I get by with a little help from my friends...

Have you ever been going through something and you keep trudging along and it just doesn't seem as if anything is getting better?  The harder you attempt to press through with praise and thanksgiving the more it seems like its pressing down on you.  You literally feel as if something has grabbed ahold of your arms and lashed them to your side and you can NOT get your praise on!
We see in James 1:2-4 NLT  that when these troubles come we are to look at them as an opportunity:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Not just an opportunity, but an opportunity for great JOY!  I have to be honest, there are days when that seems nearly impossible.  The last thing I want to do is throw my hands up and do a happy dance when life doesn't play fair.  What do I do in those occasions?
I cry out to Jesus!  He is always there and not only that He sends others to lift me up in prayer.  This is why it's important to have people in your life that you can be real with and just say, "nope, nope, nope I'm not gonna do it!"  Then they rally around you and say, "take a coffee break sister, we got this," and start praying on your behalf.
What many of us don't realize, is that one of the primary tools of the enemy is to not only get us to the point that we become so weary that we can no longer do what we know to do but to also isolate us from each other so that he can cut the weak one from the herd and go in for the kill.
When you find yourself in a weary state, there are some things you need to do:

1. Don't let yourself be cut off from others...resist the urge to crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head. 
2. Get honest with yourself and admit that you need a little assistance...we aren't superheroes, we are human and it's OKAY to admit that you need help.
3. When the assistance comes, relax and let them lift you up...just Be still and Be strengthened.
4. Do unto others as they have done to you...when you are strong, don't turn your back on the cries of someone who is weary, lift them up in prayer as others did for you.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all my sisters and brothers who heard my cry and came alongside me and lifted my arms until the battle was won!  We see the same in Exodus 17:10-13 NLT:

So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill.  As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.   Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.   As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.

Just as Aaron and Hur came alongside Moses, you came alongside me and together we got the VICTORY!  Hmmm, that reminds me of a little ditty...Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends!