THIS WAS THE DAY MY HEART RAN FREE!
DRIVING IN THE MID AFTERNOON SUNSHINE, I DROVE UNTIL I GOT LOST. BACKTRACK TO EARLIER WHEN I DANCED BECAUSE IT WAS WARM ENOUGH TO WEAR OVERALLS AND A FLANNEL (AKA MY ALWAYS LOOK.) I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER AS I SAW FLOWERS BLOOMING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND DECIDED TO RUN IN A MUDDY AND THORNY FIELD JUST TO RETRIEVE THEM. YOU SEE, WHAT THESE PICTURES DON'T SHOW IS THE TEARS SHED BEFORE THIS DAY. THE CONFUSION, AND LITTLE WHISPERS TELLING MYSELF IT WAS GOING TO BE OKAY. JESUS STOOD UP AGAINST THE CROWD, AGAINST SOCIETY, AGAINST THE SYNAGOGUES AND PHARISEES TO LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE. A LIFE OF GRACE. A LIFE OF FORGIVENESS. A LIFE OF PEACE. // BEFORE THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY, I WAS BEING HARD ON MYSELF FOR NOT BEING WHO I USED TO BE. DO YOU EVER DO THAT? DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU USED TO SAY YES TO ADVENTURE MORE OFTEN? YOU USED TO HAVE SUCH A CHILDLIKE SPIRIT AND LET NOTHING BOTHER YOU? BUT NOW YOU ARE WORRIED IF YOURE GOING TO BE ABLE TO PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME. OR IF YOU ARE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH ALL OF YOUR ERRANDS BEFORE THE DUE DATE. // THIS WAS THE DAY THAT I BROKE THROUGH. THE TINY FLOWERS BLOOMING IN THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER WHISPERED STRAIGHT TO MY SOUL. THEY SING TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT AND BE ALL WHO YOU ARE. MESSY, UNWASHED HAIR AND EVERYTHING. LIVE KNOWING JESUS IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU! JUST AS YOU ARE. RIGHT. NOW. LIVE IN THE SUNS RAYS, DONT HIDE. YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE CHERISHED. YOU ARE EVERYTHING. // SO DARLING, IF YOU'RE ANYTHING LIKE ME, PLEASE DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP BECAUSE THE PAST WAS BEAUTIFUL. DON'T FEAR CHANGE. LET IT EXCITE YOU! LET THE BEAUTY OF THE UNKNOWN BE THE VERY ADRENALINE THAT PUSHES YOU FORWARD EVERYDAY.. KNOWING THAT GOD CAUSES EVERYTHING TO WORK BEAUTIFULLY. SHINE LIKE ONLY YOU CAN:)
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one rainy friday night i lay in bed recovering from strep throat, yuck! wishing i wasn't here! then it dawned on me.. how many of us wish we were somewhere we wern't, or someone we aren't just yet?..me too!
Can i be real with you?
yay! im so happy! because lets be honest, no good teaching is communicated by the portrayal of "perfection." perfection. what a funny word! it's crazy how we let a TEN letter word rule our life. even our christian life! do this! do that! pray this many times! go to church this many times a month! serrve this many times! make sure you smile at everybody! never let a person pass you without meeting them! go out of your way! attend every small group! empty your schedule just for this.. follow these rules and your life will turn out "perfect." while many of these things are amazing. them, being done out of the wrong heart, is very dangerous to our soul. and i am a living example:) hi there, im leah! it's nice to meet you! my life is messy and im sitting in a cafe right now to escape my thoughts at my home.. or could it just be to get away from the big pile of laundry that stares at me face to face in my room..? either or! i'm crazy addicted to coffee, and its A BIT DANGEROUS sometimes!! i adore adventure, and sometimes it draws me away from important things! i, sometimes talk myself out of things, and PROCRASTINATE a lot!! (hence my weeks upon weeks of laundry awaiting my arrival at home.. i mean what can i say?? eating a whole tub of ice cream and binge watching the office sometimes sounds way more inviting than responsibilities!) I would like to tell you about a time when i felt most distant from God. (and let me be real again.. it all stopped about 20 min ago! haha) I jumped into my car with every intention of running away from my thoughts to the beautiful downtown of our city while sipping on a cup of coffee. i told myself i was going to do a bible study and probably was not going to get much out of it.. AND what a lie!!! (haha! how many times have you told yourself that? then every word of proverbs ends up scribbled upon and very INTENSELY highlighted until it seeps through twenty pages? because, me too!) this time, i flipped through and ended up in Philippians 3:2-3 and it says this, "watch out for those dogs,those people who do evil,those mutilators, who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For w,e who worship by the spirit of God, are the ones who are truly circumcised. we rely on what christ jesus has done for us, we put no confidence in human effort." wow!! if i can be completely honest, sometimes i fall away from god because i let the life of religious people taunt me! hello to younger me! she didnt follow christ because she saw how cruel religion was. she saw the judgement and cruelness of "religious teachers," and she told herself she was going to be different, and wanted no part of that. she saw the religion of people, with two masks.. one for sundays best, and one for the rest of the week.. and that turned me off. she searched after love.. and met love himself. she searched for kindness.. and found kindness himself. she searched for gentleness.. and found gentleness himself. she searched for acceptance.. and found ACCEPTANCE himself. jesus. he tore away religion, and whispered in my ear, "thats not who i am." my friends.. can i just say, Jesus is not who the religious churches say he is..if they say he is anything BUT Love, but kindness, but acceptance, but peace, but the ultimate sacrifice, but the son of god.. then theyre wrong.. because that is exactly eho he is! and everything good and perfect!! its amazing how many people dont know the true god because they allow others wrong, religious, portrayal of him dictate their belief of him. just like i did. and here i am to tell you.. dont let that happen. dont let the rushing waters of religion tug you away from resting in the freedom of christ!! you see, in Philippians 3:2-3, paul critisized the judaizers because they looked at christianity backward-thinking what they did (circumcision) made them believers, rather than the free gift of grace given by christ. what believers do is the result of faith, not a PEReQUISITE to faith. my friend, who are the judaizers of our day? they are those who say that people must add something else to simple faith. no person should add anything to christ's offer of salvation by grace through faith. daughter.. son.. you dont have to do anything ofr christ to accept you! there is not thing you can do that will make him loe you more.. there is also nothing you can do that will make him love you less.. he loves you as you are. right now. xx. TO the world:)
HI there, im just a gal who loves sitting on random porches in many different states and imagining what their life was like sipping tea and watching sunrises. hello, im a gal who sometimes spends too much time worrying about what to wear rather than working on my soul to shine for christ:) hello, im a gal who is learning to pay attention to where i walk rather than running into many, many poles on the street:) Hello, i am a gal who cut six inches off of my hair, then cried the morning after.. and for some reason continues to cut it shorter every week and regrets it! hello. im a gal who loves loves people, but sometimes is very very socially awkward (on my best days) and resorts to making weird noises with my mouth and walks away. Im a gal who feels, and feels an abundance. Im a gal who has ben through much. Im a gal who has had life knock her straight in the face and almost gave up! Im a gal who, i hope, can help! to the gal who aspires to be like the beautiful girls you see on on pinterest or instagram. to the gal who aspires to be like that kind and gentle woman you heard of once. to the gal who aspires and aspires and aspires. here is one thing ive learned. 1. it is not bad to aspire, but it takes a turn to the bad side when youre inspiring to not. be. you. lovely, God made you just the way he intended. your silly laughter that ends in snorting. your gasp for air at the end that makes you lightheaded. he meant for you to tell those silly jokes (yeah! the ones that others dont find funny, and you, and only you end up laughing at.) the creator of the universe spent so much time on your smile and your beautiful eyes that tell so many stories!! beautiful, god made up every dream of yours, placed colors of ambitions and drives, and gently released them in your lovely heart!! so, next time you scroll, and see someone living thast life you always dreamt of, when you see that blog and wish you could write that way. when you see that beautiful soul and wished you could look like her.. i hope you'll remember that you are unique. your life is yours. you are loved. you are called. you were created exactly how god intended. there are so many people who love you, so love yourself too!!! beautiful, keep growing! keep letting people inspire you, but never ever wish you werent you!! 2."Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the lord will greatly be praised." -Proverbs 31:30 wow! if that doesnt speak for itslef, then i don't know what does!! beloved, it doesn't matter what you put on. behind all the JEWELRY, the name brand clothes, behind it all.. ITS YOUR SOUL THAT SHINES!!!!!!!!! "if you think Good thoughts, they will shine off your face llike a radiant light:)" 3. "i will make everything around me beautiful, and that will be my life." I can not describe how important it is, i found out, to be an enthusiast of this world. everything has beauty in it, darling! every twist and turn in life! every valley,every mountain top!! every flower, every broken down house! every chip of paint! every conversation, every smile!! every hot cup of coffee sipped in the early morn while lil toddlers run around in their diapers, screaming, wondering How in the world they have all of this evergy at six o' clock in the morning! ... and beloved, even if you can't find the beauty.. i hope you know you have the power to create it!!:):):) 4. "if you see something beautiful in someone, speak it!" i am beyond shocked, how much women are against woman! we are here to build EACH OTHER up, not tear each other down! so, lets cheer other lovlies on in their race! lets build others up! Lets share the beuaty you see! LEts be the change:) to you, reader.. I hope you know you are beyond loved. you are set apart. marked. adored. the creator spent so much time on you!! i hope you know that you are destined for greatness! i hope you know the best is yet to come!! xx LEah What happened to authentic smiles?:)
The smiles we smiled before we critiqued them in the bathroom mirior. What happened to belly laughs? The laughs we laugh when no one is around, the three a.m laughs while watching reruns of The office? What happened to pulling gover for a flower field? and jumping up and down for every little victory? What happened to believing in magic? Trusting god? Trusting him so much that we dont have any back up plans? what happened to being beautifully in over our heads? Believing for the BIGGEST!and not settling for just making it? what happened to Authentic smiles? The smiles we smiled before we critiqued them? What hapened to genuine kindness? What happened to ice cream runs at midnight? When did we allow stress and overthinking dictate our every move? -every decision -every action when did we tell our beautiful, bursting, color-filled souls to grow up? when did having responsibility turn into an excuse for lack of joy? A lack of adventure? and when did we start to believe that we have to change for the world to accept us? .. my darling, i can tell you one thing.. the world could never change enough to hold or understand your beauty!! I am so glad I lost myself!
