I have been on vacation for the past 4 days and it was lovely. Stay tuned, I have several posts that will be on the way.
Talk to you soon,
Dominique
Idol making
The bible describes idolatry as the worship of an image or a created object.
Hair became my idol because I skipped my devotional to do it. Didn’t iron, almost was late to work. All to make sure my hair looked good. It was bigger than hair though. I was listening to Joyce Meyer the other day and she asked, Do you care more about your earthly clothes or your spiritual clothes? Does it take you longer to put on your earthly clothes then your spiritual clothes? I really had stop and think about that. My hair isn’t my idol anymore. We have come to an agreement. I still sometimes take too much time on my appearance and overall look before I walk out the door, rushing to make sure I’m not going to be late. I am getting better but some days it is still a struggle. I never am rushing out the door because my quiet time went too long. Even when my quiet time goes too long, somehow, I am never late for work. Thanks God!
What is your idol? What are you putting in front of your relationship with God? Is it sleep? Is it tv? Is it work? A relationship? Anything you put in front of God is an idol. I never really thought about that before. It’s startling when you get this conviction at first. I know I was shocked but when you start paying attention, it makes a lot of sense.
Don’t let anything become an idol. In the end nothing is as important as your relationship with God. He just wants to spend time with us. I talked about that in this post, Is God your friend? Anything can become an idol, especially when you aren’t paying attention. Stay diligent, the devil always wants you to get your eyes off God and on to yourself. Spending time with God is something you are going to have to be intentional about, just like spending time with your friends or your spouse.
A routine isn’t necessary, he just wants a some of your time. Take some time this week and pray to God to remove anything that is getting in the way of spending time with him.
For more information:
Fret
href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/fret/”>Fret</a>
Fret-be constantly or visibly worried or anxious.
Evildoers is harsher than what I’m thinking however, I’m not excluding anyone. People who cut corners, people who step on other people to get to the top, people who don’t geniuninely deserve the good things they are getting. I am talking about them. Its hard to watch people who just skate by in life get things when you work super hard and don’t get anything. It just doesn’t seem fair.
Looking on social media, you see people get famous for doing nothing, while you have been working your tail off and nobody know’s your name. Don’t feel discouraged. It won’t last though. When you rise fast, sometimes you crash fast as well.
Roots have to be established and when things happen too quickly you can’t set down any roots. Overcoming adversity is what helps you when trouble comes. Trouble will come and those people who are winning won’t be prepared.
God is allowing to them prosper for a little while but it won’t last. Continue to work hard. Hard work will last, not scheming and getting over,so don’t get discouraged.
My Hope
I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word.
Psalms 119:81 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.119.81.NLT
You all know these past few months have been trying but I am over the hump. Praise God! I never want to forget no matter how tired I am or frustrated from a situation that I can put my hope in God because he does not lie and his word is true. Even on my worst days I remember that and all the awesome things he had done for me.
I don’t want to offer any cliches. I know life can throw some pretty crappy stuff at us. I know it can feel like God isn’t hearing our prayers but he is. As long as I’m still breathing God can I intercede. The improvement of my mood wasn’t over night. It was constant prayer and crying out and mindset shifting.
I always had hope though that my good days would outweigh my bad days and eventually they did. If you are in a bad way, stay in constant communication with God, find like minded people and find something to get yourself off your mind. It will make a world of difference. Good luck!
Things I learned first quarter of the year
We are a little over 100 days in to 2018. How have things been going so far? I have had my share of ups and downs and the year has just got started. I have definitely learned some lessons and if I wouldn’t have went through those things, I wouldn’t have gain these new experiences.
Its ok to be vulnerable with people. I don’t typically do this but I have gotten really good results when I do. I have gotten recommendations for recipes, doctors, books to read, all things that I needed. Once I wasn’t worried about what the person thought about what I was going through, it opened up a lot of doors for me. In being vulnerable, I realized that people are having the same problems I am having. I am not alone in my thoughts or views and this can come from the people I didn’t expect.
Its ok to not know everything. Faith is the evidence of things unseen. It is so hard for me to not know everything. I want to who, what, where and why, all the time. If I know what the problem is I can work on a solution. I am realizing I don’t need to do that. I have to take things one day at a time. If I focus on doing the best I can, things will fall into place.
Hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, even when it feels like it does. Integrity matters. Even when people are not patting you on the back and saying good job, the work you do matters. Getting up, going in and doing your best will make a difference. You can not work hard and nobody notice it.
Prayer still works. I know this in my head but it’s harder to put into action. When I decide to pray first, things always work out so much better. I don’t feel as anxious or stressed when I decide to pray first instead of worry or rant.
Knowing like minded people is important. Knowing people who think like you, just encourages you to keep going. Its nice to know that idea you had was not crazy and it makes sense. Like minded people can build you up and even push you to the next level.
It’s only April. You still have time to turn 2018 around. How is your year going so far? Do you need to make any changes??
Do you Really want his will?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (added emphasis)
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-6.NLT
It’s easy to say I want God’s will for my life. I want whatever blessings he is willing to give me. It sounds good. Are you ready to put in the work that is required to do that? Are you ready for the sacrifices that it will take to have Gods will? I have been praying about career stuff and different leadership opportunities at church and I see God moving a little bit, which is exciting. However, am I really ready? God wants more for me than I could ever imagine, but is it too much? I know to have God’s will I would have to give up the way I do things, look at things, etc, a lot would have to change.
