That was a message from a friend today. She said initially she didn’t want to hear my positive advice, and I completely get it.I do the same with God – God, I don’t want to hear from You! I want to be mad, mean, angry, and upset! But thank God for GROWTH and maturity. Now I’m RUNNING to hear what God has to say because He honestly leads me on the best paths. Here’s an old post to explain more:
‘THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING!’ I complained to God. It’s an ongoing issue that has become my cross, and He is helping me to carry it joyfully (most of the time!). I love that I can go to Him in all my terrible moments and look at things from His Almighty perspective. He had me reread this prayer:
”O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I WILL NOT DWELL ON THE UNPLEASANT THINGS OF LIFE. “
And speaking of being FULL of anxiety, that was me yesterday, and I immediately RAN to Him AGAIN. I reread some old posts, including my fav lately:
“Come to me all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, here you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
She (a priest) called our attention to the image of the yoke, a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals such as oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together. She said she could imagine Jesus (God) already wearing the yoke and inviting us to let Him be our Partner as we bear our burdens together with Him. She said when things get harder (and they will get harder) Jesus (God) would not let his side of the yoke go.
I loved this part so much that I listened to it repeatedly, imagining God and I clasped together with this piece of wood holding our heads together. I especially loved it because now I’m WISELY learning to let God lead the direction we go in, on a moment by moment basis. It’s not always easy, and at times it takes serious DISCIPLINE not to be the crazy, drama Nik who wants to make an appearance. But God’s ways always lead me to make the utmost best decisions no matter the tough situation. I never regret following His leading, even when He takes me out of my comfort zone on some treacherous paths.”
Are you going to God in your sad, frustrating, painful, anxious, and other awful moments? Let’s bear all our burdens with Him.
TODAY, I RAN SIX MILES IN TWO HOURS UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS OF OUR HOUSE!!! I’m working on a better me, baby! The goal was to get rid of the old Nik and my constant sad and hurtful thoughts, and for a happier and more focused person to emerge. And so far, I think it did the trick! I’ve learned that if I don’t control my thoughts, they will take control of me. Let me tell you, the quality of our thoughts WILL determine the quality of your life!
The run was fantastic! I did another one of my Coach Andy Nike Run Club runs and heard the incredible story of his guest athlete, Lopez Lomong, from being kidnapped in Sudan as a six-year-old kid by rebel soldiers to being an Olympic athlete representing the United States years later.
But, in between listening to his story, I pretty much played one song repeatedly, ‘Let Me Be The One To Love You,’ (William Singe’s version) imagining God singing these lyrics to me:
“You should let Me love you
Let me be the One to
Give you everything you want and need
Ooh baby good love and protection
Make Me your selection
Show you the way love’s supposed to be
Baby love you”
After hearing that one song so many times I said, “God, You got it! I will let You be the One to love me!” Phew! So when the depressing thoughts and reminders come up again about some hurts and disappointments from the past, I can now say, “Go away!!! God’s girl here!” and I can instead focus on God’s love and be happy, keeping no more records of wrongs (from others or ourselves!!!).
On Saturday, I was asking Him to help me wrap my head around a situation and He answered me. As I was in one part of our bedroom reading my meditation book, my son, Joshie, was asking my husband a question and at the very same time I read the word “SUPPORT,” my husband was responding to our son with the exact word. LIKE PERFECTLY TIMED!!! Of course, I took this as another one of my God winks when out of the blue, everything lines up STRANGELY TOO PERFECTLY, with an important message from God for all of us:
“Of Bearing the Defects of Others
But now God has disposed things that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens; for there is no one without defects, no one without burdens, no one sufficient for himself, no one wise enough for himself, but we must SUPPORT one another, comfort one another, assist, instruct and admonish one another.” – Imitation of Christ
Can we do that for Him? Honestly, that’s what I took from that conversation from Lopez today, how everywhere he went, he considered everyone family the way he was SUPPORTED through his horrific journey. My fav were the boys who helped him to escape the rebel camp who he called his angels. They knew his older brother and immediately when he was brought there, they met him and said something like, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. We’re family.” And they did.
I believe we’re not the human race; we’re the human family! Let’s go the extra mile in loving, supporting, assisting, instructing, and admonishing one another. God is our BOSS, and our reward is with Him. And let Him be the one to love us! His love is more than enough! Wink! Wink!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME?” (REPOST)
I questioned my daughters yesterday after they called, asking if they could go for a run in a nearby park. I wasn’t expecting this response (I paraphrase here): “Mom, you were the one who kept saying, “Let’s do hard things!” You’re so brave. You’re fearless! We see you running through bushes, over snakes, doing challenging things. We’re following you.” Wow! And that confirmed my change of perspective on this rough year!
Earlier that day, I felt God speaking to me through a “Suckcess Run” with Coach Bennet of the Nike Running Club. He talked about perspectives and how we can look at our failures from a different angle. So, here I’ve been thinking what a mess up I’ve been this year of what felt like a million falls, and thanks to Coach Bennet, I flipped it, feeling God had this to say, ‘Wow, Nik, you did some hard things for Me. You’re my little superhero. You might have fallen, but you were resilient, you kept getting back up. And you kept focused on building a closer relationship with Me. Great job! We have a lot to celebrate here!”
