God Does the Heavy Lifting

They say God is simple, and we’re the ones who make things complicated. While I was praying Psalm 95 this morning, something very simple occurred to me. The psalm says, “Forty years I endured that generation. I said they are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not know my ways. So I swore in my anger, they shall not enter into my rest.” Here’s the simple thing: If we are restless, we have gone out of the rest we find only in God. And we “go out” in two ways. We love other gods that make our lives complicated and stressful—we worship: Our expectations Our idea of perfection Our to-do list We ruminate about the past and fear the future. We forget that:  We find God in this moment—because God is outside of time. We can’t change the past, but we can choose to forgive others, and ourselves, as God does. The future isn’t here—and it’s God who’s in control of it, not us. God is saying through Psalm 95 that if we know His ways, if we follow the First Commandment to love Him above all other gods—that our souls will be at rest in Him.   What now? So it’s our job in our spiritual life to ask ourselves: What do we love more than God, that’s causing us stress and anxiety?  What has made us forget to take refuge in the loving and protecting love of God?  How have we let ourselves be lured outside the refuge of God’s “now” to fret about the future? How and for what have we let our hearts “go astray”?   What’s the secret? The secret to inner peace is in these two things: Plan as well as we can for the future and leave the rest to God. That includes praying every day that His will be done. Notice when we’re becoming anxious and call our minds back to a quotation or a Bible verse that reminds us that God is our all-in-all—that any pain we’re experiencing is passing away and that God’s love, mercy, protection, and care is our refuge in this moment to find our rest in Him. God gives us that simple way to reclaim this moment in Christ.   It worked for King David King David wrote this 3,000 years ago: “The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction terrified me. The cords of Sheol encircled me; the snares of death lay in wait for me. In my distress I called out: LORD! I cried out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry to him reached his ears.  “He reached down from on high and seized me; drew me out of the deep waters. He rescued me from my mighty enemy, from foes too powerful for me. They attacked me on my day of distress, but the LORD was my support. He set me free in the open; he rescued me because he loves me.” (Psalm 18:5-7;17-20)   Share a favorite verse Scroll down and leave a comment about a favorite quote or Bible verse that helps you remember the love of God.

Before we get to St. Francis de Sales, do you want to hear how YOU can overcome anxiety?If you’re a “Yes,” join me in my free 1-hour workshop, “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here now! You’ll discover the exact steps I and my clients use to reclaim our peace when we’re tempted by worry, impatience, self-doubt – or any trigger of anxiety. Like last week when I showed up at a meeting and felt like I totally said the wrong thing – but didn’t beat myself up later for it! You won’t believe how well this 5-step system works. Sign up for the “Banish Anxiety” workshop. OK – time for a 2-minute video where we learn St. Francis de Sales’ #1 cause of anxiety…and how we can avoid it!     Wondering how to think about ourselves less and think about God more? Join me in the “Banish Anxiety” free 1-hour workshop! Register here.

How do the great saints keep their inner peace? What do they do when they feel themselves start to get angry, stressed, or impatient? We heard from St. Jane de Chantal last week, now it’s the turn of another Frenchwoman.This 60-sec video is the first in a series to help you find that out. Saint of the Week: Therese of Lisieux If you’d like to be more like St. Therese to avoid anxiety and impatience, let’s chat. In helping over 10,000 Catholics get closer to God, I’ve learned that inner peace is available to everyone -- if you know the 5 simple steps to let Christ’s peace in!   Book a free Clarity Call with me at TalkWithRose.net -- to see if and how I can help you have the intimate connection with God that gives you the peace the world cannot take away. ….Here’s how St. Therese did it!   

St. Jane de Chantal (1572−1641) was a French noblewoman whose husband was killed in a hunting accident, leaving her with four children.  She went on to co-found, with St. Francis de Sales, the Visitation Order and oversaw dozens of monasteries. Jane suffered from anxiety and depression. And yet she’s a saint!  Watch the 2-minute video below to see how she did it.   …And if you could use some help overcoming the anxiety in your life, join me at my free 60-min workshop: “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here. You’ll discover how to: Be rooted in your true value and worth Handle the lows with unshakable hope Discern and live out your true purpose Banish chronic fear and anxiety Radiate the love of Christ Image purchased from PortraitsOfTheSaints(dot)com.

