Advice – Page 33 – The Will to Wake Up

New Year, New Mindset

2020 has been a rough year. Now is the time to reflect on what God was doing through the difficulties. What is the most important thing you’ve learned in 2020?

Looking back on the past year always teaches me a lot of things. Often we don’t feel like we have grown or changed, but in reality, we truly have. God has used all the difficult circumstances we have gone through in order to help us become who we are truly meant to be.

I heard the joke a lot last year (before COVID and the spiraling of events that took place afterwards) that we would have 2020 vision in 2020. I think people assumed that meant that we would have the perfect year since we could see things perfectly.

When I first got glasses, I was amazing by the world around me. I didn’t have horrible vision, but I forgot what things really looked like. That didn’t mean that I just noticed the individual flowers along the path or the faces of loved ones more clearly, though. By having renewed vision, I was able to see all the tiny flaws that had all blended together, safely hidden, while I had imperfect vision.

2020 has given us perfect vision. It has exposed the flaws within our society, within a world that has turned away from God. It has exposed the needs of the people around us who we could more easily ignore when being busy going to social events, the office, or wherever. But 2020 no longer allowed us to deny suffering, inequality, injustice, and most of all, 2020 made us realize that we truly have no control. Only God does. And that’s why we need Him so much.

I’ve thought long and hard about the most important thing I’ve learned this year, and I think that’s it. I’ve learned that we really have no control over what happens in life, but that we can still feel safe when we trust God, because He loves us so much and He will never leave us. God’s plan is so completely mysterious that we cannot even fathom it. That’s why we have to follow His lead and listen to His voice.

This year, I am going to challenge you to appreciate everything that God is trying to do in you and through you. Allow the hard times to be ways of connecting with God that you didn’t think was previously possible. I hope and pray that in a year where we exposed deep wounds, we can now use this coming year as a year of healing and unity.

Happy New Year! May God bless you with joy, hope, and peace as we travel into 2021.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

Don’t Let the Enemy Steal Your Joy

Are you having trouble fully experiencing joy this Christmas? This might encourage you and help you regain your joy.

Christmas time can bring a lot of different feelings for everyone. For some, it might bring excitement, anticipation, and hope. For others, it may bring up past feelings of grief, loneliness, and confusion. I bet that this year is harder than most as even people who normally have a lot to celebrate mourn all that was lost over the past year. I am sending prayers of comfort for all of you grieving someone or something this holiday season.

However, I’m also here to bring encouragement and help you not lose anymore joy this season.

I’ve talked about joy a lot on here, and that’s because it’s an important part of our daily lives. To redefine joy, it’s not just a state of happiness that lasts for only a short time. Rather, joy is a permanent part of us that we can have as believers in Jesus because we have faith in a good God despite hard circumstances. Joy is having hope in the future no matter what happened today. Joy is knowing that we can still be content despite what the world tells us.

On many Christmas cards I handed out this year and received, the words peace, hope, and joy were on them. Those words are often associated with Christmas because we think about how joyful that first Christmas must have been, right? We imagine the little nativity that we learned about in Sunday school where all the people came to the inn with their animals, bearing gifts for the newborn King.

But the truth is, there was a lot that first Christmas that was hard. They had a corrupt government, civil unrest, injustice, and many people struggled with illness, poverty, and uncertainty about the future. Sound familiar?

Basically, if we really think about it, Jesus made quite the sacrifice coming that first Christmas. He entered a world full of sin, a world that can never be made perfect without Him. And to top it all off, Jesus came down knowing how He would be humiliated and killed, rejected and despised, poor and without shelter many a time.

Yet, through Jesus’ love for US, He made that sacrifice to come down for us. Christmas is a celebration of love, Christ’s love, and the ultimate sacrifice He would later make for us.

You may have thought that they had more to celebrate that first Christmas than we do now, what with COVID, civil unrest, and all the other issues plaguing our world today. But as you can see, they really did have many opportunities to lose sight of their joy. Yet the ones who worshiped Jesus, who saw what a great sacrifice He was going to make for us, were the ones who really got a lot out of Christmas. When they turned to Jesus, their hope was restored. Their lives were made new. Their hearts opened to the reality that the most powerful being in the universe came down to save them.

