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Eyes Foward
Matthew 11:28-30
New King James Version (NKJV)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
One thing I’ve learned today is as this year has been AMAZING with the start of my marriage in March and getting pregnant in September, it’s also been really rough. From dealing with a hard boss and having to drop everything to help my parents move from Tennessee to Arizona, because my mom probably has Multiple Sclerosis (we should know on the 15th of January for sure) to reestablishing our life in Arizona while trying to help both of my parents who are now unable… somewhere along the way the weight of what was going on just kept getting heavier and heavier.
We trusted God through it all and continue to, and we can’t do it without Him. But I forgot a very important step along the way: letting go.
It’s been really hard the past couple of months and it’s not over yet, but God has continually provided and has helped beyond what I could do on my own.. and it’s still been hard. That doesn’t mean God isn’t there or isn’t leading everything.
After realizing this, I heard God saying and showing me that it’s not something I need to take with me into the New Year.
Let it go and keep my eyes forward. It’s not my fault what has happened, it’s not my burden to carry. I can’t change anything by holding on to the weight. It doesn’t help anybody to hold onto all the stress, pain, anger, hurt, etc..
At the same time, choosing to ignore the weight like it wasn’t something I was carrying, didn’t make the fact that my mom probably has MS or that I don’t know sometimes if we can make it to the next paycheck or any of the struggles and things that happened… not happen….
Let go and keep my eyes forward.
So I prayed, God help me let this go, I lay it at your feet, give me your strength and peace, etc…
He did.
This next year is full of opportunities, blessings, and yes probably more hard stuff. But, it’s something I’m excited to walk into knowing that as I keep my eyes forward the things of last year aren’t in my hands but completely left in God’s; as is the new year I’m about to step into.
I recommend that you look at what you may be carrying from the past year that you can give to God. Let it go and keep your eyes forward.
Trust me life is much better when you don’t have anything weighing you down or hurting you. Life is so much better when everything is in God’s hands.
Matthew 11:28-30
New King James Version (NKJV)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Category: Uncategorized |
Labor Pains
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16
For the longest time I didn’t understand why with childbirth women still went through extreme pain. I mean Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins, by grace we are made new… Why do we then still suffer for a sin made long ago? I didn’t understand it but that didn’t change the fact I trusted God, He has His reasoning. I was never mad at God because of it, just something I didn’t understand.
A little over 5 weeks ago I gave birth to my beautiful healthy son. I labored over 22 hours, had him at home, unassisted (just God and my husband), in active labor (the hardest part) for over 9 hours, no pain medicine….
I was so tired and at the end the pain never stopped. It was constant for so long. It was all I could do to just breathe and try to relax through it.
There was a moment when my husband told me he saw our baby’s head crowning. No exaggeration, everything dimmed and my excitement rose like none before… My energy skyrocketed, the pain was still there but like a small buzzing in the background of my focus. I pushed my hardest and within 2 minutes my baby boy came home to my husband and I.
I remember staring at my boy, so grateful for the 9+ months I had carried him as he developed. I was so grateful for the last 22+ hours of labor… looking at his face there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have gone through to get to him.
It doesn’t matter anymore how hard it was, how much I had to change. I can’t even remember how hard it was, with every passing day the details and memories fade and what takes its place is something so much better… my boy. My little hungry hippo, my chunky monkey, my little man, my cutie, my Matthew.
I still don’t know why God still has us go through the pain of labor… but after giving birth I realize, I’m grateful we do.
It challenges me to look at things in a different way. For God to birth something so amazing as my son, it took a process that wasn’t easy. I had to change. It took time, it took pain, a lot of time being uncomfortable, not being in control, learning… a lot of praying. I had to let go to the process, embrace every step of the way, try my hardest but understand that some days you’re just tired.
I know that when you pray for something, when you see God doing something in you or your situation sometimes there’s a similar process. If you want something from God, especially something big, don’t be afraid of the process. Trust me He’ll take you through it, His timing, His way, His plan.
Pregnancy and giving birth are the hardest things I’ve ever been blessed to go through.
Category: Uncategorized |
Disconnect
One of the biggest things I’ve heard people ask, is if God is all powerful how come I’m still in pain? Or how come simple things can seem like a fight? If God can do anything how come I’m still hurting? When stuff happens, why does it seem as if I’m fighting all on my own? Well here’s the thing…
Here’s what I found….
I found the process and difficulty is never a result of God’s power. The process is because of our flesh, our habits, our fight for control. God’s power is instant.
Think of the beginning, Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light”, and there was light. God’s power created immediate results.
God chose to give us free will, He wants us to choose His plan, His way, to choose Him. We have the power to choose what we believe and what we think.
I like to think of it as when we face troubles or problems, our thoughts are like wires… sometimes they get jumbled and tangled in our heads. Until we learn how to connect those wires with God’s truth all we are left with is more tangles… we are trying to figure it out and handle it on our own.
Once we learn how to connect them to God’s truth, God’s word… it’s an instant connection… Instant and total power is resulted from the right mindset.
That’s why the devil tries so hard to get your focus off God, and rather have you focus on how you are feeling or the situation… or whatever he uses, his plan is to get those wires more and more tangled.
The more he can get you to believe those lies, and to get your focus off God’s truth… the more bound you become. He knows the power of God, that’s why he fights so hard to keep you from knowing the same.
God’s power is instant, and he freely gives us the same power. The problem is not the power within the wires… it’s the connection.
When we get ahold of this, things as simple as when we are feeling sluggish… we can remember the Joy of the Lord is my strength… wires connect, and boom we feel energy.
Or something bigger like when something goes wrong. Instead of feeling the fear, the anger, the pain… wires connect and boom we feel love, peace and joy!
You can read the bible and know scriptures, but if you don’t believe them as truth, they are just another random wire… instead the truth that brings the connection to God and His mighty power and freedom.
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