So many Catholic women feel like when they pray, they're just going through the motions—just getting through with it and moving on to the next thing on the to-do list. They want more out of prayer but they don't know how to get there. Sometimes, it’s a constant battle to stay present in praye— and after we finish, it’s all a blur. (If your prayer gets derailed by distractions, join me in my free workshop: “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here.)   #1 TipHere’s my number one tip to get back on track to make your prayer more meaningful: Forget the boxes for one day. Forget your routine. Forget what you think you should be doing—and do this: Take one prayer and pray so slowly that it brings up questions and thoughts in your mind. Reflect on those questions and thoughts. Just one prayer for today. I'll give you an example. When I slowed down praying the Magnificat, here’s what showed up:    My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,  My soul is created to proclaim the greatness of a Lord, not the greatness of myself.   my spirit rejoices in God my Savior  My spirit is not created to rejoice in what I have accomplished, or what I have, or what I look like. I am created to rejoice in God, who is eternal love.   for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. I rejoice because God has looked on me with his favor and his mercy. He has created me in his own image to love and to be loved; to know, love, and serve him. I rejoice in him because everything good I have comes from him; all my hope is in him. I rejoice because he rejoices in me. “The Lord…will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love” (Zeph 3:17).   From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me,  It is the Almighty’s action in me, and that alone, that makes me blessed, that helps me to do anything important and connected with eternity. All good that I have ever done or ever will do is from God working through me.   and holy is his Name. Everything holy in me, everything God-like that I aspire to—comes from him, imitates him, and reflects him shining in me.   He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. I revere his awesome power to do good through me if I just say “yes.” I have no power to do good on my own, independent from him. I pray for the grace to receive his mercy and to show that mercy to everyone he puts in my path today.   He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. God cannot be overpowered or outdone. His strength alone is my strength. When I feel scattered, it means that I am trying to use my own strength, which is weakness itself. I rely entirely on God’s power to bring good outcomes in my life.   He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. The more I remind myself and try to live out my own powerlessness, the greater power I have to do good because I am emptying myself of my own pride, my own will, my expectations, my desires—making room, as Mary did, to be filled up to overflowing with God’s eternal power.   He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. The “good things” God fills us up with are his very self. When he fills us in the Sacraments, in prayer, and in service, we are filled with God’s own peace, knowing that he has our back and it is he who is accomplishing all we are doing. “Lord, you will decree peace for us, for you have accomplished all we have done” (Is 26:12).   He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy,the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever. God’s promises are beyond our comprehension in their scope and depth of love. And all his promises are ours if we say with Mary, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Our yes is the golden key that opens God’s heart—that opens heaven on Earth, that opens eternity to us—beginning here and now.   This is what happens when you limit the number of prayers you’re praying and slow down to give fewer prayers enough time for a connection to happen. My reflections inside the Magnificat would never have shown up if I had just checked-that-box on my way to the next to-do. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer like the Magnificat. It can be short—sometimes it’s just one word. The key is to listen. 🙏 If you struggle to stay focused in prayer, join me in my free workshop: “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here!  

Are you emotionally hydroplaning? I mean going from one task to another to another—conquering your to-do list but losing connection with your family and yourself. Like my client Amy, who avoided slowing down because she felt like everything depended on her: the farm, the finances, the husband, the house. She wondered why she was always exhausted.  She knew there must be a way out, but she didn’t know the way out. So many Catholic women feel that way. Because they don’t know the root cause of their exhaustion.   How to reconnect Amy reconnected with God—and herself—through my Success Over Stress Program. No more hydroplaning!   If you’d like to know the exact 5 steps I and my clients use to reconnect and reclaim our peace, join me at my FREE 70-min workshop, “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here. Jesus tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides” (Matthew 6:33). Amy’s transformation happened quickly. She said, “I don’t beat myself up like I used to.” Would you like to know the first step Amy took?   My #1 tip to connect with God Write down a time and place to pray every day. Start with five minutes.  The first minute is telling God what you need help with.  The next three minutes are to stop talking and listen to what he puts on your heart. The last minute is for thanking him for his love and care.  Then, get on with your day with a new awareness that he’s got your back. Five minutes. Forget about it being perfect. By taking time to listen to God’s gentle guidance, your confusion will begin to clear up and good decisions will start to appear. And you’ll know it’s God by the calmness that comes over your whole body. To get in on my other Top Tips for clarity and calm, join me for my FREE 70-min workshop, “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose.” Register here now. 

