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Since it's easy to become discouraged, we need to remember that God is working for our good.
Hope is usually defined as a desire for something, accompanied by the anticipation of receiving it. If our expectation isn’t fulfilled, it’s easy to become discouraged. We have an enemy who wants to steal our hope. As the father of lies, Satan tries to keep us focused on our circumstances so we will doubt God’s love and care for us.
So at times we may feel desperate and abandoned, but emotions are not reliable. As children of the heavenly Father, we’re never in hopeless circumstances because He promises to work everything for our good (Romans 8:28). But His concept of “good” doesn’t always match ours. Too often we set our hopes on the things of this world, whereas God prioritizes our spiritual well-being.
Disappointment and discouragement are the result of setting our hopes on the wrong aspiration. This doesn’t mean we can’t have dreams and expectations. But we should hold them loosely, with an attitude of submission to God and trust that He’s still working for our good when they don’t come to fruition. Our expectations for this life are temporary, but we have a living hope in Christ that’s unfailing and eternal.
Bible in One Year: John 12-13
When difficulty comes, choose to trust God.
From Intouch Ministries
Life doesn’t always meet our expectations. Even when our plans are according to God’s will, we may nevertheless face difficulties. I remember a season of life when I felt all alone and abandoned by the Lord. My mind said God was with me, but my feelings said He wasn’t. To counter those emotions, I had to pray and focus my mind on Scripture.
In today’s passage, the weather threatened Paul’s voyage to Rome. Even though the Lord was clearly directing His path, a violent storm arose on the sea. The sailors worked hard to save the ship, but gradually they gave up hope of being saved. The only one who persevered in hope was Paul, and he encouraged the crew with his confidence in God.
Frustration over obstacles can lead to discouragement. Many times we can’t change what has happened—whether it’s a job loss, a loved one’s death, or a devastating diagnosis. Circumstances over which we have no control are often the ones that trip us up.
In times of discouragement, you have a choice. Will you focus on your circumstances, or will you fix your gaze on God and His Word?
Bible in One Year: John 10-11
Let's face it, fitting in an hour or two of exercise every day is just not very realistic in your hectic, demanding schedule. That's why you need to focus your work outs on the type of exercise to give you the best results in the shortest amount of time.
And the type I recommend is high intensity exercise - especially hill and stair sprints. These techniques allow you to get the most out of your precious workout time. Helping you build strength, power, speed and stamina while burning maximum amounts of fat - all in much less time than a traditional workout.
There are numerous reasons that high intensity is the way for you to go. Here are the Top 3:
Endurance is something that every law enforcement officer needs - but it is a special kind of endurance. If you want to perform at your peak, then long, slow distance types of cardio just won't work. Your endurance training needs to mimic the demands of your job. Those needs being - short bouts of intense exertion alternated with periods of long periods of lower intensity.
Think about it. How often does your job require you to jog at a low intensity for long periods of time? Or even run at a steady, moderate pace for 20 or 30 minutes in a row? Yet, these are exactly the types of demands that long, slow cardio workouts prepare you for.
On the other hand, high intensity work, like hill sprinting, provides you with interval training that meets your needs. It will take your heart and lungs to intensities far greater than those found in jogging or traditional types of endurance training. Your body will become used to reaching these higher levels, and recovering quickly in between the "sprints." Not only that, with hill sprints, you will be able to spend much more time training at that high intensity than if you try to "go hard" at a steady state.
This type of training can lead to more protection for your heart and lungs than traditional "cardio". Long, low intensity cardio can actually shrink the size of your heart and lungs because your body is excellent at adapting to the stresses placed on it. Training long and slow encourages your body to become as efficient as possible to make the exercise easier. The result: it shrinks muscle mass along with your heart and lungs. This has the effect of decreasing your reserve capacity - the ability of your cardio-vascular system to respond to high stress situations (exactly the kind your run into in your job). Without a high reserve capacity, your heart and lungs may be at risk during stressful events. High intensity training can help raise your reserve capacity instead.
Not only that, but more and more scientific studies are showing that VO2 Max (the traditional measure of aerobic endurance) is improved as much - or more- by using high intensity exercise like hill sprinting. This endurance is due to the sprints upgrading your oxygen intake system with new capillaries, developing stronger heart and lung tissue, adding more energy producing mitochondria and increasing your tolerance to lactic acid buildup.
Want the ability to respond to high intensity situations (and recover quickly afterwards)? Then train the same way.
Sure, this training sounds great - but how much time does it take?
Truth is, you can get these benefits in short workouts of 15 minutes or less - only 2 or 3 days per week.
High intensity work, especially hill and stair sprinting, is an incredibly efficient way to exercise. This is because you are forced to do more work in a shorter period of time. In other words, hills and stairs are like the perfect combination of strength training and sprinting - you literally "lift" or "push" yourself up the incline. The steeper the incline, the more demand is placed on your leg muscles. This intensity allows you to get in a superior workout in a very short period of time.
The bad news: Your position as a law enforcement officer brings a great deal of stress along with the job. This stress can lead to health-related problems like heart disease and metabolic syndrome.
The good news: One of the best ways to "bust" that stress is with exercise - more specifically high intensity exercise.
Exercise in general relieves stress in a number of ways. First of all, exercise stimulates your brain to release substances (endorphins) that improve your mood. Besides that, exercise can decrease cortisol levels, provide a distraction from the source of stress and boost your self confidence.
