Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Wield the Power
Overwhelmed with Troubles, Near Death, in a Pit, without Strength.
Hebrew 11:1
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
In the throes of depression, anxiety or even a PTSD attack, I feel alone. I feel I am in the pit. I am surrounded by darkness.
Yet, in this darkness that is full of evil, sadness, hatred, anger a sweet sickening voice calls out softly. It pretends to be my friend. It pretends to understand. It pretends to comfort me. It says things like…
Life is so hard. Your life is a struggle. It just isn’t worth it. Just give in. You are so tired. It would e easier if you just give up. You don’t want to fight anymore. You can’t fight anymore. Everyone else would be so much better without you in their lives. That is what you really want. you are a selfless, loving person. You want what is best for them. So go ahead. Do what is best for them.
In the pit, I feel like Psalms 88:3-4
I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am like one without strength.
Yes, I am overwhelmed with troubles, near death, in a pit, without strength.
But, wait! These words are in God’s word. God knows where I am. God knows what I am feeling. He used the exact words I am feeling. He even knows I feel like I am crying out to Him and He is rejecting me (Ps 88:14).
He has also provided a magic word to see me through the pit. There is one word, just five little letters long, that will see me out of this pit. That word is FAITH!
The writer of Hebrews us in chapter 11 verse 1 said,
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
So, where does this leave me in my pit of despair? It leaves me confident that as I hope for God to save me and assurance that even though I don’t see Him right now He is there.
THAT IS FAITH!
The KEY of Power
Revelations 1:18
I am the LIVING ONE: I was dead and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
I held the small cold metal in my hand. I turned it over and over, running my finger down its jagged edge. It was mine. All mine! My parents had trusted me with a key to the house! Wow! What a huge responsibility. They must have thought I was quite grown up!
A few years later, another key was placed in my hand. This one to a 1966 Ford Mustang. I was sixteen years old and just passed my driver’s license test. My dad and mom bought me a car. Wow! What a huge responsibility! What power! It was all mine!
Next came the key to my first apartment, then several rental places. One beautiful, magical day came a few years ago. The realtor said, “Congratulations! It is all yours! Here are your keys!” My first home. It was amazing. It was a huge responsibility! It was powerful!
There is just something about holding keys to something, whether it is a car, apartment, or a house. It means you own a part of something. It is YOUR car or YOUR home! You are not just along for the ride or staying somewhere.
My friends, I want to remind you something. Satan tries to convince us he is this all big and powerful being. He tries to manipulate and deceive us with his lies of power and grandeur. However, he doesn’t even have the keys to his own home! It clearly states in Revelations 1:18 that Jesus holds the keys to death and hell. He isn’t even important enough to have a key to his own home.
Satan has no control! He even had to ask permission to torment Job (Job 1:6-12)! He is not a big, bad all powerful being. He does not have any control over you. He cannot touch you without God’s knowledge. He doesn’t even hold the keys to his own home. He holds NOTHING over us. Shoot he can’t even blackmail us because God knows everything we have done and is waiting and willing to forgive at any moment.
Live today with your head held high! The next time Satan comes around bothering you, just remind him, he doesn’t even own the keys to his own home!
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Stop It! You Are Not Going to Die!
Judges 6:23
But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
“Oh, stop! You are not going to die!”
I am not sure how many times I heard this growing up or how many times I have said it myself to my own kiddos. It is a rather popular phrase to throw out when someone is overreacting.
These words jumped out at me recently when I was reading the story of Gideon in Judges chapter 6. I stopped and giggled. Yep! Even, an Angel of the LORD used this phrase!
Now, I am not so sure this Angel had the hands on the hips, head cocked, eyes rolled and loud sigh when he said these words to Gideon. However, I sure heard it that way when I read it. Then I stopped and wondered just how many times had God spoke those words over me?
How many times had I once again turned a mole hill into a mountain? Now, I am not talking real problems here. I am talking those little things that you just let your imagination run with and now the world is coming to an end. The sky is not falling chicken little!
I can hear God telling me, “You are not going to die!” As a matter of fact, a frequent phrase I hear is, “Are you done yet! You are not going to die!” When that thought enters my head, I draw my bottom lip back in, suck up the snot bubble, wipe my eyes and reply, “Yes LORD, I am finished. What do I do now?”
You see, I hear these words when I have been trying to work out my issue on my own. I have not turned to God. Instead, I decided I was big enough to solve this problem all by myself. In simple words, I. Have. Messed. Things. Up! Now I am slinking over to my corner to lick my wounds wondering why everyone is out to get me.
It is in that moment, my wonderful Heavenly Father leans down and quietly says, “Are you ready for some help now? If so, let’s get you cleaned up and walking in the right direction again. Now, pull it together sweetheart, you aren’t going to die. We can make this right. Don’t be afraid, I am going to be right here with you.”
I will never be too old to mess up and I will never be too old to hear these loving words!