Have you ever gone through such a great season in life? A season where you feel like the sun is always following you? A season where you feel like life is just SO good, and God is just so amazing. And you have so much to be grateful for to be anything less than HAPPY!!? When you wake up every morning just jumping for joy, and can think of a million reasons to thank God for all he has done!! Alright.. one, "thank you God for the sun." Two, "thank you God for the lovely birds that I hear outside my window." three, "Thank you God for lungs to breathe with, and a heart that's beating, and a smile that's shinning!!" ... But.. Have you ever gone through that season, which normally follows right after this great one.. the season when it takes all you have to smile, when it is the hardest to get up in the morning, and you don't even know what to be thankful for. Alright, one.. "good morning God..uhm.." The season when life has just shaken up so much, everything is different, and it's like you don't even know who you are. When it just seems so hard to believe, to have faith, or to even hope? When you question life and if it's worth it. Because let's face it, life is real, and we get hurt and lost. And we get dirty and we have scars and pain is real. But what is even more real, is G.O.D! Despite the hurt, the confusion, the unbelief, the lack of faith.. Despite the sense of unhappiness and even borderline depression, or utterly consumed in depression.. despite the darkness.. GOD IS EVEN MORE REAL! He's more powerful than this season of change and confusion! And his love is far more powerful than to let you sit and linger in the darkness! His love is too powerful to let you slip out of his hand! ... I once heard that God is like a silversmith. To make the silver, the maker puts it in the HOTTEST part of the fire, not the outside-edge flames.. not JUST BARELY as hot as the center, in hopes that it just MIGHT become what its meant to be- but avoiding the hottest part- NO he puts it in the CENTER.. the part of the flame that sparkles with blue.. And he keeps it in the fire, and when he sees His reflection.. Then, and only then, is when he knows to takes it out. and BAM! there's the silver! I know what you're thinking, "okay, is this a How It's Made written out script, or is this a blog post..?" hehhe (: But, this is exactly like our life, just replace the silversmith with God and the silver with us. Replace the fire with trials and struggles and bad seasons!! ... I believe with all that is within me that God wants us to rejoice and get so totally excited when tough seasons come in our life! When we feel like satan is attacking us, in fact I believe God wants us to do a big victory dance because we know diamonds have to be thrown around until they shine! and rainbows always come after storms! and silver only comes after being consumed in the hottest part of the flame! and just like silver.. when were tested and tested, and beaten and beaten,and have come to the end of ourselves, that' when God finally can see His reflection in us..he will take us out of the flames.. and experience greater joy than we can imagine! .. daughter, I pray that you will trust in God, all the way! Even through the toughest seasons in life, even in the hardest, most difficult times. I pray that you will smile and dance through life. and not run from the trials, but let God bring you straight through the storm. Let the winds that blow against you, lead you right into the Saviors arms. and let the lighting be your guide, and the thunder be your song. Let god teach you to sleep in the storm!! Daughter, sorrows will come and go but I hope you know that it is well with your soul!! when you get lost and confused, that God is your light! And when you go through a season that is draining you, know that God is creating you to be more like him!! It is so easy to go through life living on the safe side. keeping our mouths shut when were given an opportunity to voice what we believe in, in fear of being looked down upon. We fear too much, of being lost that we never adventure. We keep our dreams to ourselves, in fear of them being crushed. We keep our faith locked away and hidden in fear of it being used and put to test. We sit on a bed one night, making a decision to never take a chance again because we don't want to be lost. we make the decision to never love again, and force ourselves to believe love is some fairytale that we read in a book or watch in a movie- in fear of being hurt just one more time. We make a map in our heart, and a step-by step guide on how to live on the safe side.. because it's easier to act and know what's going to happen, than take the chance and wonder what the outcome might just be.
But what we must realize, is if we never get lost.. we'll never get found. I sit back and realize how many times "almost" has gotten in my way. The times i made a decision to sit back, go another time, or wait for tomorrow has made me miss my calling, miss my destiny. How many potential greats almost stuck with it? How many friendships almost stayed intact. think about how crazy our world is, how these simple decisions to sit, to go, to not drop the pen, or hit the snooze button can change everything! The worst outcome is so much more better than wondering. Wondering what it would have been like if we would have loved that person, smiled at a stranger. If we would have held onto that relationship no matter how stormy or hard it got, because some people are just worth the perseverance. Wondered what our life would have been like if we made the decision to follow our dreams, to listen to our heart, to run our own race. The most memorable moments in our life don't come from the other side of almost. Almost jumping, almost taking the leap.. they're born from the recognition that failure will not kill us. and opportunity hides behind mountains of almost. You know, you can do what you've always done.. or you can go further! You can keep your stories and ideas locked inside of your head, or you can share them with the world! You can worry about the collapse or you can change the architecture of humanity , create something extraordinary, not be the victim of almost. but gong in with the intent of leaving a mark. with so many potential destinations out there, who wants that? Who wants to live the ordinary? Who wants to live the reality some woman made up one day, living in the suburbs, owning pearls and diamond jewelry. owning a minivan and driving your kids every single place, to not have a life other than cooking, staying quiet and owning a voice that only speaks up when approved to do so. Who wants the life everyone else wants? Life is too amazing to live inside of a box. whether physically, spiritually, or mentally! Step outside your comfort zone. Put your faith to the test, take chances you'd never take before. Listen to your heart before others opinions. listen to God above others voices. Speak up for what you believe in. Jump even if the fall scares you. Laugh even when you feel drained. Be the person, now, that you would be in 30 years.. laughing, joking and teasing with your friends, family and teammates about how you almost didn't go, you almost said no, you almost hit the snooze button, you almost stayed still. you almost let your insecurity and doubt get the best of you... But, then you took a step back and you remembered what matters. "faith is not a feeling, it is a choice you can make in the face of great frustration."
