Today I am thankful for the life that I have and the correction that God gives me. My life is not perfect and I have my share of struggles and obstacles, however I am getting through them. I can choose to focus on the problems and on what I lack or focus on the solutions and what I have been blessed with. As I reflect on my past, I am reminded that God has never dropped me on my head and I trust that He won’t start now.
Transition — From My Will to His
This year has so far been a year of transition in my life. Both little changes and big ones. Several months ago I felt God leading me to resign from my job. It was difficult for me, as I loved working with my clients and helping them achieve greater emotional and spiritual health. I also had some great co-workers who some became more like my extended family. I have to admit, I didn’t listen to Him at first and tried to walk in my own will.
God had put it on my heart for some time that it was getting to be time to move forward into some new things. Out of fear and loyalty to others (my will – not Gods) I stayed planted where I was. God had to allow me to get uncomfortable and really look at who I was being loyal to. You see, I fell into the trap of trying to please others. I also fell into the trap of caring too much about others opinions of me. In all of this I was really trying to convince myself that it was what God wanted me to do. After all, He does say love your neighbours . Oops! I forgot to read what He said before that — love God!
It was imperative that I switch from driving my own bus (being in my own will) and allowing God to take the wheel and be the lead driver. By yielding to God and His will I was demonstrating my love for Him and the trust that I have for Him. When I put Him first in my life, everything else seems to just fall into place.
Love God — Allowing Him to Drive
One of the things that I am quite open about is my relationship with God. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t talk with Him or talk about Him. God is my bestest friend. Yes, I realize that bestest isn’t a real word — however, my husband has the role of “best friend” and my relationship with God is greater than the one I share with my husband. Seeing that God is my bestest friend I have had to really look at how I was demonstrating my love towards Him.
Have you ever heard some fabulous life changing message and wanted to yell out — Amen!? Well, as I sit and reflect I realize that my amen has really turned into a — ohhhhh me. Here it is — confession time — my pride, insecurities and fear were holding me back from the blessings that God wanted to gift to me.
Pride
Gulp! My pride has gotten in the way of God’s will for my life oodles of times. I wish I could say that I have succeeded in overcoming pride. I believe that it is a battle that I will continue to have to fight. Pride is one of the reasons that I suffered some heartache and feelings of being hurt, insecure, angry and uncomfortable.
As I stated earlier, I didn’t want to let any one down. I didn’t follow what in my heart I knew I needed to do because of pride. I cared more for what others thought than I did for what God thought. Instead of allowing God to drive, I took over and crashed? Ouch!
I knew that there would be plenty of people who would not understand my decision to walk away from my job. There would be judgement and there would be gossip. I had to decide to ignore that and do what I knew in my heart that God wanted me to do.
Insecurities
Having the wisdom to know what to do and why I wasn’t doing it was only the beginning. Now that I had the wisdom, I had to walk in that wisdom. This was difficult for me as — gulp! — I was heavied down with insecurities. The truth is I had to get to a place where I cared more about God’s will than other people’s opinions. I had to seek Him first and delight myself in His ways. This happened in a beautiful way as I dedicated several hours a day to spending time in His presence. Being in His presence changed me.
Did you get that? —- being in His presence changed me. It didn’t change others nor did it change the situation I was in — it simply changed me. I was able to lay down my pride and my insecurities in this situation.
Did it stop the judgement and the opinions of others? – most likely not. Truthfully it no longer matters to me. I surrendered my pride and insecurities and put my trust into the One that created me. People are always going to talk and everyone has their own opinions — it’s up to me whether I accept them or not.
What About Fear?
The fear that I was under was due to the pride and insecurities that I was holding onto. Once I surrendered those two, the fear slowing disappeared. The more time that I spend with God, the less fear I experience. There have been moments where fear tries to overcome me and that nagging voice in my head tells me that I made a mistake. The fear tries to get back in so that it can prevent me from continuing to press forward. When I become aware of it, I simply spend some time with God and seek His peace.
Correction
God corrects those that He loves. I don’t always enjoy the process of Gods corrections, however when I persevere the results are amazing. When I look back and can see the transformation , I am grateful for those difficult life lessons. Not only does it help me to be a healthier person, it allows me to help others in their journeys.
The Life I Have
I am thankful for my life today. It is still a work in progress and that is perfectly fine with me. Every day I get a chance to do better and learn more. I get excited when I get up in the morning with the attitude of — “Ok God, how are we going to spend our day today? How can I be a blessing to those around me? What is it that you are wanting to teach me?”
Today I choose to trust in God and the life that He has given me. I will trust that the events and the situations that I find myself in are not random nor are they something I need to fear. It is a blessing to be the recipient of Gods correction as that is a sign of deep love. As I continue to surrender my will and seek His , I am excited to see where the next leg of my journey will take me.
What Is God’s Word Saying To Me Today?
~ “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness ” — 2 Timothy 3:16
~ “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right — the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.” — Matthew 6:33 AMP
~ ” for they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God” — John 12:43 AMP — ohhh me – gulp!
~ “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” — Proverbs 16:18 AMP —- another – ouch!
~ “My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the Lord [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline]; nor despise His rebuke” — Proverbs 3:1 AMP
~ “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever” — Psalm 136:26 AMP
What are you thankful for today? Drop me a comment. I would love to hear from you.
Blessings 💞💞💞
Wow! This really spoke to me! I struggle with trying to ‘drive’ my own life, and He always finds a way to put a yield sign or detour sign up reminding me that I am not on his path. When I remind myself of how much more amazing his plans are than that of my own, I get all excited 😊
It is so easy to veer off our paths. His ways are so much better than our ways — blessings as you continue to press forward
Following God’s lead isn’t always easy is it? But it is something I try to do. I have my own story of blessings in following His leading this year.
Yes, it can be hard — glad to hear that you are seeing the blessingscin the hard stuff.
So many great nuggets in this post!