Then hearing my daughters remind me that they were watching their momma take on this challenging year was the icing on the cake. Not only did they see me, but I also shared with you guys how God would show up in every one of those falls to let me know He was with me.
And that’s the best perspective change ever. Knowing God is with you in the good times and the hard times. He has your back no matter how many times you fall and fail, and He loves you unconditionally no matter how many times you mess up. This year also importantly taught me that this is what He expects us to do for others – love unconditionally.
I love how God uses my husband to teach me all these love lessons to pass on to you guys. I told him today that all I know and all I need to know is that he is the best husband in the world. We may have our dark nights, but we rise up again with the hope that our best days are still ahead of us. We remain loyal to each other no matter what we go through. In fact, these difficult times seem to bring us even closer together. Go figure! Like we can go through the toughest times, survive, and recommit to getting even better TOGETHER! God’s ways are not our ordinary human ways; they’re so much better!
Are you getting CLOSER to Him? Say this prayer with me, ‘God, I want a closer walk with You.’ Then start having alone times seeking Him and asking Him to be a part of the 1,000 decisions you make every day, seeking to make Him happy. I promise you, the best life is close to God!!!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
‘GOD, I’M VERY ANGRY RIGHT NOW!’ (REPOST)
That was me running to Him for some alone time in a very upsetting morning. The crazy lady had come out in full force, and I needed some quiet minutes with Him. I opened up a book entitled ‘Goodness’ and there I amazingly found the perfect message from God:
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Roman 12:21
Being good and exhibiting goodness may be a battleground. Just because you decide to let goodness become a part of your lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean that it will happen without a struggle…It’s a process, a daily commitment… There are ups and downs, good days and bad days, good and evil are a constant struggle.”
It was if God was saying, ‘It’s cool, Nik. There are going to be times when you’re not going to have it all perfectly together. Learn the lessons from the situation and let’s keep going.’
A BIG lesson turned out to be that not all battles are for me to fight. I felt God saying to me later that the crazy lady should go away and I obeyed – God, anything to please You!’ The calm, wise, sweet and forgiving Nik returned. I eventually felt Him say to TURN OVER the entire issue to Him. Yes, Boss! This old post came to mind:
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6, NIV)
By His Spirit
In this day and age, we are equipped with so many wonderful resources in the natural: technology, education, abilities. It’s easy to rely on our own natural strength for so many things.
We have to remember that this natural world is only temporary, but the spiritual realm is eternal. We aren’t limited to the earth’s resources; we have unlimited spiritual resources by the Spirit of God. There are some things in life that can’t happen by human thinking and reasoning. There are things that won’t be solved by natural power and might. But God is not limited by the resources of this world. When you open the door of faith in your heart, God will move through you in powerful ways by His Spirit.” – Joel Osteen
God is in control of everything and everyone!!! He can do way beyond what we can even think or imagine in the spiritual realm. When He tells me to cool down and leave matters with Him, I trust Him because of all the battles I’ve seen Him fight on my behalf before. That’s why I say EVERYTHING is between us and God, not between anyone else. I want us OBEDIENT to His will, seeking to please Him in every moment. We do what we feel through our spirit what He is directing us to do on a moment by moment basis and we leave the rest of the battle with Him. Wink! Wink!
I woke up to an appointment with Him reading one of my fav meditation books, ‘He and I.’ This sentence got my attention: “…and you will come to Me (God) more sincerely and GAILY (you notice how I repeat that word) because you will realize that you give Me joy.”
I knew the meaning of the word gaily, but I decided to go and look it up anyway on Google. I read some of its synonyms: brightly, cheerily, happily, heartily, merrily, smilingly. I then read some examples of it used in sentences. And after my family and I had the best time sitting around the table teasing each other last night, this was the example sentence that showed up: “We sat around the table, gaily teasing each other and laughing (Wink! Wink!). This again was no coincidence; it was God reminding me that His invisible Presence is always with me. It was as if He was saying, ‘Nik, I saw you having a fun time laughing with your family, teasing each other, at dinner last night!’
That’s every reason right there to be gaily, cheerful, merry, and joyful KNOWING that God’s Presence is ALWAYS with us. Another wink from Him was driving and seeing a license plate frame quoting my fav Bible verses, “Proverbs 3:5:6.” Fast forward a couple of hours, I go to read my calendar at work that I feel God speaks to me through, and it was on the wrong date, but these exact verses were quoted at the bottom:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart…
In all your ways acknowledge him,
And He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
And that’s where I want us all, TRUSTING GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS. The things He is doing for me lately, I’m just amazed! Like, Wow, God, You did this for me?!? I’m talking in every aspect of my life, I see God’s hands at work. That’s why it’s my pleasure every day to share with you the GREATNESS of God and His intimate involvement in our lives. It’s just up to us to acknowledge Him in all our ways, seeking to please Him and seeking His guidance, and He will direct us on the most beautiful paths. To sit at that table with my kids and hubby last night, gaily and joyful, laughing and enjoying the best food, was all a testimony to a life lived close to God is really the best life (Wink! Wink!). Don’t miss out! Say this prayer, “God, I want a closer walk with You!” AMEN!!!