- Pastor Steven Furtick Do you ever get stuck in life, in seasons when you're just feeling upon feeling? And sometimes they can be the silliest feelings that you know are just plain right silly, and you should not be dwelling on them? Now, I have never been a feely person.. My parents were divorced when I was 6 years old, and no pity on myself, i understand there are people out there who have had it harder! But at the ripe young age of six, well.. lets bump it to 72 months 5 hours and 14 seconds old, (haha) As a young gal standing in front of a mirror with curly white pigtails, and you can only imagine it in baby talk.. i told myself to be strong, to never feel again. I can't believe still remember this! Yeah, you can only imagine how that went, growing up. Hitting my "a bit older" years, I became bitter and mean and quite frankly, believe i had no feelings. Have you ever heard the song, poker face? Yeah, that was my face all the time. And really, became my heart. When I gave my heart to God, and became a follower, i believe i still had a little bit of that "not feeling" spirit in me. But recently, wow! I feel like I cry over a window, or a crumb on the floor. Just recently i found myself balling over the sight of sunlight breaking through trees! haha, I don't know what happened, But i definitely think that unfeeling 6 year old in me is gone.. As i sit, and ponder of this.. my mind comes to the theory that.. this can be the same as our spiritual lives ! I don't know about you, but sometimes i find myself believing that faith is a feeling, something we have to feel. Like, when that crazy season comes, and everything seems to be against us.. When that disaster strikes in your relationship and you think you'll never speak to him or her agin.. When you experience loss or pain.. Faith to me in these situations, a while back, is feeling like everything was going to be okay. It was feeling like there's hope. It's feeling like God's in control. I have to FEEL like smiling. I have to FEEL like laughing. I have to FEEL like getting up in the morning. I have to FEEL like walking away from sin. I remember back, a few months ago actually.. Can i be real with you guys? I was in this state of struggling with believing. I was struggling with my faith, i was struggling with smiling, and even getting out of bed in the morning.. because i didn't "feel" like it. It was hard for me to believe in God, because i didn't "feel" like he was there. It was hard for me to believe, because i didn't "feel" it. But then, it struck me.. everything is a decision.. then after the decision follows the feeling. We can stand up in our doubts and disbeliefs and CHOOSE to believe, CHOOSE to have faith!! We don't have to FEEL FAITH to have it! And we don't have to FEEL kind, to be it. And we don't have to FEEL joyful, to be so. Friend, whatever you're going through right now, whether you're facing a mountain greater than you could possibly handle, i want to let you know that you have the decision, right now, right where you're at, to have faith, to be joyful, to be kind, and to believe. It's a decision loved one. Know you're not alone, there's a lot of people who struggle with the same exact thing you're struggling with! I dare you, right now, right where you're at, to start believing again! i dare you to stand up and making the choice to have faith! I dare you to smile again. I dare you to laugh again! And, see where God takes you. You would be completely, and utterly surprised where He will take us in a heart of surrender! You would be amazed at the painting the Artist painted when you surrendered your brush, and was willing to be used for whatever masterpiece He wanted to make! What To Do In A Season Of Spiritual Dryness Have you ever found yourself in a spiritual dry place? A place where it seems you can't hear God whatsoever, you're just not passionate anymore? Do you ever find yourself in a place where you feel God tugging at your heart and calling you towards something great, but you just don't know how to respond? Do you ever find yourself in a place where you are struggling to keep a smile on your face, and find the goodness and beauty in anything anymore? Do you ever feel like you just don't hardly get anything out of sermons, or during worship you're so focused on the people around you or the flashing lights?
