meditating on, because, whether it's positive or negative, if you're focusing on something negative, the enemy is going to use that and he's going to run with it. And the Bible also says, you know, do not give the devil a foothold. That means even one little tiny negative thought in the middle of your situation that you focus on can pretty much be like a loose thread that just unravels and leads to one chaotic thought after another, after another, and that is all the enemy needs. In this scripture it pretty much says that it is your promise, or your promises, that preserves our lives. So what we need to do and this is, you know, could be pretty much common sense, but it's to focus on the word, to get into that word, to find what the word says according to that situation, whether it's something that's financial or it's something that is with our health, or something within a relationship with our children, with our marriages, whatever it is, whatever it is that looks dark and gloomy, we need to speak light to it.
Speaker 2:This scripture also reads a little bit differently in the message translation. It says I hang on to these words for dear life. These words hold me up in bad times. Yes, your promises rejuvenate me. So it's like, really, when we're in the situation that we are, you know, pretty much depleted, or we are deprived or we are thirsty, it is the word of God that we focus on. That we could say, yes, lord, your word says I'm the head and not the tail. Things, not the tail, the things. Things may look bad right now, but I know that, god, you will never leave or forsake me and this is why I love journaling so much. Because, excuse me, this is why I love journaling so much, because in journaling you know it can be a time that is your own self-encouragement.
Speaker 2:When you journal both the good and the bad, you have a time that you can kind of look back and see, you know what it is that the Lord has carried you through. What I have is what I call my little thank you or my gratitude book. I think I've mentioned this in previous episodes. I'm sure I have, because it's something that I do on a regular basis, but I have a list of prayers and those prayers go on my prayer wall and when the Lord is faithful and he is many, many times I take it off of the prayer wall and I put it into my gratitude book or my gratitude journal and then I can reflect back on his goodness. Then I can reflect back and see how he is faithful. So we often hear these scriptures and we hear things like this from many pastors, preachers, teachers. You know to focus, to meditate on the word in hard times, but what does that really look like tangibly? So I just want to give you a few key things that you can do, especially this week.
Speaker 2:If this is you, or you know maybe may not be you right at this moment, but in a future time where you are just, you know, be in attacks, you know life is just being life, whatever it is. I never like to give, you know, the enemy credit unnecessarily, but sometimes you know he is very active and often, when we are very close to a breakthrough, a lot of people may think that you know, affliction comes because we have done something wrong or we have opened the door to the enemy, and certainly that can be. This is where your discernment comes into play. But sometimes it's just simply the fact that you have done really good and you're getting really close to where you need to be, and he can smell that and he can sense that and he wants to do anything in his power to just keep you from focusing on where you're going and to keep your eyes focused on circumstances that don't really matter. So in times like this, what can we do really matter. So, in times like this, what can we do?
Speaker 2:There are a few things that we can do other than meditating on the word and focusing on his promises. We can find a person that we trust, a person that is wiser or more mature, and just kind of seek them for guidance, ask them to kind of pray with us. I know I've had to do that, you know, earlier on a week, and have asked that person to give you a little bit of insight on the situation. Often you know an older, more mature brother or sister in your congregation, or a pastor or another minister, even a friend or a family member, if they're safe, that is, and they are more. You know someone that is mature and they walk, can see things in a way that you cannot see them, and they can kind of help not only pray with you but point you in a better direction and help you see things from a different perspective from what you're able to see them at that time.
Speaker 2:Another thing you can do is just to believe that how fortunate you are. Look at what you have instead of what you don't have. Like I said, journaling and looking back on the past, things that the Lord has carried you through. Look and see how fortunate you are in different areas of your life and other areas where other people may not have been as fortunate as you are. Look at opportunities that have been given to you, freedoms that have been granted. Often, like I say, look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. Another thing you can do is to just believe in your destiny and accept the current discomfort and affliction that are going on as a way of saying I'm on my way. Just like I said before, a lot of the times that we are going through these things is because we are in the middle of a breakthrough.
Speaker 2:I've often said this, and it's a cliche saying that I'm sure you've heard before. You can't have a testimony without a test, and often what we need to do is just focus on the bigger picture. The Lord often and with me at least, definitely shows you a vision that he has for you, gives you a sneak peek of the plans that he has for you, gives you a sneak peek of you know the plans that he has for your future. Jeremiah 29, 11 says I know the plans that I have for you, the plans to prosper you At times. There are times that we may be downtrodden, we may be, you know, afflicted, but that is not always the situation. There are oftentimes where the Lord is giving you a peek at what he has for you. Stay focused on that destiny, believe in the vision that he has shown you and stick to him in prayer.
Speaker 2:Prayer moves mountains, not just a verse that comes out the Bible something fancy that said, it's true, your prayer has power. You have to know the power of your prayer and you have to know the power of your faith. When you tie these two together and you seek the Lord wholeheartedly, you have the catalyst for what brings you out of the muck and mire and into the future. But you have to have faith and you have to believe. This is why, like I said often not often, but there are times that you can just be so stricken down that you need someone to just say like you know, I need a lifeline. You need someone to just reach out their hand and to just pull you up and to encourage you. To just reach out their hand and to just pull you up and to encourage you.
Speaker 2:If you may not be at a place where you can encourage yourself. Sometimes there are times that you can just go into prayer and you can go into the word and the Holy Spirit will minister to you and, just like Elijah, you know he will send angels, you know, to kind of feed you spiritually in that moment. But sometimes you need a brother, a sister, a pastor, whoever it may be, to pull you out. So utilize these things to you know, help, pull you into a path of prosperity, to help the things that you know the Lord is destined for you come to pass. Because if you sit there and you wallow in pity and you wallow in the darkness, the enemy will certainly take advantage of it. It's not a place that you want to stay in for too long.
Speaker 2:So this week, what I want you to do, if this is you and you find yourself in this situation just take a minute to meditate on some things, to focus, to even use this as a journaling prompt, if you want to. If you're someone that likes to write or someone that likes to journal, think about who or what gives you a lantern to find your way out the darkness. Think about who it is that you can turn to Think about, like I said, whether it's a pastor or minister, think about some scriptures that you meditate on. Or another thing you can do is find and list scriptures that speak his promises to these specific situations, so that when you come into these situations, whether it's notes in your phone or notes in the journal, you can say, okay, I'm feeling down, I'm feeling out, I'm feeling desperate, I cannot see my word, my way out of this situation. But, lord, your word says this. And then have you know, just a list of either people or not even so much people.
Speaker 2:Like I said, people are helpful, but the word is our sword. The word is what we use to fight and what we use to battle. And while we do need people, there's power in community, there's power in the word as well. And when you tie these things together, this is how we pull together and we fight spiritual warfare. So, all right, guys, this is just we pull together and we fight spiritual warfare. So all right, guys. This is just a break from just a short encouragement for this week. I certainly hope that you have been encouraged. I thank you so much for tuning in today. I invite you to come back again for next week's encouragement and I just say thank you so much I love. Love you all. Bye for now, and God bless.