And that’s the way to experience true joy this Christmas, to not let the burdens and hardships our present circumstances bring allow us to miss out on fully experiencing Jesus’ love for us.

I’m going to close with a recent event that happened in my life.

I was driving to the barn where I work and ride horses. As I was driving, I couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming sense of joy and appreciation for Jesus. I started praising Him for everything He has done for me and I knew that the enemy would try to steal my joy. But I told Jesus as I got out of the car that I wasn’t going to let the enemy win.

About an hour later, I was laying on the ground of the arena, my riding partner asking me if I was okay.

The horse I had been riding, who has never spooked on me before, randomly spooked at an unknown thing and I flew off onto the ground.

Standing up too quickly and needing to take a breather, I replied that I was fine, just a bit dusty, sore, and wondering what on earth was going on.

Thankfully, I’m okay. I am still sore and stiff, but after walking around and reconnecting with the horse, I got back on and cooled her down before telling her owner about it. I know that there could’ve been something that startled her, but I can’t shake the feeling that it was also a spiritual occurrance. I know that the enemy was trying to steal my joy yesterday.

But I didn’t let him.

Instead, I am going to use this experience as a reminder of how God took care of me since it could’ve been worse, of how far I’ve come as a rider to be able to just get right back on and explain the situation to others, and to be grateful that I am on the road to recovery.

This Christmas, no matter what you are going through, don’t let the enemy steal what’s rightfully yours. Jesus’ love is for you. It’s for all of us to celebrate and experience. And the joy that comes from that is yours too.

Merry Christmas! I’ll be praying that this holiday season brings you hope, love, and ultimately joy.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.
Psalm 34:9

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:29

Through the Difficulties

How do you often react when life suddenly gets stressful? This might help you put things into perspective.

I’m not sure if anyone will read this, since it’s rather an odd time to be posting. But I just had to share what God did for me today and what God has shown me.

I am a pretty hesitant driver…I was in a car accident about a year and a half ago, and I had a lot I had to go through in order to get back behind the wheel. Being in the car is not my favorite thing, let alone driving one. However, it’s a must, especially since I have a job that’s about twenty five minutes away from my home. Anyway, I’ve had some issues figuring out my headlights lately. It’s really dark when I drive home, so if they aren’t working properly, then no one can see me.

Well, I thought I had finally figured them out, and I was happily driving home from work today, relatively comfortable behind the wheel as I listened to my favorite Christmas tunes. I had this weird feeling several times earlier today to pray for safety, yet that didn’t really influence how I was feeling about driving.

I was almost to my house and at a stop light when a car pulled up next to me and started honking at me. I quickly rolled down my window since he was gesturing for me to do that and the guy in the car informed me that my headlights weren’t turned on and he had almost hit my car.

That was so embarrassing. I was humiliated, especially since I am pretty easily embarrassed. I quickly thanked him and turned the switch to a higher brightness. I hadn’t realized that they were only on in the front.

After getting over my humiliation, I realized that God not only saved my life, or at least prevented me from an accident, just today. I had been turning my headlights on like that for a while now, which means they may not have actually been working in the back that whole time.

I think the enemy was trying to use my embarrassment to distract me from thanking God for His goodness and mercy. Not only that, but today’s events have once again shown me that God still has a plan for me and that He wants to still use me, that’s why He protected me. That’s also why I had that feeling earlier that I should pray for protection, which shows God answers prayers.

While feelings of disappointment, embarrassment, or annoyance are certainly valid, I think the enemy manipulates them so that we forget about all that God has done for us. I’ll admit that I spent too much time being embarrassed and upset over the situation that I didn’t stop to fully appreciate all that God was trying to show me through my experience today.

