Somebody Hit the PAUSE Button

Guess what?! This month is at the halfway point. Maybe you're like me and you look up and go, "Wait! Did I hit snooze?? How am I already here?!" 

I have goals yet to write, lists yet to check off, intentions to unshelve! 

And so I get into a ridiculous panic and scurry to feel busy about something because busy means accomplished, right?? 

Wrong.

Step away from that busy button. 

Now is a great time to hit the PAUSE button. 

It's time to take time. 

Time to really reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there..but also, really check and see if what you are choosing each day will actually get you where you want to be.

 

So WHY is it a good time to PAUSE? 

Because you still have the whole last half of this month to make the choices that will put you were you want to be! 

Whether you are focusing on your personal spiritual health, physical health, family issues, health goals, or business goals or ALL THE THINGS this month, know that there is POWER in the PAUSE. 

And when you add PRAYER? It's a triple threat!!

PAUSE+PRAYER=POWER! 

These are the 3 P's that will take you places. 

But instead of running ahead distracted, disgruntled, disheartened, deafened by the realities around you...

1. Pause to open your eyes to see where you are and what you are doing in that place.

2. Pray for the Lord to show you HIS desire for those things, those goals you're running after...and LISTEN to His response.

3. Power up! in His presence and find the strength to make the choices that you weren't able to on your own.

I am praying for each of you!

Hit that PAUSE button today!!

"Be still and know that I am God..."

Psalm 46:10

When I Forget God is Faithful

Sometimes our circumstances cast such a thick fog around us, that it becomes hard to see God in the midst of where we are. That is when have to look back and remember Him where we were. 

It is way too easy for me to complain and wail like the Israelites in the desert, instead of stand in faith and call on My Deliverer and Red Sea Parter. 

How quickly I forget. 

And that's why I have to be diligent to remember. 

That's why you see me scribbling in my journal, putting God's promises up on my door frames, mirrors and car dash- not because I want the appearance of holy...but because I have to remind my thick headed, stubborn flesh of the Truth of Who my God is:

 Faithful. Present. Fully Able. 

When I look around and feel claustrophobic because the reality of life is pressing in on every side, that is the moment of Truth: the moment I press back with the Truth I choose to keep before my eyes- God is Faithful. 

Believe me, just like the Israelites, I have deserts I wander in, but I am choosing not to set up camp there- and I remind the enemy to not issue me an address- because I am just traveling through. 

My God is ever faithful, and He is leading the way. 

"...if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand firm at all."

Isaiah 7:9 

#SimpleTruth #first5 @first5app @proverbs31ministries @wblight 

Facing the Unknown

When I walked up to my front door by myself  and found it standing open, it stopped me in my tracks. It took me a minute to process. Wait. This is different. Go in? Don't go in?

I yelled an inquisitive "Hellooooo??" into my dark house except for a random light on in my room. Wait- why was my light on? Everyone should be gone. No cars are in the driveway. 

When you're standing in the face of the unknown- it can be terrifying and paralyzing. 

But you can't keep standing where you are. 

I was on the phone with my best friend and like friends on scary movies NEVER do, she reminded me to NOT go into the dark house alone. I walked over to my neighbors and they either didn't hear my knock, or couldn't respond to it. So, I stood there in between my yard and theirs wondering how to go into this unknown- this place that was mine but I was stuck not being able to claim and settle into because of all of the what ifs. What if someone was hiding and waiting. What if we had been robbed. What if I was about to be robbed. What if...what if...

Thankfully, my BFFs hubby came to my rescue- armed for battle. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as we cautiously walked in and checked all the rooms and closets, afraid of what we would find. 

Nothing. 

The what ifs of the unknown didn't turn into the what are's. 

And isn't that often the way? 

Now don't hear me saying we need to run recklessly into the dark, scary places of life.

But-

We also can't stand frozen in the front yard or locked in the car in the driveway of the place God has told us to call home: where and who we are called and created to be. 

God doesn't expect you to blaze into the unknown on your own. He wants you to wait on Him, walk in alongside Him- because He is the One that arms you for any battles you may encounter along the way. 

As we walk with the Holy Spirit, we begin to see that so many of our what ifs about the unknown are not the what are's. 

We can step out of the paralyzing terror, flip the lights on in that dark unknown place, and find out it's home. 

 And instead of grabbing the hand of a fellow panicker, find a friend- a voice of truth and wisdom- who skips the drama, and simply reminds you to not rush in alone, but press in to Jesus, the One who goes before you and with you into that unknown place. 

Whatever unknown you are facing, realize that to God, it is fully known. 

Trust the One who sees what is and you won't be paralyzed any longer by the what ifs.

#SimpleTruth