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
God and Jesus Needed Rest
Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
“If you are not exhausted, then you are not working hard enough!”
Anyone else want to slap someone who tells you this? I know that isn’t very Christian like of me, but that phrase gets my blood boiling.
OK, maybe when I am working out really hard or practicing for something I should feel exhausted, but a good exhausted. I don’t however, think I need to feel exhausted at the end of everyday, which is what this person was trying to tell me.
As a teacher, the first few weeks back to school are always exhausting. Your body has to get use to the schedule and routine again, but eventually you get in your groove. Trying a new thing can feel exhausting, especially if you get frustrated with it. Oh, and don’t get me started about the whole daylight savings time!!!!
I do not believe we were met to always be at exhaustion level though. I think we leave ourselves vulnerable when we hit exhaustion all of the time. Life is hard and we have to work at but it doesn’t mean we have to kill ourselves over it.
Jesus told us to come to Him when we are weary and burdened, and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28). Even He knew we were going to need a rest! He promised us we would find rest for our souls if we walked with Him.
God Himself took a rest day! By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2: 2-3).
And of course there is my personal favorite. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion (Mark 4:38). My friends Jesus took a nap! Be more like Jesus! It is Ok to rest up. If God and Jesus needed some downtime we certainly could use some.
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
HE IS THERE
Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalms 27:14
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Living with any mental illness can drive you to a dark place. I often here others talk about this deep dark pit of despair. I immediately listen to them because I know exactly where they are talking about.
No, it isn’t on a map, but somehow we all describe it as the exact same place. We all speak of it being so dark and small. The walls seem to be slick and yet jagged at the same time. It is impossible to climb out.
The darkness is so think, you could cut it with a knife. You feel the darkness closing in around you, tightening around your throat. Even through the darkness, you know there are things slithering around you.
It is like pure evil moving in and out and around you. Laughing, sneering, telling you lies after lie.
You aren’t enough!
No one likes you!
No one would miss you if you were gone!
The pain is too much to handle!
You have gone too far this time!
You might as well end it all!
You will feel so much better if you just end it now!
If you have never been to this place, count your blessings right now! Family and friends cannot drag you out of this place. For many, who listen to the voices, they can’t even look up to reach God himself. It is as if the world has been swallowed up around you and all you see, hear and feel is this darkness.
It has taken lots of years, and lots of prayers to find things that help me in this pit. Sometimes the answers come quickly. Other times, I struggle. I know when I feel myself slipping I need to reach out to trusted friends to hang on to me. Someone to remind me of the lies I am listening to. Someone to help me reach up to GOD! No matter what those voices are saying, HE IS right there with me. Even when I can’t see HIM or feel HIM!
I have also learned to pray scriptures. I memorize them and ask God to break through those voices and remind me of the verse when I need it. He has always been faithful in answering that prayer. Then, I have to do the foot work. I have to memorize the scriptures and I have to repeat them in the pit.
My voice usually starts off as a whisper, then gets louder and louder, until I drowned out the other voices. They can’t be heard over God’s Word! Some of those verses are the ones I have written at the top!
The LORD is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid. Wait for the LORD: be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27: 1 & 14)
I don’t know where you are right now. I also don’t know what roads you have traveled or about to go down. I do know that GOD is faithful! He will find you wherever you are! Hang on to HIS word and promises. Even in the darkest of places, HE IS THERE!
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Frustratingly Frustrated
Psalm 77:11
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I feel, agape, aghast, amazed, astonished, bamboozled, beat, bewildered, blown away, bowled over, breathless, buffaloed, confounded, dismayed, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, floored, knocked, licked, overcome, puzzled, shocked, speechless, staggered, startle, stuck, stumped, stunned, surprise, taken aback, thunderstruck.
In other words: I. AM. OVERWHELMED!
It has been one of those very looooooooong days. I am switching jobs and had to go to a benefits orientation. I am very grateful to be offered so many wonderful possibilities, but man, making the choices is a nightmare. They throw out so many words like HMO, PCP, OAP, QCHP, SURS, and the alphabets goes on and on and on!
My frustration level quickly hit DEFCON 1. My head started to hurt. I wanted to run, find a place to curl up in a ball and cry my eyes out. I wanted my mommy!
Some of you may be giggling right now, while others are yelling, “Amen, Sister!” The point is all though this situation may have not brought you to your knees, but I am guessing something at sometime may have.
We all get frustrated sometimes. It is OK! It is not unChristian to feel frustration. It is not a lack of faith or hope. It is not a disappointment to God. It certainly isn’t a sin!
News Flash! Jesus got frustrated! Take a peek at Matthew 16
5Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? 11Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
12Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus was frustrated with the disciples. I am not saying He became a hot headed maniac and just let loose on the guys. However, clearly He was irritated.
Frustration is an emotion we must work through. You can’t hide it, drink it, or eat it away. Believe me I have tried. Those things may make you feel better for awhile, but the pain comes back and brings friends like guilt!
