How To Not Have A Breakdown

     Good morning everyone! This title might be a bit deceiving because if you are looking for a step by step of how to not have a breakdown you won't find it here. I titled this "How To Not Have A Breakdown" for a reason. It is a seemingly complicated thought made simple. There is only one solution to this and that is to make a choice. If I may be blunt about this there are different types of people, mainly three that I can think of. Some people enjoy pity for attention (The Woe Is Me Group). Some people have the desire to stand strong in the midst of trouble but are not willing to put effort in doing so (The Lazy Group). Finally, some people have a specific mindset that pushes them to keep going no matter what (The David Group). I would like to briefly discuss each group in more detail.

   The Woe Is Me Group- I'm sure we all know the kind very well. There are people everywhere you turn who love attention. They always have some kind of health issue that they want to talk hours with you about but they refuse to take care of themselves. They talk about they can't afford anything, yet these same people go to more vacations than I do, has nicer things, and can afford to eat out 24/7. They are always the victim in some way, it's always someone else's fault not theirs. Then you have some people who feel discriminated because someone is asking them to be respectful of others around them. I have heard every excuse you can think of from people who want nothing but for you to sympathize with them. You can try to help and pray all you want, they don't want it. They want hand outs and attention. They look/welcome all trouble that comes so they can have something new to post on Facebook.

   The Lazy Group- You know that scripture in the Bible that says "…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26: 41)  speaks volumes. I don't care who you are it happens to all of us, we are weak. But the reason I called this the "Lazy Group" is because there are people who are indeed willing to break through whatever trial they have been faced with having the mentality that they will wake up one day and the storm will be gone. They are not necessarily willing to put effort into resisting the devil. It's easier to give in to his lies and the emotions that come with it. It's much easier to basically shut down and let it pass. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

   The David Group- This is an inspiring group of people. When I think of people who keep going even though they are knocked down on their backs over and over, yet they get back up I think of King David. I encourage you to take time to read David's life story. In my opinion it is absolutely fascinating how God used David to help and inspire so many. Not only that we can learn so much from all that he has gone through. Sometimes I become a Woe is Me type of person when I begin to feel sorry for myself, but when I read about David I am reminded that anything I go through is nothing compared to all the troubles that he faced on every side of him. In 1 Samuel 30 we read that the Amalekites invaded the city of Ziklag, which at the time was where David and his men were living, and they took all of their wives and their children. When David and his men returned to the city all they found was burned ruins of their home, not knowing what has become of their families. So out of anger the people talked of killing him. "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD God" (v.6). The last part is what struck me. Despite the fact that in that moment everyone was against him and he himself was grieved, he still encouraged himself in the LORD. He didn't look at the circumstances like I tend to do, but he made a choice to pursue his enemy rather than allow them to take whatever they please. The other example that I'd like to share is when David's son died. You can read it all in 2 Samuel 12. He wept, fasted, and prayed day and night for his son to be well but the child died anyway. However, he again made a choice in verse 20 "Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped…" It would have been easy to give up after that, but God put something in him that made him keep going. His view of the situation was "my son cannot return to me but I can go to him." David was a fighter and man after God's own heart. Let me clarify that we cannot be David's, there was only one just like there is only one you. But we can read about his experiences and make them our stepping stones in our own lives. We still face the same things that they did thousands of years ago just in different ways. I call refusing to give up a good kind of stubborn. We should be stubborn when it comes to the devil not with God.

     The hardest part to not having a breakdown is actually making the decision. It doesn't matter who you are or where you have come from I believe that it is possible with the help of God to not give in to the trials. Don't take that statement the wrong way, I am not saying that we won't have "melt down moments." We are human. We are going to cry, scream, be angry, etc. But the difference is are we going to let all of those emotions and the troubles that caused it to overtake us? Are we going to let God take control and worship Him instead of dwelling on something we cannot control? It's not our fight but God's, however it doesn't mean that we don't have to do anything. We still need to put effort (even if it's small) to keep going. Hopefully you understand what I am trying to say. Sometimes there is so much in my heart but it seems I fail to find the right words to express it all. Let this thought encourage all of us to ask God for help always and to defy gravity and raise our hands anyway. Things happen in life that are not planned but it doesn't mean we have to stop living because of it. With the help and strength of God we won't have to, but are we willing to make that one decision to not breakdown completely? God Bless You. 

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

                                                                                              2 Timothy 2:3