Any exercise can have these effects, but high intensity can amplify your results. Recently, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia showed that high intensity exercise is superior in reducing anxiety and stress. The 2003 study even showed that the effects can be felt 30, 60, even 90 minutes after an exercise session.
These are just 3 of the reasons that every law enforcement officer should hill sprint. Take your endurance to a new level and reduce your stress in only a few minutes of exercise per week with this "old school" training. You, your fellow officers and those you serve and protect will be glad you did.
Tim Kauppinen, or Coach K, has over 20 years experience as an athlete,coach and personal trainer. He has helped people of all ages and abilities get and stay in peak shape. Coach K is the author of the Uphill Fitness Training, and publishes a FREE daily training email newsletter. Tim can be contacted through his website at http://www.makesyoufast.com
Although there were a lot of fitness equipment that had been released in the market, we found out that none of them really met our needs. Some were either too heavy, or not portable enough, or just not aesthetically pleasing. So we decided to make it ourselves.
Anytime believers face overwhelming problems, they can rely on the Holy Spirit for the help they need.
Are you facing what seems like an insurmountable obstacle? It might be a problem too complex to solve, a task beyond your ability, a sin too tempting to overcome, or a situation over which you have no control. Facing such things can make us feel weak, helpless, and vulnerable. But always remember that we have an almighty God, and nothing is too difficult for Him.
Zerubbabel was a Jewish leader who, together with 50,000 of his countrymen, returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. They set about rebuilding the temple, but the obstacles were daunting. The people became disheartened, so God gave His prophet Zechariah a vision to encourage them. The message reminded Zerubbabel that progress is made “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6).
This same truth applies to us today. Your obstacles may seem like mountains too big to move, and in your own strength, they certainly are. But as a believer, you have the power of the Holy Spirit within you. Although your circumstances may not change, He’ll give you His comfort, joy, peace, patience, and strength to go through it. The Spirit is God’s promise of continual help to His weary people.
Bible in One Year: John 8-9
Some of God's promises require that we meet a condition before He responds. From InTouch Ministries
Christianity rests on a foundation of God’s promises. There are two kinds—unconditional and conditional. Fulfillment of an unconditional promise rests solely with the Lord. One example is God’s covenant to never again destroy the entire earth by flood (Genesis 9:11).
The Lord will do exactly what He has promised, but when there’s a condition, you must satisfy the requirements He has set. If you’re still waiting for God to keep a particular promise, check the context for a stipulation. Then make certain you’re carrying out your part. And remember that while the fulfillment is certain, the timing is always in the Lord’s hands.
Bible in One Year: John 6-7
Bruce Wilson, PhD
How do we handle relationships, couples, friends, family, or work colleagues, that are oppositional or adversarial? Are there strategies that work better than others? Could people who do not think like me somehow be more beneficial to me than people who agree with me? These questions have stumped most of us and we all struggle with adversaries at times. However, struggle also connotes a possible growth opportunity that we may be missing.
“Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great.” – Rose Kennedy
Adversarial Defined
The definition of adversarial is anything related to a person, place, or thing where there is disagreement, opposition or where problems are created that go against a desired result. We would be a total outlier in life if we did not experience someone in our day-to-day existence that fits into this description.
The usual responses to our adversaries include anger, avoidance, rudeness, loss of respect, frustration, resentment, and even disgust. These reactions do not usually portend a satisfactory solution. Things tend to go from bad to worse, leading to total avoidance or the end of the relationship.
“Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.” – Zig Ziglar
Alternative Reactions
One alternative to becoming adversarial is to go parallel. “Parallel thinking” explores the subject, rather than the person, through an alternating approach of giving options and then listening to the others options. The subject rather than the person becomes the object of this exploration. We have already removed the personalisation component of the disagreement. Emotionally, we are already in a better place.
Another tact with the adversarial person is to try very hard to find something about their view that you can agree on. Finding any point of congruency can diffuse the situation to some degree. Even minimal agreement will entice the adversarial person you are dealing with to find something they can agree to about your view. This acceptance of each other’s viewpoint can lead the way to some mutual rather than exclusive styles of thinking. We can both have something of value to offer on this subject.
Eventually, you may even arrive at “white hat thinking”, which allows for even more progress with adversarial thinkers. The white hat represents information gathering. Think about the knowledge and insights that you've collected already – but also the information you're missing, and where you can go to get it. Now you are working in collaboration with one another rather than as competitors.
The opportunities for growth and development of your relationship with the adversarial have now improved to a level whereby you are both benefiting from your differences. Each of your viewpoints have been improved through exercising your diversity in a more productive way than it would have been through conflict.
“Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.” – Malcolm Forbes
Diversity Negates Adversity
Sometimes, mistakenly, we confuse independence with being adversarial. This idea most likely starts when the child becomes an adolescent or young adult. We individuate by being adversarial as a teenager to be our own person. Our identity is mistakenly linked to our perceived independence. Independence does not have to be adversarial. In fact, it may even hinder our independence due to the plethora of opportunities that we have missed to learn from others.
Our diversity as humans elevates our potential to contribute to each other in unique ways. What you offer me, I may not possess and vice versa. Our mutual contributions to one another, which are negotiated through our diversity, are much more valuable and irreplaceable than our perceived differences. Paradoxically, implementing our individual diversity through collaboration may ultimately enhance our unrealized potential to nullify many of our adversarial relationships.
Bio
Dr. Bruce Wilson is a psychologist with 25 years of experience. He enjoys sharing his ramblings with friends and colleagues. He is currently in private practice at Mind Health Care in Geelong, Australia. This article is solely his work.
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