Lord, thank you for letting us feel our emotions. Thank you for helping us work through them. Thank you for teaching us through example. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago (Psalm 77:11).
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Open My Eyes
Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Have you ever ask God to open your spiritual eyes to show you the glimpses of glory you cannot see by yourself?
Without God’s help, we are simply “natural” persons with natural eyes. Paul reminds us, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand [see] them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The goal of our Bible reading and study is simply to know and enjoy Jesus. “Seeing they do not” was Jesus’s phrase for those who saw him and his teaching only with natural eyes, without the illumining work of the Spirit (Matthew 13:13). This is why Paul prays, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians 1:17–18).
By seeing through God’s eyes, we see the beautifully and wonderfully made children we are. We see each other as God’s children. We spend less time competing and more time serving.
Today, I hope you will join me in praying not just for the gift of spiritual sight, but for the gift of seeing wondrous things in God’s word and world around us.
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Greater than the Haters
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female–for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
My mom and I went to see the new Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation. Don’t worry I promise no spoilers. The idea behind this one is the same as the other two. Humans and monsters should be able to live together in peace.
This got me thinking about how we all should be able to look past our differences and live together in peace. I mean we are the ones that give ourselves all these titles, tags and labels.
I invite you for a moment to look through God’s eyes. When He looks at us, do you think He says,”Oh, there is Tabetha the overweight middle aged, conservative, Christian, dog lover from the midwest of America.” No! He does not! He doesn’t see any of these labels. These are all labels we humans have created to define ourselves.
It is perfectly Ok that we are different. Yes, we are different genders, ages, body types, religions, races, and cultures. We have different opinions on politics and even pet choices. However, those things were never meant to define us.
When labels begin to define us, we begin building walls. We create shackles that hold us back. We set boundaries. We decide what is wrong and right and who is wrong and night. We become haters.
Jesus came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18.) He came to free us from our defined labels. He brought grace to us so we could look through grace eyes. We could see each other just a God sees us, His children, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12.)
We are to show mercy and grace to those who chose to define us and dislike us. As Murray the Mummy likes to say, “We gotta be greater than the haters!”
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.
Perseverance Requires Grace
James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Yes! I would love to run a marathon! It is on my bucket list!
That was me a couple of years ago. I did not run, unless someone was chasing me or the ice cream truck passed me. However, I always wanted to run a marathon and I had 10 months to figure it out because I signed up!
I am going to let you into my world for a moment. At that time in my life, I was a cute, little piece of chunkiness at 250 lbs. Many people, including my doctor, always referred to me as proportionally fat. I am not so sure that was a compliment, but they assured me it was.
Either way, shopping for running shoes and clothing did not come easy. Most athletic stores thought a size 8 was XL! I have to give some props to my most favorite stores in this area though. They both had wonderful staff who didn’t even blink when I said I was going to run a marathon. They congratulated me and offered me all sorts of advice.
My favorite was this little guy (I am sure my shadow weighed more than him) who was a runner. He had ran several marathons. Knowing that I wasn’t the typically shaped runner, he recommended I buy mens’ running shoes because they would handle my more robust frame. He tried to say it so delicately. It was the cutest thing. Then he looked at me and told me to take it slow and give myself plenty of grace.
Grace…now there is a word that I would have never thought of when training for anything athletic. I pictured my workouts more like having a Drill Sergeant on my shoulder calling me every name in the book and telling me I am not good enough and had to try harder. Grace?? Where does grace fit in?
Well, let me tell you Mr. Wisp of a Man was totally correct! You see I had to start out learning to walk 30 minutes without killing myself. I then learned to run for small burst here and there. Next, I learned to run for 30 minutes straight. Eventually, I ran farther and longer. Then I had to learn to run faster. I had to persevere.
Some days were hot, others cold. Rains came down along with sickness. Not to mention I had a few pulled muscles and lots of cramps! Any point along the way I could have said, “Nope! I am not good enough! I am too fat and no fat woman should never run!” I could have quit, but I didn’t.
I offered my body and mind some grace. Sure, I would get up some days and say there was no way I was going to run that many miles. I wasn’t feeling well or the weather wasn’t cooperating. “No problem. I will run as much as I can today instead.” There were even days when I got so sick I couldn’t walk, let alone run. That was OK too. “I will rest up today and hit it hard tomorrow!”
Just like our walk with Christ, we aren’t going to be perfect all the time. We aren’t always going to live in a perfect world. Our days are not going to consist of rainbows and unicorns all the time. It is OK. We just have to persevere. We have to get up and walk again. We offer ourself a little grace and pick right back up and move on.
Before you know it, you will be throwing off everything that hinders you and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for you (Hebrews 12:1).
By the way, I ran that marathon, with my daughter, at 230 lbs. Unfortunately, it was an extremely cold day and half way through I succumbed to hypothermia. But you know what? I can say by the grace of God I ran a half marathon! YAY ME!
Copyright © 2018 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.