"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death." Philippians 1:20 NIV

Do you know about "Footprints in the Sand"? It is a poem about a christian asking the Lord why He didn't have footprints next to hers during the most troubling parts of her life. He answer was, "It was then that I carried you."

God never leaves us, and especially not when we are hurting!  This is what happens to me, and I believe may be your plight as well. I tend to take my trust off of God and live in the place of trouble. My emotions can take me down and fear can come in.

Paul wants sufficient courage to run the race of living for Jesus without being ashamed of something he may do in the future. God's gives us grace to be faithful, but our flesh can get in our way. As we are aware of our failures we pray for his mercy on us to overcome.

The great Apostle, who penned 1/3 of the new testament is concerned about loosing out on the blessing of walking with God. He knows how easily his old man or sin nature can take over. There are certain triggers I have and you do too. Out of nowhere, we can become angry, defeated, or thrown off course.

 When we stumble and fall, he is right there to pick us up, and as we humbly ask for forgiveness, all is forgiven and forgotten. Our Savior loves us too much to stop at this. He wants to make us over comers.  God will remove the trigger so we are not bothered by it again.

It can be a process! Everything depends on how willing we are to work with Him. We need to get into God's word and find scripture to encourage us to overcome. 

My son Rudy is very good at triggering anger in me, and he knows it. He is a major scooch. Spell check doesn't like this word, but let's use it anyway. Webster's Dictionary says scooch means "to scrunch down, to slide jerkily." It's not a good thing to do to your Mom.

He thrives on getting under everyone's skin. I have learned not to respond. My triggers are no longer triggered. I don't allow hurt to take me for a ride. He is just a kid! Moms want their children to say nice things to them, and Rudy has learned to do this.

I was sensitive, but both of us have learned how to deal with   scooching. Women don't like to be made fun of on a regular basis. We need to know those close sincerely care. Thank God both of us have made progress in our relationship! You can too!