Do you ever wonder what God is doing in your life? Do you ever stay silent because you don't think you have a right to say anything? After all, you're not perfect--you don't have all of the answers. You can't even keep your own life straight and organized! Oh yeah....and did you miss reading your bible a few days or not take the time to pray? Why---you really should stay silent. Besides--if you do say something, you might be seen as prideful or self-promoting.
Do you question your ability to really know when God is speaking to you? Do you wonder why God closed this door or that, but you've yet to see what other door will open? You know you haven't lived a perfect life. You know that if people only knew the real you---you know---the things tucked away in the closet of your mind--the things you hope no one ever finds out--that those same people might not accept you? Those deep secrets really have a hold on you. You shudder when you think of the mistakes you've made. You want to go hide your head under a blanket and pretend it never happened.
You've gotten pretty good at putting on the game face. You know the one I'm talking about--the one that says "all is good" "all is fine" or "I'm so blessed". If you even dare admit to having problems, you tell everyone else that they are small, because there is someone else out there who has it far worse than you. Then you run to your safe place and heave out tears of frustration, wondering why you can't deal with your "minor" issues.
Did you also know that God uses all of those icky things in our life to refine us? Did you know that he understands that though he has forgiven us, we often can't "forgive ourselves?" Did you know that he wonders why we value our opinion of ourselves on a higher level than we value his opinion of us? "What do you mean?" you say. "I don't think highly of myself. I can't even forgive myself." Exactly.
God--the one who created the heavens and the earth, the one who formed you and knows every intricate detail about you--has forgiven you. Are you higher than God that your opinion of yourself should carry more weight than his? He wants you to move forward, to not look back, to continue on in his grace, following his footsteps. There is no room on the path to turn around and regret. There is no time for that. The hour is at hand when our Savior will come and take us home with him. In the meantime though, there is work to be done. It's hard to work when you decide to carry the burden that He was meant to carry for you.
Free yourself from the burdens of the past. It doesn't matter what those sins were---you name it--God has forgiven those sins! You need only acknowledge and accept that he already paid the price for you! Don't carry a weight you were not meant to carry. Don't listen to the enemy and don't give him room to manipulate you. He is a crafty one--the enemy--and you would do well to take his lies and throw them back to where they came from. God IS at work in you. He will continue his work in you until the day he returns or takes us home--whichever comes first! (Phil. 1:6)
Be encouraged! Our God is NOT dead. He is alive! (Luke 24:5) He is alive and living in you if you have heeded his call. Now quit moping and get to work, whatever that work is and wherever that work will take you.
Do you question your ability to really know when God is speaking to you? Do you wonder why God closed this door or that, but you've yet to see what other door will open? You know you haven't lived a perfect life. You know that if people only knew the real you---you know---the things tucked away in the closet of your mind--the things you hope no one ever finds out--that those same people might not accept you? Those deep secrets really have a hold on you. You shudder when you think of the mistakes you've made. You want to go hide your head under a blanket and pretend it never happened.
You've gotten pretty good at putting on the game face. You know the one I'm talking about--the one that says "all is good" "all is fine" or "I'm so blessed". If you even dare admit to having problems, you tell everyone else that they are small, because there is someone else out there who has it far worse than you. Then you run to your safe place and heave out tears of frustration, wondering why you can't deal with your "minor" issues.
Did you also know that God uses all of those icky things in our life to refine us? Did you know that he understands that though he has forgiven us, we often can't "forgive ourselves?" Did you know that he wonders why we value our opinion of ourselves on a higher level than we value his opinion of us? "What do you mean?" you say. "I don't think highly of myself. I can't even forgive myself." Exactly.
God--the one who created the heavens and the earth, the one who formed you and knows every intricate detail about you--has forgiven you. Are you higher than God that your opinion of yourself should carry more weight than his? He wants you to move forward, to not look back, to continue on in his grace, following his footsteps. There is no room on the path to turn around and regret. There is no time for that. The hour is at hand when our Savior will come and take us home with him. In the meantime though, there is work to be done. It's hard to work when you decide to carry the burden that He was meant to carry for you.
Free yourself from the burdens of the past. It doesn't matter what those sins were---you name it--God has forgiven those sins! You need only acknowledge and accept that he already paid the price for you! Don't carry a weight you were not meant to carry. Don't listen to the enemy and don't give him room to manipulate you. He is a crafty one--the enemy--and you would do well to take his lies and throw them back to where they came from. God IS at work in you. He will continue his work in you until the day he returns or takes us home--whichever comes first! (Phil. 1:6)
Be encouraged! Our God is NOT dead. He is alive! (Luke 24:5) He is alive and living in you if you have heeded his call. Now quit moping and get to work, whatever that work is and wherever that work will take you.
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