It is safe to say that since we are headed towards a New Year, I would like to go ahead and uncover a few things I have learned throughout this crazy transitional period of my life. Being completely vulnerable, I have been a wreck and needed this time to truly figure out what God has for my life.
We see throughout Scripture that people are called to be obedient to God by Faith and not by Sight, and learning to navigate towards His leading to the next destination.
The life of Abraham is a great example of this:
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
I became obedient to God’s voice and went through this transitional season learning one specific thing that I had a problem with: trusting God.
Fast forward to now, I remember pondering on my thoughts and discussing with God the theme of this transitional period. I will share more about that topic soon but God is called the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 22:13). He told me to trust Him before this happened and just recently told me to trust Him now.
I remember when I was a youth kid, my Youth Pastor at the time challenged all of us to memorize Proverbs. Proverbs 3:5-6:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Proverbs are wisdom nuggets to remember and apply in your life. So let me encourage you with a few things about this verse that we can apply today.
1.) Give Your Heart
Sometimes things that we love can get in the way of God. God must be first and when God isn’t first in your life, you will start to leak if you are not constantly being connected to the vine which brings nourishment. (John 15:5)
One of the biggest things that I love is the ministry. There came a point where I was unhealthy and focused on the importance of the position rather than the hearts that I was impacting. I was NEVER considered the Youth Pastor, simply because of disbelief and preparation. If I was truly called to this generation, that is simply broken and in need of leaders to help heal from their current vibes to pursue God’s Love to reflect His Glory, then God will make a way.
2.) Give Your Understanding
The Scripture states to not lean on your understanding! Why is it that we think we could establish our plans without the Holy Spirit guiding us? Why is it that we turn the other way and feel like we failed when God is the one moving us around? Why is it that it is hard to trust God when we don’t see it in our understanding? The answer to all this is simple: our understanding connects with our control and pride.
Understanding is good when it comes from the guidance of the Holy Spirit and our judgment, but when it comes to trust, we believe God by what His word says and His direction for our lives. It is when we don’t trust His Word and His direction that our understanding becomes prideful and we tell God, “God I understand Your ways, but I will still commit to mine”.
God changed my heart and understanding regarding my calling throughout this transitional season. Ministry is more than just the position and the paychecks you get. It is the hearts of the people you are focused on. So regardless if I am in a position, that shouldn’t determine how I treat people, how I love people, and how I guide people towards their God-given purpose.
3.) Submit to Him
While we may want to maintain control of our lives, God calls us to surrender. Surrender your heart and your understanding and surrender to Him! We as believers of Christ are called to even deny ourselves and follow Him.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)
We must follow God’s leading in all areas of our lives. There are a few things that I needed to submit to Him regarding my plans and my future. There will be another blog post about the “Losses of my Transitional Period” in which I will go through the process that I dealt with regarding things that I have lost in my life. At the end of the day, for better or for worse, God has my heart and my life to the point that I will stay committed to Him no matter what happens!
4.) HE Will…
This is the final statement of this verse and it talks about how God is in control. God WILL. God will do what He told us He’ll do. While giving your heart, understanding, and surrender, we cannot fight with God regarding our plans and future. We must have the confidence of what He has in store for us. Even if you feel some type of loss, fear, hopelessness, discouragement, God has the final word and the final say of what happens. He will make your paths straight.
This means that our crooked lives can be made whole and obedient and we will be following the Will of God in our lives. I have to admit, I am not perfect and I know there are a few crooked things in my life that God has started to change in my life. Even when I didn’t like the outcome of my crookedness, which caused a lot of losses in my life, I must remember this one thing.
TRUST.
My Faith Journey 