“I’M A PROFESSIONAL DRINKER!”
That was from someone who amazed me yesterday. He astonishingly knew the alcohol content of some alcoholic beverages off the top of his head. I was Googling to see if he was correct, and incredibly, he was!!! He was advising my 90-year-old mom to drink a little when she was feeling stressed, but I told him my way of handling stress was best, though – I run to God!!! NOTHING BETTER THAN THIS!!!
Like so many times under my God tree, I would call my brother, Kevin, so frazzled and crazy. I would get nudges from God to call Kevin, and I would listen for his take on the current dilemmas of my life. Kevin has a gift of wisdom, and we’ve agreed, looking back on everything, that it’s God speaking to me through him. He would blow me away with his deep responses that would come so quickly. One day he said something like, “Neeks, right now you are like a boxer. You will get knocked in the head 10,000 times, but eventually, you will become numb to the pain. Stay in the ring and keep fighting.” Today I asked him, “WHO ADVISES SOMEONE TO TAKE TEN THOUSAND PUNCHES?” His response was this:
“Life WILL throw you 10,000 punches, my sister. The wise person will expect them and not be surprised when they come. A wise person will also know who is worth taking the punches for!”
Wow! That’s the real-life perspective I love from Kevin. I’m happy I took his advice, even though the world might call me foolish. Someone asked me today, “How are Emmie and Joshie (my sons!)?” My response was this, “I’m enjoying them!” Yesterday I dragged them out to work with us, and I put them with the cleaning crew. I SUCKED THE ENJOYMENT OUT OF EVERY SECOND. I WAS MORE GRATEFUL THAN EVER TO KEVIN FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO STAY IN THE RING. Words can’t express my gratitude to Kevin, and his faithful, ride-or-die wife, Verona, who have become one of my inspirational couples to keep giving our best for our families. Our families are worth fighting for, and it’s our essential work from God Himself! Let’s do it all for the glory of God!
When the punches got a little harder to take, God, in all His love, sent me our family friend, Ceri, who repeatedly talked in some daily recordings about listening and being obedient to God. In fact, he said the MOST IMPORTANT THING WAS BEING OBEDIENT TO GOD (That’s where our blessings are (Wink! Wink!) He also added in Biblical passages on unconditionally loving others the way God loves us. With God’s mercy and grace every morning we wake up to, we’re to share it with others.
And about those 10,000 punches that life WILL throw at us! I want us living life with one foot on earth and the other foot in heaven, where we’re having constant conversations with God Himself from one moment to the next (God, what do I do here?!? Talking more with God than with anyone else!). He is with us and for us! But to obey God, we must know His voice and what He directs us to do.
How exactly do you know what God is advising you to do? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! Like me listening to Kevin’s tough advice and following through with them and eventually seeing how well things have worked out because I listened. It’s the same with God. His voice becomes more evident as I practice listening and He always leads me on the best path.
God is pretty talkative!!! So moment by moment, as I’m in the world, I listen to what God is saying, even as I’m speaking to someone else, I’m listening to God on how to respond. Sometimes He speaks to me in my spirit (something would just light up within me that I know it’s God), or He would say to call someone like, Kevin, or go and have an alone time with Him in such and such a place, including my fav meditation book, Jesus Calling.
The key is to be receptive to Him in all the ways He speaks that are unique to each of us. It’s up to us whether or not we want to follow Him or go through life without Him (I don’t recommend this route!) As for me, I’m sticking with my favorite verses in the entire Bible:
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart (GOD, ALL MY TRUST IS IN YOU!!!);
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
LISTEN FOR GOD’S VOICE IN EVERYTHING YOU DO, EVERYWHERE YOU GO;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
God is an expert in everything, and His ways are always best! Don’t miss out! Walk with Him in every moment! (Wink! Wink!)