I know that God has a plan for you. Looking back on this past year, I am so grateful I didn’t give up on so many different things, including on myself. It’s really hard, I know it is, to keep going. But you can do it, I believe in you. God is going to take care of you. Be patient and trust that whatever you’re going through right now, God’s right there beside you. And perhaps if you had a scary or difficult thing happen recently, take a look at how God may be moving through that. God certainly works in mysterious ways.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, sea re my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

Leaving the Past Behind Us

Do you have trouble letting go? Here is some encouragement.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten so much out of the “Luke Challenge” this year. If you haven’t heard of it, basically the goal is to read one chapter of Luke every day starting from December 1st until Christmas Eve, since there are 24 chapters in Luke. The point is to celebrate Jesus and learn more about His time on Earth. Jesus has a different message for each of us this year, and it’s important to spend time reflecting on His legacy and on what He’s taught us in 2020.

Anyway, I have felt very convicted multiple times during this challenge, and I’m only through chapter 9! But last night’s in particular stuck out to me. I’ll share the passage below. It’s titled in some translations “The Cost of Following Jesus”.

As they were traveling across the road someone said to Him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow me.”
“Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”
But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”
Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say goodbye to those at my house.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:57-62

Ok, first of all, let’s just take a pause for a moment and really let those words soak in.

Wow.

I will be the first to admit that I am horrible at letting go. Letting go of what, you might ask? Literally everything. People, possessions, dreams– even when I know something else is better for me. There are so many points made in this chapter, but I’m going to focus on the point Jesus makes about being willing to let go in order to follow Him.

When I first read this passage, I thought, “Wow, Jesus, you’re sure being harsh on them for not even letting them say goodbye to their families or even bury their loved ones.” But the more I thought about it, I think the point Jesus is trying to make is different than just our surface level assumptions.

Jesus is not necessarily (I’m not going to speak on His behalf of course) saying that you have to suddenly ditch everyone and be irresponsible. In fact, God is described as being faithful several times in the Bible, and we should be faithful as well. He is also not trying to tell us to not love others enough to even say goodbye or to not honor the dead.

Personally, I believe that Jesus is trying to emphasize that while we should love others and be loyal, nothing can come between Him and us. When we agree to follow Jesus, we change completely. We are a whole new person with a whole new life. And when we get so focused on our past lifestyle, then we can’t truly move forward with doing what Jesus commands us to do. We can’t have it both ways; we have to pick either our old way of living or follow Jesus and love Him with our entire heart.

I know how challenging it can be to let go of something, especially if we thought at one point that it was meant for us. But we can’t let our dreams, possessions, or even others come in between us and God. We simply cannot truly live for God with one foot in our old life and one foot in the new. It just doesn’t work like that, no matter how much we want it to.

Today, I challenge you to take a step back and reflect on the areas of your life where you may be living as your old self instead of your new self. Stop dwelling on the past, whether it’s mistakes you made long ago or dreams that didn’t come true for you. You are a whole new person now, and those chains do not have to hold you down any longer. Is there anything in your life coming between you and Jesus? A relationship? A job? A habit you simply can’t break?

This is one of the hardest things we can do– letting go. Not only that, but admitting we’ve done wrong in the first place can be difficult too. But it’s so important. Neglecting our need for growth is one of the biggest things that separates us from God.

I’ll be taking this challenge with you and checking in later to see where we’re at. For now, I pray that you can grow closer to God through this season.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24

Lose Me to Love You

How has this year changed you and your relationship with God?

I don’t know about you, but a little something I’ve started looking forward to each year around this time is my Spotify Wrapped– basically a summery of what songs I listened to and who I listened to over the past year.

To my complete shock, the song that I apparently played the most in 2020 was Lose You to Love Me, by Selena Gomez. I mostly play contemporary Christian music, but I also dapple in pop and random other genres that people recommend. Yet this surprised me because I hadn’t listened to this song since sometime last spring. But reflecting on the title and the concept caused me to think for a minute.

I think that in many ways, one of the biggest things I learned in 2020 was summed up in the title “Lose You to Love Me”. Throughout the year, I realized that it’s okay to be misunderstood for my faith and my uniqueness. It’s okay to not be liked by everyone I meet. It’s okay to stand out sometimes. And most importantly, it’s okay to not live up to other people’s expectations. The only one who should define us is God. Ultimately, the only ones we will have at the end will be God and ourselves. We can’t fully love others until we invest that same energy in appreciating ourselves and recognizing how we are made in God’s image.

