Tag Archives: Trust

Faith, Five Minute Friday

Stepping Out Of Our Comfort Zone

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We all have something in our lives that has broken us in one way or another.  Something that is hidden deep in our closet that we don’t like to talk about or share openly.

It may be that you lost someone really close to you…

…Or your parents separated when you were younger…

…Or you had someone you looked up to and they made a comment towards you which hurt you really deeply…

…Or you didn’t have a great time growing up in school…

Whatever has happened to you, it has probably affected you in one way or another.  You may not notice it straight away, but what happened to you in your past affects how you are today and how you perceive situations you are in.

Let’s just say that you are someone who experienced your parents splitting up when you were younger, and you never saw one of your parents again.  This may then affect you in your own relationships with other people. You may not receive love very well from those that are showing it to you.  This then in turn could bring about feelings of rejection.

Or, you maybe someone that was bullied in school.  It may not have been physical bullying, but the constant name calling of how ugly you were…or that you would never amount to anything…the little comments behind your back in classroom of people threatening to “get” you after school.  This may then affect you on how you perceive yourself.  You hate to look at yourself in the mirror because you detest what you see. You are constantly trying to seek people’s approval.

You see how what happens in your past, which broke something inside you, affects how you react towards situations today?

If you are still reading this, then maybe I am resonating with you in what I am writing about.  If so, I want you to listen closely to me as I share with you a truth that you need to hear.  What happens in our past doesn’t have to define ourselves, or our future.

What happens in our past doesn't have to define ourselves, or our future. Click To Tweet

I believe, with a passion, that it doesn’t matter how broken we are inside with what has happened in our lives, we can still turn out to be beautiful people.  For me to believe this though, and for me to get you to believe this too, I need to be able to step outside of my comfort zone.

Do you know what this might mean though?  It means me sharing my deepest stories with you.  Stories that may open up my wounds and seep a little (and it may sting a little in the process too), but I hope that it may help someone to realise that they too can heal from their broken past and become beautiful.

Some of you may be thinking that sharing openly about something that is so personal is a little daunting and that you are not brave enough. I don’t think it’s about being brave enough to do it, and actually, I will admit this…it is down right scary for me to do this.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

One thing I am sure of is this…I have God by my side through every step of my journey. He will send me His Holy Spirit, not to make me afraid of what is going to happen, but to give me the strength that I need so I can step out of my comfort zone. In doing so, I hope the messes that I have been through in my life, become a message for you to give you a glimmer of hope.

Something to think about…

Can you identify an area in your life where you feel you have been broken? Consider asking God to show you how to use that brokenness to step out of our comfort zone to help others.

Prayer

Lord, there is an area in my life where I have been broken. Send your Holy Spirit upon me and give me the strength and courage that I need to step out of my comfort zone and to use those fragments of life to show others that you can piece together a beautiful picture.  Amen.

You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. The word prompt write is “comfort”. (Everything before the line break shows what I wrote in five minutes.) If you are interested in taking part or reading other people’s inspiring writes, then hop on over to the site.

Faith, Five Minute Friday

The Future Is Now

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The future is now.  I know this might seem like a contradiction because the “now” is the present.  The future is something that is going to happen, not something that is happening.

When I say the future is now, I mean that what we do, what we say and how we behave affects our future and those around us.  So really, we should live like we are in the future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Every time I would hit a rough patch in my life, I would always think of this Bible verse.  It would give me hope because I knew that God would not let me suffer forever…sooner or later, I would prosper.

I have recently learnt though that this Bible reading doesn’t mean what I thought it meant.  It was one of those “Really?” moments.  You know, when it comes as a shock to you that what you thought something was for so long, has actually turned out to be something completely different.

My hope is not lost though.

Here’s the gist of the story behind this verse…

Whilst the Israelites were in exile, there was a false prophet called Hananiah who stated that God was going to free them in two years.  Well, as we probably know, God doesn’t kinda work like that in letting people tell Him what to do.  It kinda goes the other way around. **wink**

Now, in steps the good guy, Jeremiah, to tackle this. **Sound the trumpets** He approached Hananiah and basically says, (and I’m paraphrasing here) “What do you think you are doin’?” Jeremiah then gives him a bit of a truth bomb and reveals that they are going to stay in exile for 70 years – a bit different to two years.  Some of them probably won’t even live that long to see them being free!

