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Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Anxiety, Overwhelmed, Stress, praise Dana Rongione Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Anxiety, Overwhelmed, Stress, praise Dana Rongione

Overwhelmed and Out of Strength? How to Turn Pity into Praise

"LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah." (Psalm 3:1-2)

David wrote Psalm 3 while running for his life from his own son. Absalom had stolen the hearts of the people and then the kingdom itself. David was terrified, heartbroken, and worn thin. When he spoke those first two verses, I think he meant more than the people against him. I believe he also meant his emotions, his circumstances, and the weight of everyone who had fled with him and now needed him to hold it together.

I can't say I understand being betrayed like that. But I understand the pile-on that followed. Here's a peek at what has “troubled me” and "risen up against me" lately:

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Burnout, Weary, Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Animals of the Bible Dana Rongione Burnout, Weary, Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Animals of the Bible Dana Rongione

Is Your World Flying Upside Down?

I learned something recently in my Animals of the Bible study that completely rearranged my brain.

It turns out, moths aren't actually attracted to light at all. I know. I know! Everything we thought we knew about moths is a lie. Well, not a lie exactly, but definitely not the whole story.

Here's what's really going on. Because moths fly in complete darkness, they face a very real problem: how do you know which way is up when you can't see anything? God, being the brilliant Designer He is, solved this problem by giving moths a built-in reflex to always keep their backs toward the brightest light. For thousands of years, that worked perfectly. The sky, lit by the sun or the moon, was always the brightest thing around. Back to the sky, fly straight. Simple. Elegant. Genius.

Then we humans had to invent electricity and artificial light.

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Spiritual Growth, Perfectionism, grace, Anxiety, Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione Spiritual Growth, Perfectionism, grace, Anxiety, Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione

Are You Killing Yourself Trying To Be Perfect?

I used to be the world's most dedicated perfectionist. I'm talking full-blown, no-holds-barred, sweat-through-your-shirt perfectionism. And I had Bible verses to back it up … or so I thought.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." — Colossians 3:23

I latched onto that word heartily and ran with it. Right off a cliff. In my mind, "heartily" meant perfectly. It meant excellence at every turn, spotless execution, and absolutely zero margin for error. Good enough? Not good enough. Better than good? Still not good enough. I was the woman who proofread her grocery list. Twice.

I toiled. I panicked. I cried. I expected the same impossible standard from everyone around me, too, and trust me, they were not fans of that. I was building my whole life around a perfectionism that I had somehow convinced myself was holiness.

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Reaching Out To Others, Compassion, love Dana Rongione Reaching Out To Others, Compassion, love Dana Rongione

Carrying Others’ Burdens Without Being Crushed

You know the feeling. Your phone rings, and even before you answer, your shoulders tense up. Somebody needs something…again. And you love them. You really do. But somewhere between the third crisis this week and the fact that you haven't slept well in days, you catch yourself wondering if maybe you're just done with it all. And then you feel guilty for thinking it.

If that's you today, friend, pull up a chair. We need to talk.

Here's the thing nobody tells you when you sign up for loving people well: compassion, if you're not careful, can crush you. Not because something is wrong with you, but because you are human, with a finite supply of strength, emotional bandwidth, and, let's be honest, patience. You were never designed to carry the weight of the world. That job was already taken.

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