WHERE IS GOD IN HARD TIMES

One of the things I think people wonder about most these days is, “Where Is God In Hard Times?”

We are a country that is seeing some of the most challenging times in our history as we know it. Many people are asking this question, and really wondering where the answer lies, “Where Is God In Hard Times?” It is that we are not able to see God because we are so busy just trying to make it safely to death?

We see men and woman who come from many different belief systems asking similar questions, wondering where their Higher Deity is, and when it will rescue them from these struggling times. I remember when I was 33 years old and found myself going through a divorce people would say to me, “Go out and have fun, you need to take care of YOU! Just go have sex and you don’t have to care about the person, enjoy life.”

I thought right then and there, “We are a country that is going in the wrong direction, and we are going to find trouble if we do not get ahold of this way of thinking.” And now here we are, struggling with the “How’s!” How in the world do we fix this mess? How do we get the people to come together when we have become a nation that has spent the past 20 years turning its ideals towards doing what feels good for me?

The idea of knowing who you are as a man, or a woman has become so distorted in what our roles are, and this has caused such a breakdown in the family bond between husband and wife, parents and their children, and stretching into the extended families as well as coworkers, business operators, teachers and students. What has happened to treating people the same way we would want others to treat us?

For me, I know that in the 39 years of working with over thousands of people we have never faced some of the fears that we are faced with today.

So the question becomes, “How do we as the people of America come together to resolve some of these big concerns?” At least this has been the question I had been twirling around in my head for some time now until I was traveling in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan kayaking, and the thought came across my mind, “What if we are supposed to be divided?”

You know, in the Bible it talks about how people will be divided. God says you are either with me, or you’re not. You are either for me, or your’e not. He even lets us know that if we are undecided we are not truly with him.

Therefore, if we are not living for a higher deity, in other words…. If we are not in search of living out this higher expression of ourselves, which is the Christ side within us, then what is our soul’s purpose? Ultimately, isn’t this what people need to feel, that they have value?

Maybe, we are going through these hard times, which could be referred to as tests and trials, to see the substance of what we are made of. To determine our core values, and how we express them.

I know if  I had even one of my hard times taken away, I would not be who Alisa is today. These tough times are the times that test, and try my character to see who Alisa really is. And is she willing to make the necessary changes to become a higher version of herself today than she was yesterday?

How does Alisa treat the people who come around her?

This is a question I ask myself when I want to look deeper into the results I am experiencing in my life. When I am faced with uncomfortable situations do I think of all the people involved, or am I thinking of myself, and what I want more? Am I making decisions that are for the greater good of all the people involved, or are my decisions just a way for me to get what I want?

When I’m feeling stressed I strive to weed out the things in my life that I know need to go in order for me to connect with peace, and feeling rested in my Spirit. I try to recognize my expressions in character to prevent these things that hold a bondage over me through guilt.

I remind myself that I do have value even when I’ve made bad decisions. Just because we make a bad decision does not define who we are.  And honestly, is there really even a bad decision if our intentions are directed towards the greater good for all the people involved as we are making our decisions?

These things that I can procrastinate about, that will give me some time and money freedom, I take all responsibility in. I recognize that it is up to me to take the action steps towards the higher version of myself. It is no one’s responsibility but my own to create a better life for myself, and the people I love. How I respond to things that happen to me in my life is my own decision.

One very important thing I have come to know in life is that our circumstances do not define who we are, our decisions do!

There is a story I heard recently of a man who had been sentenced to prison for life from bad decisions. He would laugh at the man who was coming to the prison once a week to help people connect with God, and to show them how to think. This man was teaching the inmates the skills on how to think from a higher frequency from what they had been accustomed to. And this new way of thinking could lead them to living out a higher version of themselves.

After this inmate was shown how to think his way out of a life sentence in a maximum security prison; into a life of a second chance, he embraced this training and eventually walked away from that prison with a soul’s purpose. He made the decision to live a different version of himself, and he did this until his day to go to rest came. This man’s story must have changed many lives before he went to be with God.

When we live life from this higher version of ourselves our growth shines this beautiful expression of life onto those around us!

When we make conscious efforts to clean up our thoughts, this cleans up our behavior. America can definitely use some cleaning up, Would You Agree?

So let’s not put our energy into these hard times, but rather let these times bring the people of God together in a much bigger way. Let us be a force that stands together against all odds in our FAITH. Let us BELIEVE there is a higher CHRIST LIKE side within us at work wanting to grow into expression for those around us.

The people who stand tall with the cross of Jesus Christ will be rewarded with the jewels which consist of all the resources that have been put out into the Universe for each one of us to gain as our reward.

So I want to encourage you to take your worries of today, and hang them on the cross of your SAVIOR, and walk boldly towards your goals, and trust in the Lord to keep you in his grace, and cover you in HIS love!