Today, I want to take a minute to chat with you from my heart. I actually had a completely different post ready to go up but this felt more important to me. I have been staying away from most realms of social media as best as I can lately because literally all that I see are people spewing their opinions and hurt. There are hardly any nice things or good things. I mean has no one ever watched Bambi? "If you can't say nothin nice, don't say nothin at all." I have been doing my absolute best to keep quiet about a lot of things even though truly I would love to comment on every single mean post. I have been exhibiting extreme self control and it's hard. I know that not many people care to read about my opinions anyways. However, this is my safe space and I too want to talk too. I can say what I want here, and it isn't forced upon anyone else's news feed. Furthermore, if anyone does read this, it is because they chose to come here and read it not by me shoving it in their face.
I have seen so many things lately that are proving to me that there are serious problems about. This week, all I have seen are people ripping each other apart because of the inauguration of Donald Trump and the women's march. I have seen friendships ruined over social media drama. Guys, enough is enough, this can not be the way. Do not fear, this is not a post about the President or the women's march. This is about something much deeper. People are letting the silliest of things ruin their lives, and I know why; because of discouragement and fear and doubt. One end of the spectrum is upset because they didn't get their way and the other is upset because they don't like that they are being challenged. And it saddens me. People are discouraged because others think differently than they do and they are fearful that someone will cause something they don't want to happen. At the end of the day, saying all of the hurtful things in the name of speaking your mind will not fix or change anything. But, I can guarantee that (until the end of time) life will go on and this too shall pass. If you need a common denominator, I think that that we can ALL agree on this: Time is so precious and it should not be wasted fighting/bullying on social media. It will all work out in the end, it always does. Be patient.
I know we all have felt it creep into different areas of our life. I am talking about doubt, discouragement, and fear. After all, those issues are the root to most if not all of the problems I have been seeing. I see so many people that I love discouraged with themselves and with their lives right now. People that I love are living day to day miserably because they feel that they have no other choice. I have seen so many people give up and accept defeat and to be honest, it is heartbreaking. I know that people are struggling with much more than the outcome of the presidential election. Chances are, if you are reading this you too are facing bigger problems. You guys, if you take nothing else from this post, hear this. That is NO way to live, and you owe it to yourself to do better.
Do you want to know my problem? It is that I lived that way for way to long. I allowed a liar to make me believe that I can never do anything or become anything. He lead me to believe that I am not good enough in so many ways and that I will never be good enough. A thief that made me believe that I can not have a fun life or a happy life and more that I can never achieve my goals, so why even try. He discouraged me to the point of depression on so many occasions. Do you know who I am talking about? I am talking about Satan. He is real. Don't laugh, this is serious.
When I decided to give my life to Christ, I became a new person. The scriptures say that you should, and believe me, I did. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV). I would like to say that it was an easy transition, but that would be a lie. I realized that I had lived my entire life wrong, and that was a scary place for me. I was so fearful that I would do something wrong that I stopped living. I knew that I wanted to go to heaven but I was believing that if I sinned then I wouldn't get to; so I just stopped living altogether. Are you're in this same place of doubt, fear, and discouragement?
It wasn't until I heard someone comparing living for the Lord to a prison that I realized what my mind was subconsciously doing to me. I had given my own self handcuffs. I was doubting the love of God. I kept thinking, dang Sarah, you use to be such a fun person and now you aren't and its all because of God. Satan had me believing that The Lord was stealing my joy when really it was exactly the opposite. I seriously thought The Lord was a fun killer. Something even crazier, is that as a result of my fears and these conflicting thoughts, I thought that The Lord didn't want me to have a good life. I thought he didn't want me to be successful or to achieve my goals. I thought that He didn't want me to keep going up or accomplish my dreams or because they were all bad. Let me tell you, that is a pretty big accusation... it's also a LIE.
Then, I was humbled. Like I mentioned before, my journey to the Lord was not an overnight trip. Don't get me wrong, once I got the message, I really GOT it and I was different immediately. But, to get to where I needed to be, The Lord let me sit. Alone. For a long time. I let go of all of my friends. I quit school. I quit my jobs. I stopped going places and I stopped going to see people. I quit everything and everyone, until I figured out what I needed to do and who I needed to become. I sat, and learned (and I am still learning). I had to re-find myself. I tell you, it wasn't easy. I literally did not know how to live. Relate-able? I compare it to walking in the wilderness.
The Lord didn't want me to feel those things, all of those horrible things. He doesn't want you to feel those things. He needed to teach me, but I had to be alone. I am thankful for that time because in it He taught me so much. It took me a LONG time to realize that all of those feelings weren't of God. I didn't know anything about grace or love or forgiveness but He taught me and now I want to share that with you.
He has taught me that Jesus died so that we wouldn't feel those things; so that we wouldn't be fearful or discouraged. He died for our sins. The debt has been paid for. His mercy is new every day and HE is gracious. I can't be perfect all the time, and I will mess up, a lot. But, he is gracious and he is forgiving. He taught me that I can trust that if I am messing up, he will guide me in the right direction. Most importantly though, He has taught me to trust in him in every way. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10.
He saw my struggle to live joyfully but he kept working at me until now, I finally get it. I can be hard-headed you know. He does want me to live a happy life and anything short of that is accepting defeat. Before, I was even afraid to do artwork because I didn't want people to think I was bragging about my skill. I was afraid. He then showed me that He gave me talents to be useful for his kingdom and has been showing me how to be useful. He doesn't want me to hide. It is like a cell phone or a t.v. or a social media outlet, those things are not bad. It is what you do with them that can be. He gave me a life to glorify him, and by doing so I can not just talk the talk, I have to walk the walk. I am just an object, but what I chose to do with myself is the factor that matters.
My goal is to be used as a tool to lead others to Christ and he showed me an important step in doing that. Leading by EXAMPLE is one of the best ways to be truly heard. And what better way to speak my truth than to be seen in the act of living it out. That, is where I want to tie back in to what I mentioned earlier; all of the hateful things that I have seen lately. If you do not like the way that something is going, do something (POSITIVE) different until it changes. If you want to change someone else or something, be a an example, so that they can see the benefits of that change. Spewing at other people won't make you happy. Being nice (but firm) will get you much further than being mean. PERIOD. This goes for anything whatever you believe in. Stand for that, and be that. It will get you so much further, even if you absolutely despise what someone else is doing or saying or if they are being unfair to you.
Please do not be like me. Do not doubt the Lord because of fear that it won't be a better life, because I can promise you that it will be. To those of you who already believe in the Lord, find your purpose for Him and focus on that. Not every one has the same purpose in The Lord. It is the same with joy. Joy looks different for everyone. What brings you joy is unique to you. It is okay to be different, have Joy in that. Be kind to one another. We are all in this life together and have the same goal in mind: happiness. Please, everyone, find some compassion and love for one another. It will get you so much farther.
Here is a scripture that I want to leave you with that is speaking VOLUMES to me right now and basically summarizes my entire post. I hope you are encouraged by this message and you take something away from it. God loves you so much and I just want you to know Him the way that I do and I want you to feel loved by Him the way that I do. He really is so good.
“16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Thank you so much for stopping by. Leave a comment if you enjoyed this change of pace. Or Leave a comment if you hated it, but please be nice and respectful.
All my love, Sarah