Sometimes I think we pray in a vacuum. We ask God for things and because it took longer than we anticipated for a response we move on from that prayer but God brings it back full circle. Then it feels like it all happened out of nowhere. It didn’t happen out of nowhere. You planted those seeds 6 months, 1 years, 2 years ago, 5 years ago.
Have you been preparing for what you been praying for? Sometimes I do but sometimes I don’t. One of my favorite sayings is if you stay ready you won’t have to get ready. God always hears our prayers and won’t leave them unanswered. His timing is not ours. My pastor said today at church when you pray that you are either waiting on God or God is waiting on you. You are waiting on God if you know there are things you need to do but haven’t gotten them done yet. You are waiting on God if you did everything and your prayer still hasn’t been answered. Make sure when you pray you are ready for the answer when it comes and ready to do whatever work it takes to accomplish the goal.
Thwart
Thwart-prevent someone from accomplishing something
Have you unconsciously thwarted someone when they shared their dream with you? You may not have said the words, you can’t do this, but your facial expression, your tone, the questions you asked them may show that you don’t believe in what they are trying to do.
Did you disregard someone’s dream? Did you think it was ridiculous? I know we are not supposed to be concerned with what other people think but we are human. We someone close to you makes a disparaging comment it sticks. I told my friend once I wanted to write a book and she looked at me and said, “You want to write a book?” It was how she asked me, like what makes you think you can write a book. I don’t think she meant any malice behind it but it still hurt me.
Its one thing to have someone be realistic, but its another to be a dream killer. Its not anyone else’s responsibility to tell someone they need to get themselves together when they are still in the planning stages. People sometimes just want to say the words out loud. They are not asking for your opinion. Be mindful of how you treat your friends, your family, your colleagues. If they felt comfortable enough to share something so important, the least you can do is offer a little encouragement. If it isn’t going to work, they will eventually find out on their own, they don’t need that push from you.
Special Feature
Head over to https://www.momblogfromhome.com/feature-me/. She is so nice and so gracious. Her blog is amazing. Great tips on how to grow your blog.
Steps to refuel when you are running on empty
Read this post to see what led me to running on empty.
- Pray-I know this seems like an obvious solution but I really took some time to pour out my heart to God concerning how I felt. It wasn’t a quick 15 minute devotional. I wanted him to know exactly how I felt and even though he already knew, writing it down and getting it out, I did feel better.
- Listened to different sermons-I listened to different sermons about what to do when your cup is empty or you feel like you are running on E. John Gray, TD Jakes, and Rick Warren to name a few.
- I did things that I like to do-I read books, hung out with my friends.
- I changed my thought process-I read a lot about how God loves me and has a plan for me. I know these things to be true, but when you feel like God is withholding something from you, you don’t always see that love. Reading those verses really renewed my spirit.
- I got myself off my mind-I have been volunteering in the food pantry and at the day care at church.
I feel much better. I am so thankful that I had time to really unplug from everyone and plug into God. I decided to run towards him. He is truly a God of comfort. I appreciate that. I hope that I won;t get back in this spot again. I am also debating about a therapist. I have even called a few but none seem to be working out. I don’t really want to see a therapist but I don’t know if I have tools to take myself to the next level. I’m working on it. Only time will truly tell.
Confession: I didn’t take my own advice
Backsliding can be more subtle than I thought. I originally wrote about backsliding a while back and talked about not getting down on yourself when you do it. The post also mentioned recognizing your triggers so you will be less tempted. It all makes sense. However what if you are moving so slowly back you don’t even notice at first? I foolishly equated backsliding to a one time act, things that are easy to recognize and fix. Unfortunately this is not always the case, other types of backsliding are more subtle.
This article talks about four different types of backsliding.
I knew that something was wrong but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. That’s what made me research condemnation vs. conviction. I thought maybe the devil was messing with my head. I thought maybe I was not pleasing God in some way. So I asked him what did he want me to do. God told me all I needed to do was love him with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind. I had all this information but still something wasn’t right.
In the background of all this, work was crazy, I was not sleeping through the night and quality time with my husband was suffering.
I went back and read my journal entries to try and see what was wrong. Where did the subtle shift start happening? Way back in February. Pretty much when Lent started. This 40 day’s has definitely been rough.
I didn’t realize all these little separate events were pulling me away from God because I was still more or less doing my normal routine. My husband called it to my attention that backsliding was happening. My spirit knew something was happening but flesh just couldn’t get it together.
Why? I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t have it all together. I didn’t want to admit, I was encouraging others but couldn’t encourage myself. I thought I was over some hurts but I’m clearly not. Calling something by name makes it real and means you have to deal with it. Proverbs 30:15-16 says four things on Earth will always be unsatisfied and one of those is a barren woman.
Now I strongly believe that God will bless us with a baby of our own. I do. I don’t know when though. That is hard and all the things I chosen to distract myself with aren’t working. They work for a little while but when is always in the back of my mind.
I got tired off doing good because I didn’t see the reward. I didn’t want to admit it because I know I am not supposed to feel that way.
Unfortunately this is where I’m at. I don’t feel like I am on the brink of victory. I can’t stay in this space. What do I do? What do you do if this is where you are?
I wrote this a few weeks ago and thankfully I did come up with a few solutions. I will post that tomorrow. I didn’t want this post to get to long.
Always finding the silver lining 