A Prayer for Finding Balance in Lifes DemandsBy Heidi Vegh  Bible Reading"But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right attitude and character of God), and all these things will given to you also. – Matthew 6:33 (AMP) Life can just be a lot. I would imagine that our world has just gotten busier and busier. In this technological age, there are a million and one activities for our children to be involved in, busy careers, school events, and unlimited access to information and opportunities. We are busy. A hundred years ago I would think that life was simpler in a lot of ways, in terms of business.  We are bombarded in our emails, social feeds, and internet searches for new books to read, new supplements to research, new courses to take, and new things to pursue. Life is busy, so how do we find a balance between all the things and rest? How do we create space to sit in silence when the world around us is so loud? As I prepare to write this article, I will ask the same questions. I want to know how to find balance.  The first thing that comes to mind is priorities. Where are your priorities? What is the first thing you do when you open your eyes in the morning? Is it grab your phone and scroll for messages and alerts or do you say good morning to God? Do you immediately jump in the shower or go for a run or do you ask God to be a part of your day? Do you scour your to-do list and immediately feel overwhelmed or do you surrender your day to God and ask Him to guide your steps? Do you read a Bible verse to start your day or read the latest breaking headline? We are all immersed in a fallen broken world where it is easy to put the wrong things first. But it's not too late to change that. In Matthew 6:33 it tells us to "seek first the kingdom of God." That means putting Him first. Put Him first before anything else. The best way to practice is first thing in the morning. This simple change could direct your days in many different ways. Instead of starting your day stressed and overwhelmed, you can dive into sweet and encouraging scripture that gives you a truth to hold onto and ponder throughout your day. This verse in Matthew also tells us that "all these things will be added unto you." When you seek God first, things will fall into place. This doesn't mean that trouble won't befall you, but perhaps if you knew that God was directing your day, then you wouldn't take detours so seriously. You can more easily trust that it is God's plan that you took a wrong turn or that your dinner plans were canceled. You can make light of disruptions when you know that God is behind it all.  This requires full surrender, but think of the weight it could lift off your days to help you find balance. You can listen to the Lord when you feel overwhelmed with tasks. You can take a small moment to ask Him to guide you to the next right thing. Sometimes, his answer may be to take a nap instead of catching up on the pile of mail on the kitchen counter or call a friend instead of cleaning the bathroom. This view can help you balance out all the to-do's and the rest that we all so desperately need.  Let's pray: Lord, life is busy and overwhelming, and I need balance. I don't like feeling lost in all the activity and not having any time for you or rest. I am running on empty and need you to replenish my soul. I need you to remind me in the mornings to start my day with you. I need your Holy Spirit nudge to bring me back to you. I want my days to be directed by you but I know that means surrender and giving up my ideals for how things should go. I need to be ok with holy interruptions to make room for what you have for me. Show me how to find balance in my daily life. Show me things I need to say no to, things I need to lay down, and the things I need to pick up. I need your guidance in truth in everything that I do. Help me to remember to pray before decisions, big and small. Help me recognize when I have said yes too much and how to let things go. I want a healthy balance of work and rest, but I know the only way to find that is in you and your precious guidance. Thank you, Jesus, that you care about all the things in my life, big and small. Show me how to make room for you in my life because I know when you are my priority, you will order my days the way that you want them, and I won't be overwhelmed with trying to make it all work in my power. Thank you for your deep love for me, thank you for caring about every detail of my life, and thank you for the perfect guidance and truth that I only need to grab onto.In your precious name, I pray, amen. Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Delmaine Donson Heidi Vegh is a writer, speaker, and ministry leader living in Western Washington. She is a remarried mother of four, navigating the blended family life after the loss of her first husband to cancer in 2013. She longs to use her writing as a way to encourage others who have experienced loss and guide them on the road to healing. She contributes to her blog found at www.mrsheidivegh.com , sharing stories and devotionals of faith stemming from her loss and healing, mothering, and her blended and complex family. She graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a degree in Creative Writing and English and is working on her first book. Heidi is the Women's Ministry Director at her local church and has a deep heart for sharing Jesus with women and encouraging them in their faith walk. When she is not writing, she loves to travel, read, craft, and experiment in the kitchen. Visit her Facebook and Instagram (@mrsheidivegh) to learn more. Related Resource: Remember God’s Enduring Love for You in this Guided Meditation on Psalm 100! This guided Christian meditation from Psalm 100 will help you experience and praise God for his unending love for you. Become aware of God's presence with you, and praise God for his loyal and enduring love from the beginning of time and into the future. Listen to every episode of the So Much More Podcast on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode! Now that you’ve prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below! Visit iBelieve.com for more inspiring prayer content. The post A Prayer for Finding Balance in Life’s Demands – Your Daily Prayer – September 9 appeared first on GodUpdates.