I had confidence all wrong.  Confidence isn’t believing everyone is going to like me today because my clothes and hair are perfect. Sounds silly, right? But doesn’t our confidence too often depend on what we believe others will think of us? Well, we’re partly right.   Authentic confidence Real confidence comes from believing that God loves us more than we can imagine. That we don’t have to do a single thing to earn his love.  Confidence is believing that God loves us so much that he just wants to hang out with us. Wait—hang out?? Aren’t I supposed to be exerting myself to do his will? Yes, but stressing that we’re not doing things perfectly—that we’re never doing enough— gets in the way of resting in God’s peace.  Which, in the end, is all he really wants of us. The sweet “how to” below by an anonymous author is guaranteed to warm your heart and give you a confidence boost.   How to Hang Out with God Me: God, what do You want me to do? He: I know what I want to do, what do you want to do? Me: Well, I would like a happy marriage, well-behaved children, clean house, health, enough money… He: Okay, all good things. Me: What do You want me to do? He: Hang out with me. Me: Hang out? What do You want to do? He: Hang out. Me: What do You want to talk about? He: Let’s just hang out. Me: Now what do You want to do? He: Nothing, let’s just hang out. Me: What can I do? He: Hang out with me. Me: Then what? He: Love. Me: Then what? He: Love some more. Me: What for? He: Because I said so. Me: What good is it for? He: You’ll see. Me: I don’t feel very loving. He: I know. Me: How am I going to do it? He: Just do it. Me: Why? He: Because I told you so. Me: What else? He: That’s it. Me: What do you mean, that’s it? He: Just hang out with me. Me: It’s hard for me to hang out, I need to be doing something. He: I know. Me: So what should I do? He: Hang out with me. Me: How do I do it? He: You’re doing it right now. Me: I feel ridiculous. You just want me to hang out? He: Yeah. Me: I love You…what I know of You. He: Love you too. Me: What do You love about me? He: That you hang out with me. Me: Who wouldn’t want to hang out with you? He: You’d be surprised. Me: Surprise me. He: Well, for instance, you. You often have a million things going through your head, or you fill it up with silly fantasies or judgments or you worry too much. Me: Sorry. He: I forgive you.   “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15:9-11).

After sitting silently in adoration for 10 minutes yesterday, I began to get restless that I didn't feel very connected to God.  What was I doing wrong? Was I not paying attention? Then I realized I had fallen into a trap that I coach people how not to fall into! It just shows how we need a system to avoid from the never-ending temptations that try to pull us away from God and put the focus on ourselves.   Recovery time I reminded myself that God is always closer to us than we are to ourselves. His connection with us is never, ever a problem. The psalmist put it this way:Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.  If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea,  Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast” (Ps. 130:7-10). And I remembered that God is not in the business of fulfilling my expectations at every moment. He is in the business of fulfilling his Divine Will. And his will is for our salvation. So he will give us in every moment exactly what we need. Scripture says: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9).  And God’s thoughts—his plans for us—are always more glorious than we can imagine.    It comes down to trust If warm fuzzies are not on the menu today, we can trust that he is still working powerfully in our soul to transform us into the likeness of himself. After this reality-check, I stopped feeling restless and started to feel grateful. As I thanked him and praised him for being the glorious God he is, and for looking on me with so much love and mercy, he reminded me that gratitude is a balm for any pain we feel in our body or soul.Gratitude plugs us into the eternal reality of God’s care and is a great way to find a connection with him.   A gift for you If you'd like to know the exact five-step process I and my clients use to stay on track with God and to stay connected with him and ourselves, join me in my free, live, 60-min workshop. It’s called “Banish Anxiety: 5 Simple Steps to Lasting Peace and Purpose” and you can register here.