Because if so.. then here i am to tell you, you are not alone!! I like to call these times spiritual dry times. And in complete honesty, we all have them! Let's back it up just bit here. A few months ago, i was in an amazing season in my life! Everybody was happy, my family got along just well( okay, maybe not the best way, everyday, but at least somewhat.. right?!) everybody was healthy, joyful, i had an amazing job and everything looked great on the outside! Then, BAM!! here comes the biggest turn of events ever! I have to say, that season was one of the hardest, most draining, most stressful and confusing seasons in my life! I did't quite understand why God let me go through such a season, loose friends, loose church and in the midst of it.. forget who i am. Honestly, the season was so bad.. when i looked in the mirror, i didn't even recognize myself. My eyes were all red and puffy, swollen from crying so much. My hair was all knotty and messy from not brushing it for an all time record of a week. (gross, right?) And my smile was just not the same. More and more waves hit, and heavier wind came rushing in, and along with that came more anger than anything.. and anger towards God.. Bad. Although, this anger was more of a subtle anger. this anger, I kept in and didn't let anybody know about which then resulted in sadness.. and a whole bunch of it! then things ended up working out, i moved cities and ended up here in a small town. I now live, in a brick basement. Sometimes it gets a bit chilly at night and i get to make a fire, which i have no idea how to do.. and end up smoking the whole place out.. which then turns into managing, somehow, to pry open antique windows and filling the room with a whole lot of mosquitos. You can only imagine how many of those bendadryl sticks i go through a week! haha! We have this amazing little coffee shop downtown, that i occasionally walk to and study a bit there, and it's right by the water too! whoop whoop! And this season was harder than the other one! Everything looked all sunshine and rainbows from the outside. I was smiling all the time, i gained back my happiness, and looked the same again.. So i thought.. but the truth was.. I still didn't know who I was in the mirror. I wasn't comfortable with me.. because i didn't know her. My circumstances and my trials hit me way too much, and they start to chip away me little by little.. And maybe the same has happened to you. Maybe something big has happened that has shook up your spirit. maybe something has happened that makes you feel like you don't even know who you are, or what your own voice sounds like.. Maybe something has happened, not on the outside, but on the inside of you, that has made you feel distant from God, hard to hear his voice, or see things clearly now.. i urge you to continue reading :) So, in my new season, I figured.. " oh, this is nothing a little more effort can't fix." And there was my problem! I can't believe I did't realize it until now.. "effort" God doesn't work more when we push more. God doesn't work more when we try to take over. God doesn't work more when were pushing him away from the steering wheel of our lives, and we're trying to take over. God works more when we can learn to sit still in his presence, and receive his love. I look back and i wish i would have realized that.. To an extent, sometimes Bible studies, more small groups, endless amounts of sermon- watching, and practicing to smile again.. was not going to fix the funk that i was in. More knowledge is not the solution to your problems. it is possible you may not even need to repent of anything in order to "fix" your feelings. You might just need to get out of your head. I tend to overthink. To a great extent! A GREAT extent! God is still trying to work on this with me.. But no matter how much i try to cover it up, i do! I still overthink! and i believe a lot of us do, and if you are reading this.. and shaking your head.. you probably do as well!! -No I'm just kidding, that's great if you don't ! haha! But sometimes we're out biggest critics. sometimes, we tend to overthink God. We try and understand every single thing he does, how he does it, and why he does it, and when he's going to do it.. This, my friend is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Trust me, i went down that road.. and it's not pretty! Our job as Christians is not to understand God and everything He does, and why he does it, our job is to simply believe. And trust me, faith is not feeling, sometimes. Faith is a decision! A decision to believe the truth! (Attention seminary students!) If you don't know that you can think too much about