GOD, THIS IS HARD!!!
That’s me complaining to God lately! But let me share with you the sweetness of God and how He shows up to remind me that He is standing firm with me, baby! Like I always tell you guys how God talks to me through numbers a lot. For example, whenever “311” shows up, it’s His reminder that I should stay on the high road with Him (after He protected Julie yesterday, I’m on the HIGHEST road, y’all!). That I should specifically BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD and that He is behind the scenes of my life fighting battles for me. So when I want to stress, get frustrated, and anxious about anything, He sends this “311” to beautifully say, ‘Nik, I got you! Relax and enjoy your life!’ Here’s how the 311 showed up three separate times yesterday:
The first time was on the way to work, and God had my spirit take my eyes directly to a plate on a passing vehicle that included “311” in it. I notice God would do this sometimes when He wants us to specifically pay attention to something, we can actually feel Him in our spirit saying, “Take your attention to this!”
Next, I needed to call my daughter Ember to give her a pep talk before her interview with my other daughter’s manager. I went to the call log on my phone and noticed she had called me at 3:11 am that morning.
The final one was an employee saying I needed to personally call a customer. I go to call them, and “311” was sweetly planted in as their middle digits.
Believe it or not, these were all totally and completely orchestrated by God to reveal His loving Presence with me as I take on the hard things for my family right now! No shame, though, I must replay this message from Ceri every morning as my constant reminder:
“And God was telling them that like even though it seemed like such a hard task, that He was there with them. God told them in this particular verse, ‘For I am with you. Be strong for I Am With You.’ And that’s something that always replays in my mind, and every day and every moment that I pray, that’s one of the first things that always comes out on my lips is that I pray for strength. I know that God is with me, but I also know that I can’t do it alone, but I need the strength so that I can keep pushing forward. I can keep doing my best. I could keep growing. I could keep being strong for other people who are close to me. A lot of times, my strength isn’t just for me. A lot of times, I pray for my strength; it honestly isn’t for me. It is to hold up the house so the roof doesn’t collapse around everyone else.”
And about that staying on the high road part, let me tell ya, when others are unfair with me, God more than makes up it. Whatever God asks of me, I do my best with it! Even the difficult stuff He asks me to endure, I say God, ‘Anything for You!’ I can’t get over how He arranged for my daughters to get this beautiful apartment to stay in over the summer in New York, for Ember to get that job to work with Julie (my fierce/baddies!), and the two of them bonding and getting closer (priceless!). I tell them that the way my siblings support me, I want that for them. THIS LIFE IS TOO HARD TO DO ON OUR OWN!