When faced with hard times we take off running. We tend to run from anything that’s hard. We run from our problems. We run from responsibility. We run from people we don’t like or have conflict with. We run from our past. We run from anything that makes us uncomfortable.
We don’t seem to face issues and deal with them, we take the easy way out and go down the path of least resistance. But if you’re going to live in victory the way God intends, you have to learn how to face your challenges head on. Notice today’s verse doesn’t say, “keep running until you see the salvation of the Lord.” It doesn’t say, “bury your head in the sand until God delivers you.” No!
Today, God wants us to stand strong, set our faces like a flint, and fight the good fight of faith. And the good news is, you don’t have to do it in your own strength! He’s equipped you with His supernatural power to overcome every obstacle you will ever face, including the one you’re going through right now! Hallelujah!
“”¦stand and see the salvation of the Lord”¦”
(2 Chronicles 20:17, NASB)
Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for the gift of strength. Father, please search my heart. Show me any area in my life where I am running or hiding from life’s difficulties. God, help me to stand in faith, and I invite You to fight my battles, and to move mightily on my behalf, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
3 Little Ways To Stand Up For Yourself Every Day, No Matter What
Remember, You Deserve Respect
Since there’s a very close connection between push-over tendencies and low self-esteem, it can help to remind yourself that no one has the right to ignore you, be rude, or deny your feelings. Say that, and then keep the mantra playing in your head wherever you go. “Assure yourself that – without your consent – no one has the authority to invalidate you,” said Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D., in Psychology Today.
Practice, Practice, Practice
If you think you could use more assertiveness in your life, decide to practice it in small ways on a daily basis, perhaps by trying some of the things listed above. And if it takes a while to sink in, that’s completely OK. In fact, “research now shows that it takes 66 days to form a new habit,” Dr. Chronister says. “Practice asserting your needs daily for 66 days and watch it become automatic for you.”
Set Boundaries
Boundaries are where it’s at if you want to not only stand up for yourself, but to give others a better idea of how they should treat you. After all, “boundaries are simply those actions that you will not take or tolerate from others,” Joshua Klapow, PhD, clinical psychologist and host of The Kurre and Klapow Show, tells Bustle. “What is OK and not OK to you, and what you are willing and not willing to do, say, or hear or accommodate from others, and so on. Once these boundaries are set (and they can change over time) you are now in a position to stand up for yourself.”