What God is Teaching Me

Hi friends,

Let me first be clear: none of the things I am going to write about have I perfected and in all honesty I probably never will. I am broken and a sinner, but I am so thankful that God loves me enough to point these things out to me and to make me aware of my shortcomings so I can allow Him to help me become a better version of myself and grow closer to who He wants me to be, growing in my understanding of His Word and strengthening and deepening my relationship with Him.

What God has been teaching me lately:

o He must be my #1 priority!! “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). If I am not focused on God, I will be focused on the things of this world which will not sustain me and will not last. God has shown me that if my relationship with Him is not strong then no other relationship in my life will be strong – whether that be my relationship with myself (spiraling thoughts, negative self-image, doubts, etc.), family, friends, romantic relationships, etc. A commentary of Scripture I often read says, “We really can have a living, breathing relationship with God the Father, and with Jesus Christ. He can be not only our Savior, but also our friend and our closest relationship.” This is the type of relationship with God that I want to strive for, not a long-distance relationship with God but a best friend type of relationship.

o Don’t focus on the future so much!! “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34). God has been teaching me that I need to be content with where I am and what is happening in my life and what He is doing in my life right now. I need to let Him plan my future, and not try to do it myself. Trying to do it myself has created worry and stress in my life that was completely unnecessary. It also has caused me to fall hard when things do not go the way I planned. Because I try to plan things on my own and expect things to go one way, I get disappointed when they go the opposite. His will and His plans are much better and more beneficial than I could ever come up with for myself. Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest, once said, “One of the most arduous spiritual tasks is that of giving up control and allowing the Spirit of God to lead our lives.” One thing you may or may not know about me is that I hate not being in control. I hate when I can’t fix a situation, know an outcome, or plan what is going to happen. I don’t mean to do these things and I truly mean no harm in doing them it’s just a comfort thing for me, but doing those things takes away from my dependence on God and the trust I need to have in His plan for my life.

o My knowledge of God and my faith should not be based on my feelings!! “Teach me knowledge and good judgement, for I trust your commands” (Psalm 119:66). Just because I might not “feel” like He isn’t working does not mean that He is not or just because I might not “feel” like going to small group or service does not mean that I shouldn’t go. God is always working in our lives even when we cannot see it. He does things based on His perfect knowledge and timing. So do not lose hope when He feels far away because He is never the One pulling away from us; He is the one always pulling us back to Him. God can use our feelings to guide us at times so I have started asking for discernment when I can’t tell the difference between what God is telling me and what my feelings are telling me.

o Community is a MUST!! “Man was not made to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). We are not meant to do life alone. We were made for relationship because God existed in relationship in the Trinity. We need presence, encouragement, and accountability. Being vulnerable and honest with the people around you can make a significant shift in your life because I know it has in mine. This is one that I struggle with big time! Being vulnerable and allowing people to see me emotional is so hard for me. There have been times that I’ve tried to pretend that I was fine and had it all together but have realized that doing that has hurt me so much more than being real and honest with the people around me. The people I let in showed up for me with encouragement, prayers, and advice. Don’t be afraid to reach out, to initiate first, to put yourself out there bare and vulnerable because “one simple phone call, one seemingly inconsequential text, can shift your course entirely” (Jennie Allen, Find Your People). It’s not easy and building close relationships takes work, especially because no one is perfect and we are all sinners who fall short, but it is vitally important to have people to do life with you. To show up, to call you out, to pick you up when you're down, to encourage, to inspire, to love, God has given us this opportunity and it is important that we take it.

o Radical dependence and ruthless trust!! “Our trust in Jesus grows as we shift for making self-conscious efforts to be good to allowing ourselves to be loved as we are (not as we should be)” (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust). When we look at the promises in the Bible, we can see that God has never broken one of His promises and because of His character He will never, ever break the promises that He has made to us. He has helped me to realize that I have unrealistic expectations of people. I cannot put all my expectations on others because only God can fill all of the expectations that I have because he is the only perfect being. Jennie Allen, says in her book Find Your People, “You will disappoint me. I will disappoint you. God will never disappoint us. Accepting this shifts our expectations from people to God. And he can handle our expectations.”

o Loving others is so important!! “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:11-12). Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice out of his love for us and in turn we are called to love one another as he loved us. “The proper way to love God in response to His love for us is to go out and love one another” (Enduring Word Bible Commentary). It can be hard I know. It takes work and effort and going out of our way, but I have learned that loving others can be so much more beneficial than only loving myself and it is what we are called to do.

o God is always working in our lives and teaching us things if we let Him!! “In his sovereign wisdom, God alone understands the human heart” (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust). He knows we fall short every single day. He knows what we lack and what we don’t understand. He meets us where we are with an abundance of love and grace and helps us along the path that He knows is best for us. I pray that God would continue to teach us and help us to implement what he teaches each of us into our everyday lives and I pray that He would help us to feel His love and presence with us at all times. Let’s keep learning and growing together, friends :)