But an even more important lesson I learned was in the reverse of this title. I learned to lose me to love God. I have always wanted to be in control, but this year more than ever did I realize in order to fully trust God, I have to let go of my own plans in order to accept where He was leading me. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day that we forget that God has an even bigger plan for us. When we get fixated on just what we can see, we lose our faith. For faith is not in the seen, but is assurance of what we do not see.

I think 2020 is a year in which we’ve all needed a lot of faith. Whether it’s been having faith in a God that’s still good despite all the civil unrest, tragedies, and uncertainties, to wondering what is to come in the future. But before COVID and all that has defined 2020 for many of us, I wrote down as my word of the year a word that many may not associate with how this year’s been– hope.

My translation of the definition of faith that used the word assurance (which was taken from the Bible) in some translations is actually the word hope. Faith is not some wishful thinking type of hope. Faith is hoping with complete confidence that God will restore our lives and use us according to His purpose.

It’s definitely been a strange year. But I’ve noticed more than ever before that God is working in mysterious ways that we can’t even comprehend. So today, whether you are feeling discouraged by the weight of the world or how this year may have disappointed you, remember that we can still have faith. We can still have hope.

But we can only feel free of worry when we lose ourselves and our failures, disappointments, and concerns by focusing on what is never changing– our loving relationship with God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:22-24

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

Can I be Upset AND a Christian?

If you’ve felt guilty for being anything but happy, then this post is for you.

I’m going to be honest with you, because I always am, and say that recently I haven’t really been feeling myself. It’s been off and on, and I’ve tried to avoid thinking about it.

But today I had something force me to think about it. I confronted my emotions and tried to figure out what had changed. I realized that perhaps I was hurt about something that I didn’t want to deal with and I was allowing that to come into other parts of my life.

Something not often discussed by Christians is how to confront our negative feelings. Often the verse “count it all joy” comes to mind and we decide that it’s best to not feel those uncomfortable things. If we are upset, then we aren’t Christian, right?

Wrong.

Being joyful all the time does not mean we have to be happy all the time. Joy does not equal happiness.

Being joyful means that while we can be upset, we do not have to give up on our hope in Jesus. We still believe that He is good no matter what. We are not as easily discouraged. However, it means we can and should cry when we need to and feel those difficult emotions when they arise.

If you are not feeling particularly happy today, that’s okay. But instead of allowing that sadness to flow into all the areas of your life, take some time to rest today and reflect on what exactly is causing you to feel this way. Is it someone that hurt you in the past? Is is a major stressor that you’ve been trying to ignore?

Take time to pray to God and ask Him how to combat these feelings in a healthy way. It’s okay if you need to call someone you can trust to seek help or if you don’t feel like talking about it.

I want you to remember that being upset does not mean you’re a “bad Christian”. Even Jesus wept and got upset. But He didn’t allow that to hurt His relationships or negatively impact His ministry. Instead, He used those feelings as a way to connect with His Father.

So today, if you aren’t feeling quite yourself, that’s okay. I want you to take some time to sit with those feelings and understand what is causing them. If you need to make some changes, then make those changes!

Ultimately, God is in control of your life and He will be there for you whether you’re angry, sad, heartbroken, happy, or anything in between. God loves you so much.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Psalm 34:17-20

The Unexpected Ways God Works

Have you been discouraged by prayers not being answered the way you had hoped?

I’ve been reminded a lot throughout this past week, and even before, about how God truly gives us what we need. He knows what’s best for us more than anybody else ever will.

I want you to think back to the last time you prayed, whether it was this morning, yesterday, or months ago. If you can remember, write down what you asked God for.

Now, looking back at that list, think about whether what you asked God for was phrased like example A or example B.

A) “Dear God, I really want this job. I think it will be the best job possible for me. I have asked so many people to pray for this and I believe that it’s Your will for me to have this job because I can witness to people and because I worked so hard that I deserve it. Thank you in advance, God.”

