Advice needed

[mikado5001]

Yomo, my sister in Jesus. So you've grown a little hard, numb, and feel that the life has been sucked out of you. To say nothing of feeling distance from G-d. Well first off let me say this.

IT'S NORMAL!!! EVERYONE HAS IT FROM TIME TO TIME!!! Me too!!

Now it's what you do with it that matters.

1) Are you going to allow these feelings to eat you up and consume you?

OR

2)Or are you going to pray that G-d will lift this burden off your young shoulders?

Personally I would go with #2.

Read your bible. If you're sick of reading the bible, ( that does happen ) read Proverbs. You don't have to read it all in one sitting. You don't even have to start at the beginning. Read a chapter or just a few verses, put it down and come back to it later. There's a lot of things in that book that everyone can relate too. I know when I find myself drifting, I go to Proverbs.

Prayer. Find a nice quiet spot and talk to the Lord. Tell Him what you're feeling. Admit to Him that you can't do it on your own. Ask Him to lead you in the right direction. Tell Him to take away all thoses negitive feelings and thoughts that you have.

Heed the advice given to you here. We speak wisdom. And with love. Because we all LOVE YOU YOMO!! You are an awesome, special child of our LORD. And our Sister in his mighty grasp.

When it comes to compassion, the only way to have compassion is for God to give it to you... I know this can be fustrating.. but try praying for the people  ABout a month or so ago, i went to my new youth pastor and told him about this person in the youth group who got on my nerves so much and has since i came to the church seven years ago... Here is what he instructed me to do:

I want you to go home and pray for him everyday. Now, don't pray "Oh Lord, I pray that Davy woudl stop being so irritating.. etc" but ask the Lord to bless him and his family.. to use him. Pray that God would help his family to live in him and to grow. Now, do this for two weeks and come back to me.

Crystal is 100% correct. Especially in the praying for G-d to bless others. As opposed to for your own benefit. Or as I say pray for your team to win. Not for the other team to lose. I just started a "Bible in one year" plan. And I am amazed to say. It has been a bit of fun.

And I too would encourage you to take time away for prayer and meditation. Don't worry about a FOOD FAST right now. Especially if your parents do not approve. The extra peace that comes from not bringing about any more tension, might be of benefit to you. There are other spiritual fasts available to you. Go to your quiet place and commune with G-d. Tell him whatever comes to mind. He loves it when we talk to him. Open yourself to him as best you can. And he will guide you.

I am the polar opposite of you in some respects. I have an excess of emotion. I sometimes cry at the drop of a hat. And I never really got the hang of emotional distance. Frankly I don't really want to.

May G-d see you in safety to the other side of this dark, and scary, forest.

[nebula]

Hey, Yomo!

Not to diminish the excellent words given to you above,

but I would like to ask you something.

Is it just your spiritual life you feel slumped in, or do you feel slumped in just about every area of your life? I mean, does life just seem lifeless?

I ask because based on my own experience and comparing it to your post, I wonder if you may be suffering from depression? If so, maybe you can sto beating yourself up over the symptoms (feeling lack of compassion) and seek the Lord about the big problem.

Depression is like an illness - with a cause (or causes), symptoms, and the need to be healed. I know because this is something I struggle with. And I know how it can wreck your spiritual life up. But once you separate cause from symptom, you can feel less guilty about that, and work on the roots - not in a condeming way, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! But there are hurts in there that need healing.

Does this ring true for you?

[Fiosh]

Hi Yomo,

In reading your post I was on the same wavelength as Nebula. Maybe the "hardness" is a way of protecting yourself from pain. We all have our limit of how much we can endure, before we begin to shut it out.

Seek out a Christian counselor that you can talk to. Ask a pastor or teacher to point you in the direction of someone who can help you.

One possibility, and I don't know you so I'm only suggesting, is that there is something from your past that's re-surfaced. Could that be???

Don't be so hard on yourself. We ALL have our ups and downs in life and in faith.

Love you,

Felicia

[yomotalking]

Maybe you need to take a break from these boards. Not everyone here is a christian. I looked at your profile. You spend a lot of time here. Is Worthy the only board you visit?

Not the only site...no...

I know if I'm here too long, I start getting arrogant. I get a "I know more then you" attitude. I'm getting close to my limit now. I catch myself thinking things that shouldn't thought. That's not good.

I not quite sure what you mean...I'm not arrogant.

Worthy helps me...more than close people to be honest.

Are your parents christians? If they're not, that could also be part of the problem.

Yes, they are Christians.

I have always been raised in a Christian home.

Read your bible. If you're sick of reading the bible, ( that does happen ) read Proverbs. You don't have to read it all in one sitting. You don't even have to start at the beginning. Read a chapter or just a few verses, put it down and come back to it later. There's a lot of things in that book that everyone can relate too. I know when I find myself drifting, I go to Proverbs.

I will.

Thankyou.

Prayer. Find a nice quiet spot and talk to the Lord. Tell Him what you're feeling. Admit to Him that you can't do it on your own. Ask Him to lead you in the right direction. Tell Him to take away all thoses negitive feelings and thoughts that you have.

