I wanted to wait until the journey was fully complete to type the blog out, but God prompted me last night that could be a very long blog. So here's to the start of the journey thus far and what He has taught me.
Last night the Casting Crowns concert was simply amazing. It was more than a concert, it was church, it was worship. When you are listening for whispers, you hear them. When you are asking for revelation, He reveals. When you are seeking truth, you find it. When you are searching for Him, He's right there. So much that was said last night was confirmation to this place I am at right now, to the moving forward journey He has called me to.
I wasn't looking for a journey shift exactly, but I was praying for answers. I wasn't looking for the next step just yet, but I was praying for peace. I was looking for the mountain to be moved, but He was looking for me to climb it. God has been pricking my heart with the Time Hop app over the last couple of weeks, and last week He started putting some pieces together. This time of the year is ALWAYS stressful at work regardless of location, job title etc. Stress will find you in the Spring if you are in the field of education. Reality check: I am easily overwhelmed when the to-do list is longer than the hours in the day. I am easily distracted by trying to do for others when that may not be what He's called me to do. (Need to please versus call to serve...but that's a blog in itself). My focus hasn't been right over the last year or so, but I wasn't exactly sure where I got off course. If you are feeling that way and not exactly sure where you took a mis-step, keep listening and seeking truth...He will lead you back to the place He planned. Stress and Chaos are not from God, they are tools the enemy uses to get straight to our heart and mind. The enemy is clever in knowing that if he can keep us busy and overwhelmed, we won't slow down long enough to listen to God's whispers (much less ask Him to whisper). We get so focused in capturing the moment so we can post it on social media that we forget to just savor and enjoy the moment. We are exhausted running the race while barely noticing we aren't going anywhere. The busy race is not productive, it keeps you running in circles(which only leaves you disorientated and frustrated). So back to me...Sometimes God doesn't change the situations because He wants us to rely on His strength in the midst of what the world calls stress. God can handle the list, if we let Him. He can provide a strength and energy that only comes from Him so that you can focus and accomplish things. The enemy wants you to feel overwhelmed and discouraged, so you start to doubt yourself. Listen closely...You are the child of the Most High and have the power to squash the enemy in the moment. Being a Christian and trying to live according to the busyness of the world is like holding a lamp and never plugging it in. Plug it in sweet reader and draw from the source that can keep the flame burning even when you don't feel like it.
You can't move forward while still chained to the past. I heard that whisper over a year ago, but never understood it until recently. Sometimes we ask God to break the chains, but we don't want to deal with what it takes to break them. Ask God to do a search and to show you anything you need to deal with, take care of, let go of...in order to move forward. When you have laid it all out to Him, I mean really laid it all out(how you feel about it, what you think etc.), leave it at His feet. At some point you have to realize that if you could handle it, you would have already and you wouldn't be stressed about it. God has a destiny planned for each of His children, personally I think mine is closer than I can even imagine. Shake off the ties that bind you and so easily beset you and run the race He has planned for you to run. How do shake it off? How do you let it go? You pour your heart out to the One who already knows it anyway. You tell Him everything, how you feel, what you wish He had done etc., but most of all you tell Him how much you trust Him and how you know He's got this all planned out. God will reveal your steps of obedience to your breakthrough if you listen. He will also place people in your life who will help you move forward to what He has planned for you. Discernment is a gift He gives His children, use it and listen to it....He's been telling you what to do, now do it!
This is getting longer than I planned for the first part. I'm two weeks into this journey and learning to let Him handle the stress moments. I haven't turned to food, I've turned to Him. I'm letting Him do what He does best, and I'm just being me. Being me doesn't always mean perfect, but He knows that. Being me means knowing who He has made me to be, who He called me to be, and who He has purposed for me to be. I'm learning to deal with things I've stuffed over the years and then to release it into the hands of the One who has been waiting on it all along. I'm learning to defeat the enemy with truth, before he can defeat me with stress. I wish I could tell you the overwhelmed feelings and stress have been eliminated(you should see the to-do list), but they haven't. Learning to be more like Him means pressing through opportunities for the seed that has been planted in you to grow into the fruit that He created. Growing takes place through seasons,...and this is the season for blooming!
Take heart sweet reader if you are feeling frustrated. God knows exactly where you are. Quit laying it down at His feet only to pick it back up again. Quit measuring yourself against the standards of the world (comparing yourselves to others). God made you and He knows what strengths and weaknesses He has planned. Trust Him to take care of His creation. Ask Him for Godly counsel to speak into your life and to hold you accountable as you move to the next season and forward on your journey. The enemy wants nothing more than to keep you stationary, dormant, focused on the feelings of the load the world has placed on you. (but guess what....God has already defeated the enemy). So walk in that victory and know that truth always wins!
More to come later! The journey is a process...
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