{"id":1218,"date":"2018-04-04T17:31:50","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T17:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2023-01-31T14:20:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T19:20:08","slug":"the-river-of-god-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=1218","title":{"rendered":"Throw it in the River"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we\u2019re going through difficulties, we know to pray. However, sometimes I find myself still striving hard to work out the problems on my own. It might be a matter of not being aware of God’s nearness, faithfulness and strength at the time. Or, it might be a matter of me trusting myself more than I trust God.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, when things get really bad, and my efforts don\u2019t seem to make a dent in the situation, God comes to the forefront of my mind as my only option. This has not always been the case, but the more difficulties I go through, the more I’m learning to trust Him. Hard times have literally strengthen my faith, though I still don\u2019t like them. I long for when I\u2019m desperate for Him all the time, even during good circumstances.<\/p>\n

I had one of those really hard situations a few years ago. I can\u2019t recall all that was going on but it was multiple issues all at once dealing with family health, too much to do and the ever present brokenness of the world around me. I remember the feeling of being crushed under my burden\u00a0 more than the exact issues. I literally felt a huge weight on my shoulders, like a heavy knapsack weighing me down to my knees.<\/p>\n

I needed God and I knew it. I was at work and decided to take a prayer walk during a break. Prayer walks seem to be affective for me. I pull away, alone, moving and talking to God.<\/p>\n

I walked into a deserted office area in the back of the building, with row after row of abandoned cubicles and equipment. As I talked to God, I had a picture in my mind\u2019s eye of me walking along a river instead of a line of empty office spaces. A peace came over me. I knew in my spirit I was walking along the river of God.<\/p>\n

The river was to my left and I was walking along the bank in the same direction as the current. I stopped and turned to face the river. Caught up in the rhythmic flow of the current, I felt God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

God spoke to my heart. \u201cTake off the burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrow it in the river.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I have to take care of these things,\u201d I objected.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo you don\u2019t. You\u2019re to live a life fully dependent on me. I\u2019m your ever present help in this trouble. Throw all that stress and worry in the river. I\u2019ll take care of them.<\/p>\n

Keep walking with me. Be watchful and wait for me. You\u2019re yoked to me. My yoke is easy and My load is light.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sounded really good to me. So picked up the heavy sack and whirled it into the rushing current.\u00a0I saw it float away, ahead of me down stream. For an instance, I wanted to jump in after it, but I sensed God saying, “Keep walking. I have it.”<\/p>\n

I did walk on. Completely peaceful, I sensed God walking right along with me, beside me and in me. A cool breeze from the river swept across my face.<\/p>\n

In spite of all my cares, which I know will come, this is how I’m to walk.<\/p>\n

Lord, I pray I\u2019ll spend life’s moments walking along the river with you. I know they\u2019re things I\u2019m to-do, but I also know you never intended for me to tackle life\u2019s problems alone. You who are at work in me to will and to do according to your good pleasure. I\u2019m to trust you<\/em>, walk with you, speak your words and love others in your strength. This is my prayer. Please keep me walking with you, relying upon you and you alone for every breath. Show me quickly whenever I try and do life without you.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

Challenge<\/strong>: What do you have right this moment that needs to be thrown in the River?<\/p>\n

There is\u00a0a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy\u00a0place\u00a0of the tabernacle of the Most High. Psalm 46:4<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God\u2019s nearness in the midst of life\u2019s adventures.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Novels by the Author:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Rob Buck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?\u00a0\u00a0Beyond Time<\/a><\/p>\n

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family\u00a0Hope Remains<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we\u2019re going through difficulties, we know to pray. However, sometimes I find myself still striving hard to work out the problems on my own. It might be a matter of not being aware of God’s nearness, faithfulness and strength at the time. Or, it might be a matter of me trusting myself more than I trust God.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, when things get really bad, and my efforts don\u2019t seem to make a dent in the situation, God comes to the forefront of my mind as my only option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[580,65,578,574,82,218,576,58,206,446,575,582,573,74,577,579,581],"class_list":["post-1218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cast-your-burderns","tag-broken","tag-burden-light","tag-burdens","tag-cast-your-burdens","tag-dependence","tag-depending-on-christ","tag-ever-present-help","tag-gods-presence","tag-his-yoke","tag-matthew-1128-30","tag-prayer-walks","tag-psalm-464","tag-river-of-god","tag-stress","tag-troubles","tag-worry","tag-yoke-is-easy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1218"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4495,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218\/revisions\/4495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}