I don't feel I can.

I feel like God has "dumped" me....

You might want to cut back on some of the music you listen to. Believe it or not, it does influence us. The same thing with video games.

The only music I listen to are wholesome secular music, or Christian, or Classical music.

I hardly spent ANY time on video games, save when my Nephews, who are 9, and are into video games, visit.

That's all.

Think about what you're going to do and say before you do it. You might even have to separate yourself from some of your friends for awhile. Not forever, just for awhile.

I have the bare minimum of friends, and I am lonely.

I'm starting to babble....sorry.

You're not, you're a help.

You take easy...everything will work out ok. Let God handle this.

I will, but I feel I'm a rubbish Christian.

Yomo

[yomotalking]

Hey, Yomo!

Not to diminish the excellent words given to you above,

but I would like to ask you something.

Is it just your spiritual life you feel slumped in, or do you feel slumped in just about every area of your life?  I mean, does life just seem lifeless?

I ask because based on my own experience and comparing it to your post, I wonder if you may be suffering from depression?  If so, maybe you can sto beating yourself up over the symptoms (feeling lack of compassion) and seek the Lord about the big problem. 

Depression is like an illness - with a cause (or causes), symptoms, and the need to be healed.  I know because this is something I struggle with.  And I know how it can wreck your spiritual life up.  But once you separate cause from symptom, you can feel less guilty about that, and work on the roots - not in a condeming way, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!  But there are hurts in there that need healing.

Does this ring true for you?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Depression?

Maybe.

As someone suggested...maybe it's something from the past resurfaced....

but...I don't know...

[Constant]

Hi Yomo! Where have you been? I miss you! You can chat with me about anything. I am an excellent listener!

[yomotalking]

Hi Yomo,

In reading your post I was on the same wavelength as Nebula.  Maybe the "hardness" is a way of protecting yourself from pain.  We all have our limit of how much we can endure, before we begin to shut it out.

Seek out a Christian counselor that you can talk to.  Ask a pastor or teacher to point you in the direction of someone who can help you.

One possibility, and I don't know you so I'm only suggesting, is that there is something from your past that's re-surfaced.  Could that  be???

Don't be so hard on yourself. We ALL have our ups and downs in life and in faith.

Love you,

Felicia

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think I've told my parents yet.

[Iryssa]

Yomo, I'm just seeing the end (or starting to; return journeys are often long ones) of a time like the one you have described. I dunno if you've seen me posting elsewhere about my past mistakes and a "desert period" in my relationship with God...*sigh* anyway, not fun. I think I tried to numb myself so that I would stop feeling pain. The things I did caused me a lot of pain and feelings of guilt, and none of that is at all pleasant...so, I shut myself down. It's even made my relationship with my boyfriend difficult, because I find it so difficult to let myself be vulnerable enough to allow the relationship to grow (and I trust him perhaps more than any other mortal). For a time, I could not even face talking to God (and I trust Him more than ANYONE).

Anyway, I have a theory about what you're going through, based on that experience. You mentioned being "plagued by thoughts." Considering thinking is not a sinful thing, I assume you mean thoughts of a dark nature (what exactly the nature of those thoughts is, I can only speculate...my guess is they have to do with bad language, since you have seemed so concerned about it). My theory is this: the guilt of having those thoughts pained you so much, that your subconscious decided it would be better if you felt nothing at all. As I said, I've been there...do no feel guilty about that: It is a natural reaction to pain.

I would agree with the advice you have been given: prayer and time in the Word is the best thing you can do...those things you don't feel like doing? Do them anyway. It may be incredibly difficult to begin with--we humans dislike anything which makes us go beyond our comfort zone--but it WILL get easier. Vulnerability is a thing that must be practiced.

The Christian life is not easy. No one said it would be. It takes discipline, and it takes trust...in general, humans aren't very good at either of those things. *rueful grin* I know I'm not. But I promise you it's worth it.

I can also promise you that God has not abandoned you, despite how I'm sure it feels.

He has shown us this:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:6-8 (emphasis mine)

If Christ died for us while we were still sinners, why would He ignore us simply because of our mistakes? Trust me, if you choose to turn to Him and say "okay, God, take me and mold me into the person you want me to be. My flesh may be resisting right now, but take me anyway," He is faithful and will do it.

"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:8)

[our3blessings]

Yomo, I don't have anything to add to these awesome replies except to let you know that you are in my prayers and my heart goes out to you. I too, have had times such as you describe. Almost as if I am "burnt out". God will see you through this if you just keep looking up to Him! May he bee with you and bless you abundantly! ((((hugs))))

[hopedancer92]

hey yomo, i just wanted to tell u to pray to god about this problem! ask him to help u fell more compassionate... he really will help u, beleev me! and after u ask him to help u... u hav to do ur half and try harder not to swear and stuff!!! ur frend , nessa

Hi all.

I just want to say that my realationship with God is absolutely terrible.

It all stated when I had thoughts which plauged me,