The Israelites will prosper in the future, but only after they learnt to seek God where they are now – in their current situation.

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7

If we can learn to seek the good things in the situation that we are in now, and be at peace with it, then we will prosper from it.  You’ve probably read this and thought…

How on earth, in my current situation, can I think positive and look for something good? Seriously? I am just too tired and it takes up too much energy.  It’s so much easier to just carry on with the way things are. Nobody cares anyway if I am a bit grumpy.

Does this sound about right?

Friend, God knows the plans He has for us and He will give us a beautiful future. But for now, as we are in this world living our crazy-filled lives, keep in mind that as we persevere through our difficulty, it will bring us hope and success.

Something to think about

Can you think of something that you are facing right now that you are finding difficult?  If so, hold on to the true meaning of what Jeremiah 29:11 brings.  Not hope that He will take away your difficulty and give you a better future, but that He will provide hope during your difficulty to make your future better.

Not hope that He will take away your difficulty and give you a better future, but that He will provide hope during your difficulty to make your future better. Click To Tweet

Prayer

Lord, you know what I am facing right now, and I will be honest with you…I’m not liking it very much.  Be with me Lord, right beside me and give me the hope that I need to persevere through this hard time. Open my eyes Lord, to what is around me and help me to grow through my trials.  In Your Name. Amen

You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “future”. (Everything before the line break shows what I wrote in five minutes.)  If you are interested in taking part or reading other people’s inspiring writes, then hop on over to the site.

Faith

Trust and Obey

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I very rarely comment on social media what is going on in the world. Actually, I don’t think I have put up one post on Facebook about what goes on in the news. I only ever post about my life and the things that I’m doing.

It’s not because I don’t care about what goes on, because I do. Oh, I really do. My heart aches for what I see and read in the media about our broken world. And if I’m honest, sometimes I shed tears as well. Who doesn’t when you hear about another teenager being stabbed…

Or when another refugee seeking help is washed up on a beach…

Or when another bomb goes off and innocent people are being killed…

Or when you see pictures of children starving. Children that are the same age as my own, and all you can see is skin hanging off their bones and flies on their face.

Yes, my heart cries.

I guess I feel that my voice is not strong enough to shout out what I feel when I see all the noise and unrest going on around me. And let’s face it, there is a hell of a lot of unrest around us at the moment.

Injustice.
Famine.
War.
Terror.
Politics.
Natural disasters…Just to name a few!

Part of me is scared of what is going to happen to our world. Why should I be scared though? It’s not what is happening that scares me, but the “unknown”. Not knowing what is going to happen when decisions are being made. Not knowing what our world is coming to when I see all the fighting.

When it comes to politics, who shall I vote for? Will they really make a difference in my life…in our world? When it comes to the world around us, will we ever see an end to all the violence and suffering that takes place?

God prevails

All this unrest has all happened before though…many times over…and it will keep on happening.

Joshua could have easily turned his back on God when he stood in front of those gigantic walls of Jericho. Instead, he obeyed God and followed Him. And what did Joshua get in return? He saw victory over the city. God prevailed.

Gideon had an army of 32,000 men and he was up against it when he faced a mighty army that had 135,000 men. He was out numbered 4 to 1. Now those aren’t great odds, so when God told Gideon to reduce his army instead of increasing it, he must of thought that God had lost His mind. He listened though, and he obeyed. He won a mighty battle with just 300 men. God prevailed again.

And as for Jonah…Well, God certainly showed what happens when you don’t listen and you go your own way. You get eaten by a fish! Jonah in the end listened to what God wanted Him to do, and God prevailed!

There was also a man that was condemned to death…all because he was sent to help people…to save us. People laughed and mocked Jesus when He was being crucified on the cross. Well, how could He save people if He was hung on a cross? He was a little restricted at that point to do anything.

