"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."
(Psalm 143:8)
(Psalm 143:8)
I believe that when God speaks in your heart, you listen and when God says to change something, you haul it out of the cargo storage that you have been packing around with you for WAY too long. Likewise, I hope what God placed on my heart today will change your perspective in some way and that it will be able to accomplish what God intends, all for his glory! You see, I'm at a really unique season of my life. With loads and loads of homework for grad school each week, a job at a pediatric clinic that I love and the general day-to-day demands that come with being a 20-something adult; I find myself time after time declaring "I am way too BUSY." When I try to make plans with my friends (sadly one of my best friends and I have have had a standing dinner date for months now), I try to carve out time with my family or I try to take time out of my schedule just to relax and recharge; I immediately feel guilty because I am "way too busy" to have a life that is lived outside of the parameters of "work" and "busyness.
In this season of my life; my perfectionistic and control craving tendencies are rampant. Each night as I lay my head down to go to sleep, I worry that I forgot a deadline, I am concerned that I didn't produce "spectacular work" that day, I harp on my mistakes and I am anxious when I am not the leader of everything. For so long, I viewed the feelings as they were, just unfortunate aspects of life and perhaps personality traits that can't be changed but now I understand these basic truths:
God never created, nor intended for us to feel defeated, anxious or inadequate...
We cannot control the situations that arise in our lives, only God can...
Perfectionism is a lie; nothing in our lives if "perfect." If perfectionism were discussed on Myth Busters, it would be proven to be a HUGE myth...
"Busyness" is NOT a virtue. It is a vice...
Life was meant to be lived in a loving and trusting relationship with God; not us doubting God's capability to do the impossible or lacking the braveness that comes with knowing that God is moving in amazing ways throughout our lives. Faith involves trust and it involves giving the steering wheel to God so that he can take us down amazing and beautiful life paths that he has planned for us...
My God, the Creator of the Universe and King of Kings, is capable of fulfilling amazing and remarkable plans for my life (and he wants to accomplish that for you too!)...
The seasons of our lives are unique opportunities for us to embrace change, to believe in the goodness of life, to understand the power of God's timing and to grow in our understanding of what we are truly capable of. WIthout the changing seasons of life (good or bad) we are the same and we never grow into beautiful creations. Without life seasons we fail to become what we were destined to be...
Each day, I have to remind myself that I can't do it all. Each day, I have to realize that God doesn't applaud my busyness but that he does applaud my willingness to trust him even when I don't really understand what he is doing. Each day, I have to believe that my fears, my doubts and my shortcomings are covered by the power, grace and mercy of God. Each day, I have to understand that I am NOTHING on my own but with God going before me (in every moment and season) I am protected, chosen, set apart, redeemed and made new simply because I am a child of the one who holds everything in his powerful hand. Each day, I get to start with a clean slate (the past is wiped clean) and each day, I have a choice regarding the attitude and foundation to which I cling. Each day, when I choose to live in a spirit of defeat, when I buy into the myth of perfectionism, when I lack faith, when I try to follow my own plans rather than God's and when I remain the same old stubborn person I was the day before; ultimately, I choose to make detrimental decisions. The bottom line is... if you want to live a life of faith, boldness, bravery, and fulfillment; you have to learn to let go and give your heart and need for control, perfection or busyness wholly to God.
So take heart, dear soul. Journey forward with a desire to believe that your life is worth something and that the God of everything, loves you so much that he wants to guide your path into a beautiful and glorious unfolding. Let your paths of perfectionism, busyness, need for control, anxiety, doubt and insecurities be straightened and aligned with the goodness that comes with a new slate and new opportunities to live a life of purpose. Trust me, there will be trials and there will be tests. Every season and life change will not always feel "fantastic" or "amazing." You will be pushed (often to your limits) and you will be challenged to reach new limits that you didn't know were possible. You may even want to give up and throw in the towel before your race is completed. BUT, when you give up on your plans and wipe clean your slate through a dynamic and life-changing relationships with God, you will learn that his plans are always better than your own. You will understand that you have to keep going even when your spirit downright hurts from the journey. You will realize that something far better than you could ever imagine is waiting for you at the end of each new chapter and page turn. Life really is made of gold, but so often we focus so heavily on the rust and tarnish, we can't see the beauty and worth of our golden lives. But one day, it will all make perfect sense and the beauty and goodness of life will be shown to you. Life and your experiences will make sense one day and all of the reasons behind everything that you have or ever will face in your life will be so clear. We have to keep going for the 'one day." We have to trust God completely for the view of the "one day." We have to hold steadfast for the glory of the "one day." Entrust your one precious life and your beautiful soul to the Lord. He is capable and his love is unfailing morning after morning. My prayer for each of us (myself included) is this:
Lord, help us to place our lives, our plans and our eyes completely on and within you. Help us to believe and trust that you have a better plan for our lives than what we could ever create on our own. Rid us of our fears, doubts and shortcomings. Make us into new creations that are fulfilled by you alone. Help us to sustain a trust that if you are for us then nothing can be prevail against us. In the If's of life, help us to cling to you and in the storms of life, help us to keep our eyes focus on the glory of the "one day" that will has been promised to us. Forgive us where we have failed you and strengthen in us in our spirits of bravery and steadfastness. In your mighty and unfailing love we pray. Amen.
Until next time friends, keep your eyes focus on the "one day" and join with me in letting each morning bring you a new freshness of God's unfailing love.
