Today has been a wonderful day. I'll admit, it didn't start out that way. I awoke to the musical sound of my alarm that, despite it happy tune still made me cringe. You see, today was the first day of a new semester and my day began at 6:00 am. So out of bed I got and immediately started praying; for strength,for alertness, for a day filled with God. But I have found it to be true that even with this somewhat spiritual start to my day, my priorities can get way off track as my day progresses. The weight of the world begins to pull me down, my eyes turn from the one who can take that burden away, to the things of this world that I use to distract and temporarily satisfy; busyness, school, running around simply so I don't have time to stop and confront myself. And my Saviour, my Jesus, the one who is running right along side of me, begging me to slow down, take a breathe, and just talk to Him about it, He gets lost in the fast paced life that has become so common for me.
Now, at this point you're probably thinking, "wow, this is a bit of a downer, didn't this post start out with 'this was a wonderful day'?" And you're right. But I have also come to discover that throughout my day, it is the small things that I must begin to recognise and thank God for, in the blessings that speed past me that I need to see God. Tonight, that was found in a conversation with a friend; a friend who has been on my heart for quite some time, and who God has been pushing me to talk to. You see, God is all knowing, and I am so ridiculously naive sometimes. For He brought into me life a beautiful and wonderful woman of God who cried with me, laughed with me, prayed with me and uttered the words that helped me to finally breathe a huge sigh of relief..."I know exactly how you feel".
We all have our struggles. Some of us recognise and take hold of them, tackling them with the help of those around us and our Father in heaven. While there are also those of us who feel ashamed, that we must hide these struggles for fear of what others may think or feel towards us as a result. My dear friends, we were made for community, to bear each other's burdens, and walk along side each other, loving each other just as Christ loves us. Don't do it alone. It is the hardest and most freeing thing to be able to be vunerable, sharing with other brothers and sisters in Christ what it is that you are struggling with and asking for help and for prayer.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was this past Sunday. It was baptism Sunday at my church, which is always exciting for me. While I am excited for those giving their testimony at the front of the church, it aslo gives me the chance to examine my own heart and take a closer look at my relationship with God. One of the girls sharing her testimory, who is also a friend of mine, was sharing about her outlook on this year to come and how she has decided to label it "the year of fearing less". Not being "fearless", for with fearlessness can come irresponsibility and recklessness. But a year in which those things that we fear that hold us back, that keep us from fulfilling our God-given passions and purposes, that they would be blown out of the water. That that fear would be layed at the foot of the cross, never to hinder us again. So that is my prayer this year, and it is my prayer for you as well. I have to remember that these things take time. I can easily fall into the trap of expecting everything to be rainbows and sunshine from now on when I know that's simply not how it works. It's going to mean daily, waking up and committing the day to God, laying all of my struggles and insecurities at His feet, knowing that I will most likely stumble and fall at some point, but that He will be right there to catch me.
Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
You you'll never win
But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth
I choose to listen to His voice and His alone. And as my beautiful friend Whitney says, let us make this a year of fearing less :)
Lots of Love
God Bless
Meaghan :) <3
~Romans 8:38~
