Recipe for Lemonade

"When life give you lemons; make lemonade" sounds simple enough! Though; you do need something to cut the lemons, something to squeeze them, something to put the juice in and unless you like super sour lemonade some sugar and water. Not as easy as it originally seemed, right? I've had a rough couple of weeks and though I'm still working on "making lemonade" with my lemons; here is my recipe so far.

Lemonade for life:

1) cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

As we walk daily with Christ and seek His will and work towards the furthering of His Kingdom; Satan works against us and it can be discouraging, drawn out, hard, stressful and leave a bitter taste in your mouth. The car breaks down for the upteenth time and you don't have money for repairs = lemon. Someone starts talking badly behind your back at work = lemon. A family member is suddenly hospitalized = lemon. You lose your job = lemon. Life is changing and you don't know where to go or what to do = lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon. Life isn't easy and God even promises us in His word that it won't be easy! As I've grown I feel like God keeps giving me a distaste for this world; material things here just don't satisfy and the world becomes more and more sinister and it's a hard to not be hardened, crabby or bitter towards people. So take all of that and put it in God's pitcher.

2) cups sugar
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects,  always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 13:4-8 just as a "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" so does a couple cups of love, even a dash of love and those lemons are not as sour as they used to be. Perspective is everything and situations can either break you or make you stronger and therefore draw you closer to God or pull you away. Things get so hard and depressing so fast and when you meditate on them they become bigger and harder. However; that's where God comes in and when we trust Him our perspective shifts from the problems and ourselves to Him and He shows us the beauty of His hand, how little the problems are and the joy hidden in the mess.

3) cups cold water
The Word of God is living water to our thirsty souls. He speaks so clearly in His word and I've been brought to tears countless time by the beauty, love and wisdom that I've found drinking from His Word and pouring out my heart to Him in prayer. Prayer is essential and it doesn't have to be pretty! It can be just that gut wrenching cry as you just drop to your knees, that tear that silently trickles down your cheek or a whispered "Help me". God understands. He knows our hearts, our dreams, desires, hurts, how many times we've smiled and how many times we've cried. Our prayer to Him doesn't need to be eloquent, it needs to be real. 

So, take your lemon juice and begin to sprinkle it with some sugar. It's not easy as the majority of the time we'd much rather "give people what they deserve" which love usually isn't the first thing that pops into our minds. But, love anyway. Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." and it's a struggle for sure but Satan has already been defeated, don't live life like he's won. 
Add your water as you are filled through Jesus' word and stir vigorously. 

Just keep trusting, praying, drawing near to Him and loving. You'll begin to see a change in ways you wouldn't have thought possible.