When it's all said and done...

I heard a story this week of a family where the dad (who is battling terminal cancer) pondered if his life had made any difference. He told his wife this one day, so she set out working on a Christmas project. On Christmas she gave him a chest of letters written by friends and family telling him what a difference, an impact he had made on their life. As the story went on, the mom talked about how these letters will live on long after her husband passes as a testament of a legacy passed on to their son.

When it's all said and done.....this story that was told to me this week has stuck with me. It's made me think, made me ponder, and along with a few Hallmark movies...made me take inventory. It's the time of the year where the holidays have passed and we are looking forward to a new year. Personally I like New Years....I love the feeling of a clean slate. Then God reminded me, each new day with Him is like that. His word in Lamentations says that His mercies are new every morning. He looks at the day as a clean slate, so why shouldn't we. We only get one pass at this life, one pass at this gift He gives us called today. Are the things we are pouring ourselves into things that matter? Are we leaving an impact, an imprint on the people we meet every day? It it an imprint that will be forgotten after time or one that will last, maybe even spur them on to making a difference. There are not enough hours in the day to impact this entire world for God....and I honestly think God gets a smile when we set out trying. Thankfully He knows our hearts and knows that if we will just set out to impact our world, the corner of life that He's called us to plant ourselves in for this season...He will take care of the rest. You never know, that child you teach in Sunday School today may be the next missionary God calls to Africa, or they could be the person that grows up to be the one that makes a difference as an encourager and an intercessor for the next great evangelist. God is the only one that knows how the pieces all fit together....His plan always prevails, it will take place whether you hold on to your pieces or let them go in His hands. Do you want to stand before Him one day and have to answer for what you held on to, or do you want to be able to say you ran this race with open hands leaving it all up to the One who was already standing at the finish line? The story of the talents in the Bible comes to mind....invest what God has given you and trust Him for the returns. The enemy wants you to bury what you have, leave it in the box created by the world, and walk through this life with hands closed fisted.

Newsflash, Honesty check, heart to heart moment...whatever you want to call it. You aren't going to feel like you can make a difference each and every day. There are going to be days when the enemy attacks your confidence and your security buttons (Hello...if the liar can make you think you can't do anything..you won't. That's a fact and I'm sure if you think for a minute you have your own story you can insert here). God didn't say feel your way through the day, He said to trust Him. God didn't say you wouldn't feel insecure or lack confidence. If you are waiting to only do things for God when you feel confident, well....you are going to be waiting awhile. God didn't said be confident in yourself, He said be confident in this...that He who begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion. That's a truth to hold on to when the enemy needs a good stomping. I've got another blog in the works for Tuesday on Goliath...sometimes we need to quit trying to fight our Goliath with others armor on and take up our sling and stone and fight with the One who called us to the battle. More on that later...

The enemy's been on an attack for the last couple of months, but he knows his time is drawing near. Some of the attacks I've seen coming and some have hit me in the gut...some God took the hit on and some He needed me to walk through. If we never face a battle, we will never know that we have the victory. The victory isn't in how fast we make it through, but in making it through. There are moments meant to sleep in the boat and let Him calm the storms. Then there are moments where God says...come on out on the water. God made the comfort zone for a season, stay in it too long and you get to be seasick from the rocky waves. The same hand that helped us out of the boat on to the water is the same hand holding us as we walk on the water. He doesn't say out of the boat and on your own....it's a journey, a race He longs to run with His children.

You may be thinking oh but you don't know how I feel about this or that. No I don't, but I know how I've felt at times. I know the insecurity that has been louder than it should have over the last couple of months. See the enemy gets scared when we get out of the boat...because that's when we start to walk out our calling, our anointing that has been there all along. So he lets the waves get a little rocky..sometimes they may make us feel unsteady and wondering why we ever left the boat....but God in His perfect wisdom says....I've never let go of you. Hold on Child..and in that moment...you start to feel steady again. Not because the waves calmed, but because you relied on the strength of the One who was holding on to you.  The enemy may see you as threat, but God calls you His Child. You have the power on the inside of you to move mountains, to see people healed, to speak life where the enemy has spoken death, to see chains broken off of souls, to see people set free...The word says you have not because you ask not. God longs to give you the desires of your heart...and when your heart is truly seeking after more of Him, He is faithful. More of Him equals more of His power, more of His presence, more of His provision, more of Him....He longs to fill you until you are overflowing, but He needs you to let go of you....trusting that He knows you better than you know yourself.

When it's all said and done....Reflecting on this past year, let go of what didn't work right(mistakes that were made, choices that were not chosen, the "what if's" that lead to regrets.) Let go it go and grab on to what He has planned for you. Hold on to what He holds on to and let the rest go..(easier said than done...but that's where peace is found) Trust Him to shine through....and then just be the You He made you to be. What are you seeking after in 2016? Spend some time over the next week and let Him pull back the layers, take off the band-aids and speak revelation as only He can. One day we will all be at the point where we look back over our lives and wonder if we made an impact. Living each day with His direction is the way to know....that one day we will hear Him say "Well done thy good and faithful servant".