B) “Dear God, a new job opportunity has arisen for me. I feel like it is a job that You have given me the talents for, but ultimately I want to follow Your lead. If this is a job where I can serve you and others and fulfill my potential, then I will be pleased, but if not, I will know that there is something better out there for me. If there is a different job I must pursue, please help me have the courage to pursue it. Let Your will be done.”

I bet you could see a difference between the two prayers. One acted like God was a magical genie that would grant wishes while the other recognized how God is the One in control no matter what.

I think a lot of times we forget how much God knows about us. If you think about it, God created you. He had you in mind since the beginning of time. If you think your parents or anyone who has known you for most of your life knows you well, then realize that God must know you even more than they do! He knows us even better than we know ourselves.

I have a friend who knows me so well, and sometimes I joke with her that she knows me better than I know myself, which is why I ask for her advice so often! I know that she has my best interest in mind and that she will help me make the right decisions.

God is like that, only so much better. He has everyone’s best interest in mind and He’s able to make everything happen the way that it is meant to be. I know that can be so hard to believe, but it’s true.

Now, I want you to think about what you were praying hardest for last month. Or maybe even last year. Some time that isn’t too recent.

How has God answered that prayer? If He didn’t answer it the way you wanted, then would you say He didn’t answer it? Or can you think of how God’s answer was even better than what you could’ve imagined?

If you can’t see what God’s doing yet, that’s okay. Sometimes it takes months or even years. But it’s important to reflect on the ways God is working unexpectedly in your life.

I prayed about two months ago for God to give me new opportunities. God blessed me with something even greater– more ways to express gratitude as well as contentment about things that I had been stressed about for a long time.

Maybe God didn’t answer my prayer the way I had wanted. But He answered it in a way that was so much better. And now, I don’t necessarily even want what I had originally been praying for because I have realized that by the way God answered my prayer, I have gotten closer to Him.

Our relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have.

Today, I hope you can feel encouraged that despite your prayers not always getting answered the way you wanted, God is still working in your life for good.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose
Romans 8:28

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Genesis 50:20

Loving God Through Trusting Him

Is there something God’s placed on your heart that you are afraid to do?

I was watching a movie last night, a Christmas rom-com, which I would not recommend because it was pretty much a waste of time 🙂 However, I did get a lot out of one scene from it that inspired me for today’s Encouragement Thursday.

One of the main characters was trying to figure out if her coworker and best friend loved her, and she asked her father how he knew her mother was the one. He replied that she was willing to face her biggest fear for him. If you are willing to face your fears for someone else, then you love them.

This got me thinking. There are so many verses in the Bible about trusting God, but I don’t think we realize that it’s an act of worship. When we listen to God and do what He tells us to–acting on our faith–we are proving to God that we love Him.

So if we are too afraid to do what God tells us to, then do we truly love Him?

I’ve been thinking about that question a lot over the past couple days. I think we can certainly love God while having doubts. But I think the way to truly show God that we love Him is by doing what He commands. Sometimes God commands us to do things that we don’t want to do, or even worse, that we are afraid to do. But that doesn’t mean we have an excuse not to do them. It just means that we need to call out to God and ask for His peace and strength to overflow within us so that we can do what He asks.

God wants to help us. He wants us to become the people He created us to be. But that requires us to do our part, too. We need to ask God each day to help us listen to Him and to renew our faith. We also need to be willing to stop sitting around questioning whether or not we should do something and instead jump up and just do it.

I know that what I’m suggesting isn’t easy. I have a lot of trouble doing what God tells me to sometimes. But trusting God is vital for our spiritual growth. It helps us develop an even deeper love of God when we trust Him with EVERYTHING. Our relationships, our health, our finances, our future, our everything.

So today, think about something that God has been telling you to do, but you’ve been too afraid to do it. It’s not too late. God is patient and He knows that you may have needed some assurance before taking this leap of faith. Pray about it and allow God’s peace to fill you. Then, go out and do it. 🙂

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
James 2:17

You Are Here for a Reason

In case no one’s told you today, you are here for a reason.

You’re here for a reason.

No matter what anybody’s told you, no matter what you’ve been through, no matter how the past may hold you.

