Are You in the Same Boat?

By Cathy Irvin
CBN Staff Writer

CBN.com -- Have you ever felt like you have been going nowhere fast? You find yourself feeling trapped with the same old life, day after day. How do you break free? Let me paint you a picture to clarify. You see a beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze blowing. You are thinking about your little old rowboat that you often take to a small lake to get away to stop by the shore line to read, maybe fish or just relax.

If you take that same boat with your oars, go down to the beach, put it in the ocean and begin paddling, before long your arms tire. After going some distance, you wish you had not ventured so far from your original destination. You need a different boat.

There is always room for change and new ventures in life. It is time to set your sails. If you were going to venture out into the ocean you may need a motorboat or a sailboat to go new places, see and experience new things. Life does not have to be so hum drum day after day; but only you can make the choices to change your circumstances.

Like having the right boat or changing your normal routine from getting in a rowboat in a lake or taking a sail on the ocean, we can change our situations by the way we respond to life’s difficulties. How can we do this? By the words we speak. They play a key role. Pay attention to what people say and see what kind of life they have. Often they make their own problems if they are constantly negative. If people say, "God is bringing me through this and I am looking to Him and trusting Him," their situations often turn around a lot quicker.

If you say, "I can’t stand my life, it is boring," or "I always have troubles, I have no money, no friends, etc.," what are the odds that this is the boat you will be stuck in? We know the odds are that you have exactly what you are proclaiming over your life. If you speak God’s word over all your problems, His word will not return void. God says it will accomplish what it is set out to do.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8)

I try to live each day to the fullest and I thank God for giving me opportunities. I actually have a fruitful life. Maybe at times it is too full, where I need to drop an activity or two; but I change my situations, making the best out of some unavoidable ones. It usually works out. I do different things, so there are no ruts. I take mini-vacations and find quiet moments to get refreshed by venturing out and enjoying all the benefits of God’s kingdom. But most of all, I decree and declare good things over my life, family, and friends.

I realize we have trials. They come in seasons because we are not promised those sunny and cool breezes every day, sailing along without a care. We are promised that Jesus will hold our hand and walk with us when the sunshine turns to rain, when instead of feeling good we are in pain. He will carry you in His arms.

Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. (Psalm 68:19, NLT)

The only thing we can do in difficult moments is ask the Lord for His help, go to His Word and begin to speak life into what seems to be a hopeless situation. You can chase those clouds off your mind and set sail for a different journey. If you’re in the same boat day after day, purpose to do something different. Speak good things from God’s word over your life and expect a turnaround.

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Are You in the Same Boat?

By Cathy Irvin CBN Staff Writer

By Cathy Irvin
CBN Staff Writer