theology, you'll just feel guilty for not being able to think your way out of problem that is caused by overthinking to begin with!! "turn off your phone, go to the nearest field, kick off your shoes, and lay down in the grass.. do it right now! "Your righteousness is like the mountains" (-Psalm36:6 ) I believe this prayer has roots in a completely non-intellectual, nature- enjoying, social media- absent experience in David's life. Looking at mountains, perhaps lay down right now, and look at the sky.. let your mind wander off. Let the entire industry of trivializing jesus christ through lists and formulations dissolve out of your mind. Let the expectations of virtual communities be silenced. The distant vision of an infinite, glorious, compassionate, kind, real, and satisfying God- increasingly a pipedream- it is real and it is available to you today. If there is one thing, i wish i could have told myself in that time of rough seasons, and spiritual dryness.. is that the most faithful and happiest Christians have experienced days of spiritual darkness. You are not alone. Don't you dare think God has stopped pouring into you, or pursuing you just because you are in this season. Don't you dare believe the lies that you are alone. Don;t you dare believe that God had taken your destiny away from you because of a few doubts, a few fears or bad breaks!! We need to practice more on receiving Gods love! He loves you! God is above and beyond than romantic love, his love for you can not be put into words! He is IN LOVE with you! He is honored to call you his daughter or son! his love for you is so unexplainable :) He picked up 5 smooth stones from a stream and put
them into he shepherd's bag." - 1 Samuel:40 "I believe that David picked up 5 stones for a reason. Now there's a bunch of theology behind this part of of 1 Samuel, but I believe that David picked up five stones, because even if he didn't conquer that giant in the first shot, and the next one, and even the next shot.. He would go BACK and get more stones!" -Anonymous Isn't that so amazing? David would go back to his source, where he got his weapon and go back, and back, and back until Goliath was defeated! Just the same as our life, when we feel like all hell is against us.. when we feel like the weight of the world is crashing on our shoulders, and the mountain, the goliath, is staring at us right in the face.. Whatever it is.. whether addiction, insecurity, anger, frustration, doubt, disbelief, jealousy, comparison, unhappiness, alcohol abuse, deceit.. whatever your struggle is.. I hope you know God only gives you what you can handle. He k nows the right amount of everything. He will never give you too much. I hope you don't back down.. Don't you ever back down!! I hope you realize, that God is a God that has never let you down, and he won't start now! He has never left you, and He won't start now! I hope, when that mountain seems so difficult, when that struggle seems too big to overcome.. I hope you remember your past victories, and all the lions and bears you've defeated before this! Isn't it crazy how we often forget everything, every small, every big, trouble that we've had victory over before? I hope you'll keep on going back to your source! I hope on the days when you feel you've given it all you have, when you've run out of stones, and even when you feel you've run out of strength, perseverance, and hope.. You'll go back to your source! You'll come back to God, and he will continue to pour out his grace and strength. He will continue to pour out his love and perseverance! If David were here, i feel he'd be cheering us on. In every shout, I feel he would be encouraging us to keep on throwing the stones, keep going back to Go to be refilled and refilled and refilled, i feel he'd encourage us not to listen to the voice of our doubters and peers, and not even the doubt of the enemy! So, whatever it is your facing today, right now.. Whether you've just developed a bad habit or have had it for a while.. Can i just tell you, that it is SO possible to break free? Can i just tell you that the voice of those that say it isn't possible.. are lying? Can i just tell you that you are doing great? That your awesome, that you're beautiful, that you're amazing and fantastic? Can i just tell you, to keep on going? To never ever give up, don't back up or sit down, not in your heart, not physically and not mentally! Keep on fighting! Surrender this fight to the Lord, he wants to take your victories for you:) So keep on going back! Keep on going back! He will always fill you up! Just one more stone! |
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