Thanking God Quickly When Hitting Obstacles - Like Mailboxes

Habakkuk 3:17-19

When the gravity of a situation wants to bring you down, God can put a spring in your step

Soul Food

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feel like the feet of a deer; He enables me to tread on the heights.”

- Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)

Soul Search

Ask yourself: 

• What is my first reaction when things go wrong or something bad happens?
  Your reaction will undoubtedly depend on the severity of the circumstances, but is there a predictable pattern in the way you respond? 

• Is that predictable pattern – with certain behaviors and/or speech – something that you think God might want to change?

• How do you think God would want to shape your response(s)?
  What might characterize your responses if God made some changes in you?  

Soul Moves

• Ask God in prayer to help you hit the ‘pause’ button briefly so that you don’t immediately react in negative or bad ways when you get not-so-great news.

• Practice praising and worshiping God immediately after you receive bad news.
  Turn the momentary crisis into worship and prayer.

• Decide that you want those closest to you – your family and friends – to see Jesus in your reaction and responses to bad news.
  Ask the Lord to give you the self-control you desire to be a good example in your behavior and speech to those around you of how a follower of Christ deals with the stress of bad news.