At that point He was! I wonder who had the last laugh in the end when He showed up walking down the road? God prevailed in the utmost way possible when Jesus rose from the dead.

Trust and obey

In all that had happened, God remained sovereign in all of it. He always has and always will, and it was when people turned to Him and trusted Him. They may not have understood what was happening and why it was happening, and at times God’s will probably seemed down right insane. But, they trusted Him, and obeyed.

As long as we trust and obey God, He will reign over all, and everything will work out. This is one thing that I am sure of in all the unrest that we have in our world today.

Tweet: As long as we trust and obey God, He will reign over all, and everything will work out.

A question to reflect on…

Is there an area in your life where you need to trust God and obey Him? If so, why don’t you consider handing it over to Him today?

Prayer

Lord, in this world where there is unrest, you are the One that reigns over all. May we remember that truth when we do not understand what is happening around us. Help us to stand strong in what we believe in. Help us to trust you and to obey you in what you call us to do. In Your Name. Amen.

Bible reading

1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Suggested Listening

If you want to feel inspired in doing God’s will today, listen to the hymn “Trust and Obey”. Although it was written in 1887, the words are very much relevant today as they were back then.

Faith, Trust

Trusting In God To Define Our Path

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You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “define”.

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To define is to give something its true meaning, which would hopefully make it more clearer for you. Hopefully! Defining something also creates boundaries, something that is clearly set out.

Sometimes we do this with our walk with God. We want God to clearly define the path that we walk on. We want Him to specify exactly what our lives mean, where are we heading to and how we are going to get there.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5

God doesn’t always clearly define what we are to be doing on this earth though. Well, He doesn’t define it in the way that we want Him to, and waiting around for things to become just that little bit clearer is really hard.

However, if we trust in what God is going to do for us, and not trust in our own thoughts and feelings (which often mislead us down the wrong path anyway) then He will define what our path is to be.

Faith

What do you do if you don’t feel God?

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I am sooooo not good at this Christianity lark! I keep stuffing it up. Wouldn’t it just be easier just to do this all on my own anyway? I mean, how hard is it…This life business? Seriously? Why do I need God in my life? There are plenty of people out there that seem to get on just fine without Him, and yet I struggle. I don’t really feel Him that much anyway, so I might as well be on my own…

“Oh my word”, I can hear you say! Are you shocked that I am writing this? Should I be writing this? I mean, aren’t us Christians meant to show how easy life is once we have Jesus in our lives?

Or, are you nodding your head, with your hands in the air saying “yeah, me too, I getchya!” Are you one of these people that’s been there, done that and got the holes in your jeans for the amount of times that you’ve been on your knees begging for His mercy to start over again?

Do you know what though? Yeah, life isn’t easy. In fact, life is damn hard at times! So hard that it goes through my mind if all this is worth it one day. All the struggles we have in life…

death…

illness…

money…

kids…

…just to name a few! I’m sure that you could add a few more to the list.

Wouldn’t it be nice though if life was just that little bit easier? Answer me honestly. When you’re going through each day in pain and not knowing what is causing it…or you barely have the energy to play with your kids properly…or you are worried about when the next pay check is going to come in and whether you have enough to get you through the next day.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all this would just go away? Is God really here anyway in all of our struggles? When I am facing these hard seasons, this is what I honestly think. How can God let me go through the situations that I experience. Does He really care about me?

A friend recently gave me some encouragement at a time when I needed it…at a time when I still need it…

“I just want to encourage you that just because you are in a hard season right now, it doesn’t mean God is absent. God’s love “feels” more intimate when things are going well, that’s true, but our circumstances aren’t an indicator for God’s love in the same way our feelings aren’t always telling us the truth.”

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I want to encourage you right now too, just like I was encouraged. In answer to my question, “what do you do if you don’t feel God?” Hang in there.

If you feel like your faith is fading, God is there and He will remain faithful towards you. Although we may change our commitment towards Him from time to time, His commitment to us will never change.