Ever feel "blah"?

Taken from Streams in the Desert:

"My plan is simply to shun the spirit of sadness as I would normally shun Satan, but unfortunately I am not always successful. Like the Devil himself, sadness confronts me while I am on the highway of usefulness. And it stays face to face with me until my poor soul turns blue and sad! In fact, sadness discolors everything around me and produces a mental paralysis. Nothing has any appeal to me, future prospects seem clouded in darkness, and my soul loses all its aspirations and power!"

This paragraph smacked me across the face as I read it this morning. It is from my favorite devotional book "Streams in the Desert", that was given to me by a precious friend last year. I have been unable to write or blog lately. I've had the feeling of "mental paralysis" described above. The combination of my poor physical health, the everyday troubles & annoyances of daily life plus the death of my dog Petey, had put me in a place of sadness. Although I felt God's presence and peace through this season, I have to admit that I've had that "uninterested" in life feeling. I'm just being honest. I have been "existing" and not "living". This is where the enemy wants me to stay but I REFUSE to stay here. I am drawing near to God and seeking Him and in turn, He is drawing near to me. The sadness is slowly being lifted as it is being replaced by glimmers of joy. I am moving forward with the help of the Holy Spirit, Who has secured and sealed my destiny. I returned to the Word of God and was once again reminded of His great and glorious promises. Not all of these promises are meant for me in this lifetime. Some of these promises will be delayed. I will need to "delay my gratification until my glorification". I just made that up and I like it. Romans 8:28 says,

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

The "good" may not necessarily be seen in this lifetime. It's obvious that a lot of us will suffer greatly here on earth and we won't have the ultimate "good" until we are in heaven, but that day WILL come. I'm urging anyone who hears His voice to yield and surrender to Jesus today. We all have an eternal destiny, but we need the Savior Jesus Christ to get to heaven. Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. My days of feeling "blah" will come to an end permanently one day. Until that time, God will supply all my needs and provide me with the strength to carry on....

Philippians 4:13
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ[a] who strengthens me.