September 9, 2024 If You’re Walking a Road That’s Still Really HardLYSA TERKEURST Lee en español "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Recently, a sweet gal sent me a message on Instagram. She wanted me to know more about her story. She thought she'd been obedient to God for the past decade after an immense heartbreak, but she was questioning that now because her life was still really hard. She wanted to know if I would be so positive and confident in trusting the Lord if I hadn't met the man who is now my husband, Chaz. Such a fair and understandable question. Trusting God without seeing the redemption we thought we'd get to see by now can feel like the deepest betrayal of all. It's also what builds our faith, but sometimes we'd rather have relief than another learning opportunity. I sat with her question for a while. I don't hang out in my DMs often and rarely get to respond as much as I would like to. But since I read this message, I knew I needed to respond. And I didn't want my answer to gloss over her deep pain with a few cliché sentences and a Bible verse. She deserved more than that. And so do you, as you may find yourself navigating something similar. This is what I wrote back: I've spent many nights staring up into the sky, bewildered as I felt my disappointment turn from grief to numbness to distance from God. There were so many times when I thought God was about to turn everything around, but then things got worse. Some of my darkest days were when I couldn't understand what God was allowing. And my fear was: Because God allowed all of this, what else might He allow?  Slowly, I've realized I cannot attach my hope to God making things feel fair. And I certainly can't attach my hope to my desired outcomes. I have to attach my hope to who God is. He's good and faithful, a Father who loves me. God's character, which never changes, is His promise to me and you. We can stand with assurance on who He is even when we don't understand what He does or doesn't do. There are still hurtful things happening surrounding my divorce too. I wish this wasn't the case for either of us. I'm grateful God has brought into my life a man who loves Jesus, and I’m grateful for all the joy that comes along with being in a healthy relationship. But even this gift comes with fears and uncertainties. So my challenge now is not to tie my hope of a better future to this new man. It's the same lesson I was learning during the many years of feeling so very alone. I now have different challenges, but I’m still learning to trust God just like when my friends found new love while I was intensely lonely. It's so hard. I understand, and I so wish I could look into your future and whisper back to you all the wonderful things ahead of you. While I can't do that, I can promise God is at work. Hang on, beautiful friend. I wanted to make more concrete promises to her about what God is working on. I would have loved to give her a time frame to help ease her angst. I would love to make that possible for all of us. But I guess through my journey, I've come to terms with the truth that if it were good for us to have such specific information about our future, God would surely give it to us. So the fact that He isn't allowing us access to those details lets me know having that information isn’t best. I don't always want to leave room for this mystery of God. I'm not usually eager to claim verses like Hebrews 11:1 as my favorite: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  I want faith to operate within my eyesight. I am desperate for visible evidence so that faith doesn't feel so risky. But faith doesn't work that way. Faith will always make us anxious and unsure - unless we are confident in the goodness of God. If we stand firm on His goodness and know everything He allows is somehow flowing from that goodness, then we will have a lot less fear in trusting Him. Faith in God means being assured of His goodness even when what He allows doesn't feel good, seem good or look good right now. Today, I hope you feel a little less alone as you walk through your hard situations. Like the sweet friend who sent me a message, we all have what-if questions. But I've found the best way to fight through our toughest questions is to create space for more of God's perspective. Father, I believe You care deeply for me and know what is best for my life. Even when I don't understand what You're doing or why I'm walking through a certain situation, I will continue to be obedient and follow You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.  OUR FAVORITE THINGS What our minds can't understand, our hearts tend to distrust. We find ourselves wondering, If God let this happen, can He even be trusted? Stop having more faith in your fears coming true than God coming through for you - start asking crucial what-if questions to better process your doubts with Lysa TerKeurst's new book, I Want to Trust You, but I Don't: Moving Forward When You're Skeptical of Others, Afraid of What God Will Allow, and Doubtful of Your Own Discernment. When you preorder now, you can start reading the first few chapters before the book releases! Preorder here! ENGAGE Find real-life encouragement when you connect with Lysa TerKeurst here on Instagram. FOR DEEPER STUDY Psalm 10:14a, "But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand" (NIV). What grief are you carrying today? What hard road are you walking where maybe your faith feels a little weak? Even in this, how have you seen the goodness of God in circumstances that aren't good? We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments. © 2024 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved. Proverbs 31 MinistriesP.O. Box 3189 Matthews, NC 28106 www.Proverbs31.org The post If You’re Walking a Road That’s Still Really Hard – Encouragement for Today – September 9, 2024 appeared first on GodUpdates.

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Three bronze shields and one bronze helmet have been discovered at the ancient Urartean fortress of Ayanis in eastern Turkey. They are approximately 2,700 years old and were found in the temple dedicated to Haldi, the god of war and chief god of the Urartian religion. The objects are in excellent condition, despite having been buried when an earthquake toppled the mudbrick walls of the temple in around 650 B.C. The Urartu Kingdom ruled over parts of modern-day Turkey, Armenia, Iran and Iraq from the 9th century through the 6th century B.C. Ayanis Castle was built around 672 B.C. by Rusa II, the last powerful ruler of the kingdom. The fortress was constructed on a hill overlooking Lake Van 20 miles east of the Urartian capital Tushpa (modern-day Van). It was the last castle built by the Urartu Kingdom and it had a very short lifespan. Historical records indicate it was destroyed by an earthquake 20-25 years after it was built. The Urartian ruling class dedicated shields, helmets and other bronze weapons to Haldi, and dozens have been found in the temple complex at Ayanis. Most of them were squashed and deformed in the collapse of the walls and the subsequent fires that ripped through the citadel, but the three shields and helmets found in this year’s excavation managed to avoid that fate. Archaeologists dug more than 20 feet deep to reach them on the floor of a room that archaeologists believe was used by a religious elite. Two of the shields were stacked together with the helmet nested inside of the top shield. There are inscriptions that are currently obscured by soil. There is visible decoration on the helmet so it was likely a ceremonial piece rather than actual battle gear, but the full ornamentation will only be revealed after cleaning and conservation. There are some minor fractures on the objects that will be repaired in the conservation process.

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