You’re here for a reason.

Despite all the failures, despite the dreams that have passed you by, despite the way you sometimes want to hide.

You’re here for a reason.

You were born at that specific time on that specific day in that specific location for a reason.

You were made with these amazing dreams, with these incredible talents, with those super deep feelings for a reason.

You look the way you do, you act the way you do, and you are who you are for a reason.

You are you because we need you. If you become like everyone else, then who will take your place? No one. Because you are irreplaceable.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:14

Our Father

God will take care of you.

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but God is going to take care of you.

Last weekend, my church continued a sermon series about what it’s like being part of the body of Christ. They specifically focused on a portion of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done”, and challenged us to think about whether or not we truly put our needs in the Lord’s hands when we call out to Him.

That got me thinking, and I initially wanted to do a post about this segment of the Lord’s Prayer. But then I realized that perhaps it would be even better to do a complete series about the Lord’s Prayer, going from addressing God as our father all the way through each stanza.

I don’t know what kind of father figure you had/have in your life. Perhaps he’s a wonderful man who makes you laugh, provides for your needs, and makes sure that you’re becoming who you’re meant to be. Or maybe you didn’t have a father like that. Perhaps it’s even painful to think of the word father. Or maybe you had a dad that cared about you, but wasn’t very good at showing it, or was unable to meet your needs.

Whatever situation you come from, I want you to realize that God is not any of the father figures you’ve seen or experienced. God is the attributes of a wonderful father– caring, compassionate, stable– only times a million!

But the attribute that I want to focus on today is that by God being your Heavenly Father, He is going to take care of you.

In fact, God promises that He knows what you need before you even have the need.

Last week, I was going through a rough time. Not a rough time as in experiencing a significant loss, doing terribly at work, or finding myself in a financial crisis. No, I was just having a rough time in my spiritual journey.

I was feeling very discouraged and burned out. I’m the type of person who puts my all in everything I do, which causes me to run out of energy occasionally. I felt like I wasn’t really hearing from God.

Then, to top it all off, I started feeling unwell. I was like, are you serious? How is this going to help me do what I need to do when I already feel so unmotivated?

But God still had a plan. I ended up taking a much needed rest for a few days and that caused me to put life back into perspective. Once I admitted my need for rest, I was healed.

Then, God answered a long-awaited prayer two days ago that really encouraged me. I finally have a very encouraging friend back in my life after not hearing from her for several months. I was overjoyed.

But last night, I could feel my faith wavering once more. Do you ever just have a rush of insecurities hit you all at once and suddenly you forget your purpose? That’s basically what happened to me, and the enemy uses this strategy on me a lot. I wrote out in my journal, “God, it’s hard for me to understand why I shouldn’t just give up on all the things grasping for my attention and energy. Please encourage me to keep going.” I also wrote down a reminder that “God never gives up” even when we want to.

Well, God very much heard my prayers! He gave me unexpected extra time this morning to reflect and spend some time in the Word and to write this post. It had been a silent desire of mine to have the morning off, and God had patiently listened. Then, as I was searching for a verse to put in this blog, I felt drawn to Hebrews, one of my favorite books of the Bible. I was gifted a journal Bible and for the past two years I’ve been able to write in this Bible whenever I felt led to do so. I found a reminder for myself from March last year that had the specific words that I had longed to hear last night.

“Don’t give up. It’s all going to be worth it.”

I had no idea how I would be feeling today back when I wrote that. But God provided through that season when He reminded me to keep going the first time, and I have to trust that He will provide for me again through this season, and the next, and the next…

The thing is, God doesn’t promise to take away our struggles. He promises us that He will go through them with us.

And that’s a pretty big promise, if you ask me. After all, God promises this for every. single. person. on. Earth.

That’s a lot of people! But God loves all of us so much that He’s willing to do that.

God is our Father and no matter what the enemy throws our way, we have to rely on the One who loves us and cares for us to bring us through.

Today, look for the ways that God is using to try to bring you back to Him. Allow His peace to fill you even among the uncertainty of life. And remember that God loves you unconditionally and will always be there with arms open to welcome you home.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10