Are You Ready?

Sometimes people want to live a more abundant life without actually changing anything. God will sometimes call us into a position but will not let us take advantage of the opportunity until we make changes enough for God to trust us with that blessing. For everyone, eventually, God will catch your attention when you're enjoying a situation or someone that is only meant to be temporary in your life.

I'll give you a real life example. Imagine a woman who has served God with most of her heart most of her saved life but gives the other part of her heart to the wrong, temporary people in her life; perhaps a man she "loves." She's been through many long-term relationships that she gave her 100% even if the guy she was dating at the time didn't give the same effort back. Instead, he cheated on her, used her, hurt her, or just was going through the motions of a relationship, because she wasn't a bad girl to date. She was very faithful and loved God with everything she had. She had trouble saying no to things and people she should of said no to. She wasted her time instead of cherishing it, because she didn't want to be alone when she was really never alone. She kept relying on the world's happiness and how much she pleased everyone, but she failed the faithful one through this time: God.

I could keep going on and on. That girl is me. I failed the one who was faithful to me this whole time. The thing with God is He never leaves; it's us who leave Him. We each get caught up in the world's desires so much that God's desires and plan for our lives is blurry and far away from our reach. The path becomes crooked with a dead-end. We get in a pit and don't know if we can get out when we feel it was too late after we messed up.

Throughout my journey, God has given me some life verses I'd like to share with you that has straightened myself back on God's path. The first one is Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." What is ironic about these verses in my life was it started with the decision of college. I had no clue where I wanted to go for nursing school, honestly. An inspirational youth pastor, I was close to at the time, showed me these verses at my church camp when I was praying about direction in my life and specifically college. I was about to be a senior at the time and only went to one college visit, which was in Colorado during a faith conference. That was way too far away from Kentucky. I never went to any other college visit besides one more. I already had a plan B set out just in case I couldn't find the right college at the right time. I continued to apply everywhere and applied for scholarships, if there were any. Around the half mark of my senior year, I received a letter from Campbellsville University (CU) saying I received an academic scholarship from them of $12, 500 a year and that I was accepted in the university. I didn't remember applying for this, but God was basically showing me I've already created your plan A and that's all you need.

Around March before graduation, I decided to make one college visit to CU. As we were on our way to the campus, my momma and I were praying over those same verses for God to speak to me clearly about me going to CU. God was already giving me peace when we stepped on campus for the first time. As we were welcomed with my name on their welcome sign, they gave me a t-shirt as a souvenir. As I look at the front of the shirt, it has Proverbs 3:5-6 on it. This was God's sign that I found my college and my calling. This verse has guided me to CU, joining Church Outreach, making life decisions and everything else. It's been the light at the end of a dark tunnel full of confusion and fear.

God has really taught me that trusting in Him is all I had to do to get to that point. God only has a plan A for us, and it's more than we can ever create for ourselves; this is why we do not depend on our own understanding. Why would we even try to do all of life on our own? Want to know a secret? The enemy will not mess with you if you are comfortable and leaning on yourself. Why? Because you're doing all of the Devil's work for him. You are giving him all of the brownie points where He can just enjoy you play his game until eventually you fall down and wonder where God went when God never left your side. YOU LEFT HIM...

Please do God a favor and let Him handle it and you trust Him, finally. It sounds too simple, I know. Now this doesn't mean we do nothing; we have plenty of stuff to do. The hard part about being a follower of Christ is obedience to grow and bear good fruit from the Lord. We are called to make disciples, which means witness and pray for the lost. We are also called to use our spiritual gifts for His glory and not for our own use. There are some things we will even have to give up to follow Christ with nothing holding us back. For me, it was a relationship that was only meant to be temporary and letting go of people I still care about but loving them from a distance. That is extremely hard for me when I gave all the effort I did into those relationships, but God will see you have obeyed and show He is grateful for it through blessing you, whether it be in a way that's small or big. Still a blessing is how I see it.

There's another part of this puzzle I want to share. While I was going through my stubborn time of not giving up a relationship that I tried to hold on to, God still gave me some word I meditated and prayed about for several weeks until I finally made the right, healthy decision. It was Psalm 40:1-3 NLT, which says, "I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord." These three verses are like a testimony or prayer that can relate to all of us that have a relationship with God.

As Christians, we must be patient for God to answer us. He always will turn to us and hear what we have to say. God will come to our rescue and save us from everything pulling us away from Him. That's what I love about my God; He always is there with us wanting to save us from this world that will fail us. God and His love never fails. He will set us back up when we fall and give us a new song to sing.

The beauty of Christians being obedient to Christ is others see that and want what we have, which is why we are here; to show what God has done for us and what He can do for everyone that is seeking Him out or seeking for something. I mean, I know we all want to know we have purpose in life worth living. Jesus is our purpose of life; well He's mine. That's your own personal decision. He died for all of us, so that sin would never separate us from God's presence ever again. Jesus opened the way to eternal life and abundant life with Him, and we deserve none of it. He got us out of the biggest pit of all.

My questions for my readers today are these: Do you believe you have purpose to live for? Are you still seeking for something greater than this world? Do you want to know God in a personal way rather than just another great teacher? God is different things for different people. For me, He's my faithful and loving Father who will never leave me. Who is God to you?

I encourage you all to meditate on these verses and find out what God has called you to do. He may get you out of something you've been wanting out of for a long time. It's time to trust in God and stop depending on ourselves. It's time to get out of that pit. Remember, Satan can't keep you in the situation (pit) you're in, but God cannot make you get out of it. It all ties down to obeying God. Are you ready to give it all to Him?