What is it that makes you feel alive?

In the face of fear, what response makes a difference? The goal is not to look unafraid. The goal is to renew your mind, convince your spirit that there is joy somewhere in the world - if not in your world. It is joy we need to give us strength.

And, in the face of death, what is it that makes life? When my life has completely changed and I feel dead inside, what has been life-giving to me? That answer is the very thing I need most of all. Comfort is not the same as feeling alive. I've written about comfort strategies before, because this has been my main need for the last two years. Now I need to enter into gratitude (for what I do have) and lift my head above the waves. It is time to get the juices flowing a bit.

My Favourite Things from the Sound of Music (Rogers & Hammerstein) says "When I'm feeling sad / I simply remember my favourite things / and then I don't feel so bad".

Havilah Cunnington says that renewing our minds is not a passive experience, where the Holy Spirit jets in and changes things around. It is an active choice we make to take thoughts captive, to be over our minds and to evaluate what comes into them. It's not an easy process!! The enemy brings all sorts of things into our minds, and not all of them are obvious. Some things do sneak in under the radar. It's even harder to be on top of this when tired, hurting or wounded in some way.

The Brian Johnson song, Love Came Down describes this so well:

If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear Your voice
I hold on to what is true though I cannot see
If the storms of life they come, and the road ahead gets steep
I will lift these hands in faith, I will believe
I'll remind myself of all that You've done
And the life I have because of Your son

[Chorus]
Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours, Lord I'm forever Yours
Mountains high or valley low
I sing out and remind my soul
I am Yours, I am forever Yours

So what makes you feel alive?
What brings you into a place of purpose, hope and comfort?
What keeps you tied to Lord, the truth and the knowledge that He is for us in the midst of all the struggles.

There are times when we can't find these ourselves on our own.
There are other times when we have no choice but to find these on our own and enter in.

I have been observing and listening to many different opinions on this topic. Some use the terminology "what is God trying to teach me through this?" as well as implying that He would choose terrible circumstances or even minor difficulties to shape our character. Let's just get this straight: GOD IS UNFAILINGLY GOOD. HE DOES NOT INFLICT ANYTHING UPON US.

However, we have an enemy, we have choices and so do others. We are affected by all these things. Our world is corrupted by sin, but it is also blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout. There are holy and profane influences in this world and they conflict with one another. Light will always prevail in our lives because we belong to the light, but that doesn't prevent us from being affected by terrible things.

Finding what makes you feel alive will give you a focus and way to keep from sinking.

I need to hear these words. I need to think about LIFE. I need to throw off the weight of death that has been defeated. When I am beset by the sadness that must inevitably come as a grieve, there is always a choice to stuff it down, or to allow it to take its course. There's also a choice to wallow. Everyone has their moments when all of these are appropriate and possible.

In Deuteronomy, God says "Choose Life!". He means this in context of choosing obedience, blessings and a life of following Him. But, faced with a life after loss, it can be challenging to find the momentum to keep going. These are the moments we must choose life, choose to live and choose to feel the breath within us.