Rising Stronger

Sunday Reflection: Give It to God and Get Your Peace Back

Dr. Pauline E. Wallner-Brinsley, DM, MBA

Worry has a way of borrowing trouble from tomorrow and bringing it into today.

We worry about our families, health, finances, relationships, and the future. Some concerns require action, but others keep circling through our minds long after we have done everything we reasonably can.

And when worry becomes chronic, the burden is not only emotional. Persistent stress can affect sleep, concentration, muscle tension, digestion, blood pressure, and overall well-being.

Jesus gives us another way:

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)

Faith does not mean ignoring reality. See the doctor. Make the plan. Have the conversation. Set the boundary. Manage the finances. Do what is yours to do. Then recognize when your responsibility ends and surrender begins.

Sometimes the healthiest prayer is simply:

“God, I have done what I can. I give the rest to You.”

Worry says, “What if?”
Faith answers, “Even if, God is still God.”

This Sunday, protect your peace. Take care of your body. Quiet your mind. Pray about what concerns you—and stop demanding that yourself solve what only God can carry.

Give it to God and get your peace back.

Dr. Pauline E. Wallner-Brinsley, DM, MBA
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Smokescreens: When What’s Wrong Blinds Us to What’s Right

Dr. Pauline E. Wallner-Brinsley

Sometimes the smoke gets so thick that we forget there is still a landscape behind it.

In difficult situations, it can be remarkably easy to identify everything that is wrong. We see the disappointment. The mistake. The betrayal. The weakness. The thing that should have happened but didn’t. We replay the painful conversation and catalog every failure.

And sometimes those things are wrong. Wisdom does not require us to pretend otherwise.

But there is a danger in allowing what is wrong to become a smokescreen that prevents us from seeing what is still right, good, beautiful, and wholesome.

A marriage can have problems without being devoid of love.

A family can be struggling without being a failed family.

A person can make a terrible decision without everything about that person becoming terrible.

A church, organization, friendship, or community can need correction while still containing people who are faithful, compassionate, generous, and sincere.

Even within ourselves, there can be areas requiring healing and accountability while there remains much that God has already developed, restored, and strengthened.

The problem comes when one painful reality becomes the lens through which we interpret everything.

One offense becomes, “You never do anything right.”

One disappointment becomes, “Nothing good ever happens to me.”

One disagreement erases years of kindness.

One weakness overshadows a lifetime of strengths.

That is what smokescreens do. They distort perspective.

Scripture reminds us:

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report… think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8

Paul was not teaching denial. He was teaching disciplined perspective.

Seeing the good does not mean ignoring the bad.

Gratitude does not require blindness.

Forgiveness does not eliminate accountability.

Hope does not mean pretending everything is fine.

It means refusing to allow darkness to convince us that light no longer exists.

Sometimes we need to ask ourselves: Am I seeing the whole picture, or only the part that hurts?

What is still working?

Who is still showing up?

Where is love still present?

What has God preserved?

What lesson is emerging?

What deserves correction—and what deserves gratitude?

There are times when we must confront what is wrong. But we should be equally intentional about recognizing what is right.

Because if we stare only at the smoke, we may miss the people standing faithfully beside us. We may overlook answered prayers because they arrived differently than expected. We may fail to appreciate today’s blessings because yesterday’s disappointment is still occupying the entire window.

Clear the smokescreen.

Acknowledge what is wrong.

Address what needs to change.

Learn what needs to be learned.

But don’t allow the broken pieces to make you forget that there are still pieces that are whole.

Sometimes the situation isn’t entirely bad.

Sometimes we are simply looking at it through too much smoke.

Keep Rising Stronger!

*Good morning and happy Saturday//Sabbath💜

*Strength for the Weary*

*TODAY’S WORD:*

_He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak._
*Isaiah 40:29, NIV*

*TODAY’S WORD:*

If you are weary today, the good news is that special strength is coming. Maybe you feel weak and worn down by everything that’s going on. At times you may feel overwhelmed, you’ve lost your passion, and you don’t feel that you’re able to move forward. Don’t be down on yourself because you’re not strong all the time. You’re human. God’s not faulting you. That’s why He is saying, “When you’re weak, I’m going to step in. I’m about to increase your power. I’m about to make you stronger. You’re going to feel a strength that pushes you forward, a power to do what you couldn’t do before.”

God hasn’t forgotten about you. He sees what you’re going through. He sees the battle with that illness, the struggle to raise your children, all those times you’ve gone the extra mile. Right now God is breathing special strength into you. That burden that’s weighed you down is being lifted. This is a turning point. God is reenergizing you with fresh passion, fresh vision. You will have the strength to accomplish all that God puts in your heart.

*PRAYER FOR TODAY:*

*Father, thank You for this new day of life. I praise You for Your mercy and love that greet me every morning. Fill my heart with gratitude and my spirit with peace as I walk in Your presence today. Bless my steps and guide my thoughts. Help me to trust You in every situation and to lean on Your strength when I feel weak. May Your joy shine through me and encourage those around me. Father, I lift up my family, friends, and all who read this prayer. Surround them with Your love, comfort their hearts, and meet their needs according to Your will. Thank You that I can trust You with the weaknesses that I sometimes feel, knowing that You come with power to give me special strength. Thank You for the reminders to always be asking for Your help. I believe that You are supplying me with all I need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.*

WHEN LOVE BECOMES A COMPETITION

How Competition and Self-Importance Damage Families

Families should be places of belonging, not arenas where people compete for importance.

Competition becomes destructive when being right, being needed, being recognized, or being the favorite becomes more important than protecting the relationship.

What Can This Look Like?

Between spouses:
One person constantly reminds the other who earns more, sacrifices more, or contributes more. Marriage slowly changes from “we” to “me versus you.”

Between siblings:
One sibling’s promotion, marriage, home, education, or success becomes something another sibling feels compelled to outperform rather than celebrate.

Between grandparents:
Grandparents can begin competing with the other grandparents for the grandchildren’s affection.

Who buys the biggest gifts?
Who gets the holidays?
Whose house do the children prefer?
Who gets called first?
Who posts the most pictures?
Who can do more financially?

Sometimes a grandparent may even criticize or diminish the other grandparents in front of the children.

That is no longer simply generosity or love. Children should never become trophies in an adult competition.

A grandchild benefits from having many people who genuinely love them. Another grandparent’s importance does not diminish yours.

Between parents and grandparents:
Problems also arise when grandparents compete with the parents themselves—overriding rules, questioning decisions in front of the children, or trying to become the person the child trusts instead of the parent.

Unless a child’s safety is at risk, love should strengthen healthy family relationships, not undermine them.

When Winning Costs the Relationship

Self-importance asks:

Who matters most? Who is right? Who deserves the credit? Who does the child love more?

Love asks:

“What does this family need from me?”

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
— Philippians 2:3 (KJV)

Humility does not mean making yourself insignificant. It means recognizing that someone else can be important without threatening your importance.

Your grandchildren can adore their other grandparents and still adore you.
Your adult children can make their own decisions and still value your wisdom.
Your spouse can shine without diminishing your light.
Someone else can receive recognition without taking anything away from you.

Before competing, comparing, criticizing, or trying to prove your importance, ask:

Am I helping this family become stronger—or am I fighting to establish my position in it?

Sometimes we can win the argument, buy the biggest gift, get the most attention, and prove our point—

and still lose something far more valuable: the relationship.

There is enough room in a healthy family for everyone to love—and everyone to matter.

Keep Rising Stronger!