There comes a time in your life where you have to take a deep breath, step back and say "wait I think I already figured this out...why am I stressing so much?". Ladies and gentleman that point for me is today. Let me back up a little bit and explain. I started this blog journey about a year and a half ago now and the initial goal was to be able to get my jumbled up thoughts from my head out to the public and hopefully someone would read one of them and it would help them in some way. It started off fairly simple and even though there weren't a ton of people reading it I felt like I was at the very least listening to what God was telling me to do and frankly, that's all I was worried about. Then the devil decided that he didn't like me listening to God and he started to work on me big time using something that I was very proud of....he began to tell me I was wasting my time and that no one was reading it so I really should stop. You see, I have a big problem listening to what the world tells me I am instead of listening to what He tells me I am. It's a problem that I have tried and tried to do better on for the last few years. So now back to my initial statement....I have been keeping a secret from most people lately. I decided a couple months ago that I was finally going to do something that I've always wanted to do....I'm going back to school. When I initially went to school I'll be honest, I went to school to try to play baseball longer. That's hard for me to even go back and read with the mindset I have now. Life now is just a bit different...the reason I want to go back to school is so that I can have a better shot to move up with my job to help support my family better and to show my kids just how important an education really is. If you didn't notice, my "why" is and always will be my family. Truthfully I stopped writing my blog out of sheer laziness. I felt like no one was really going to miss it and just faded it into the background of my life instead of making time for it. Well lately this random jumble of thoughts I like to call my blog has been on my mind a lot. So much so that I went back and reread a bunch of the old ones. And then it happened, that moment I referenced earlier. You see I thought God wanted me to write all of these for someone else to get help from....actually it was for me, others are just a bonus. This go back to school journey I have been on started off like a rocket. I signed up to get some more info on the program and then decided that I didn't want to wait that long so I went ahead and did my application for the school. I got my acceptance letter and about a week later was contacted by the admissions counselor to start the next steps....she started going over them with me and I was so fired up about this whole process that everything she was telling me I needed to do I had already done. I felt unstoppable. Then the devil said "oh wait, Steve is getting excited about something time to throw up some road blocks". the last month or so has been non stop issues with financial aid. They ask for extra info and I send it in and a few days later they need something else. I had finally reached a point where the excitement of going back was starting to lessen. Thankfully, I have the BEST wife in the world who always encourages and supports me and I've learned to lean on friends who are more like family to listen and lift me up when I need it! One of the best friends a guy could ever ask for said to me just the other day when I was stressing out about all of this "God's timing not ours". Man did that step on my toes! If you've been around since this blog journey started or have gone back to read old ones then you may remember that I did a whole post of His Timing Not Mine. I talked about how I had applied for a new job and thought I had it but I had to wait and how hard it was to realize that His timing is perfect and sometimes it doesn't line up with my timing but it works out in the end. That job that sparked that post is the same job I am now loving and the one I am wanting to go to school to advance in. God has already set your steps in front of you. There may be 20 steps where you would only like there to be 10 but I assure you God's path is FAR better than the one we have in our minds. He wants us to prosper but He also wants us to do it the right way. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God wants me to go back to school, He has had it on my mind so strongly. Now I just have take a step back, take a deep breath and say " I already figured this out, why am I stressing so much?" I pray that whatever you are going through you remember that sometimes it may seem like what you are wanting to happen is never going to happen because it has taken too long, but God.....those are the magic words....look it up, there are a ton of places in the Bible where something bad seems to be happening and then, "but God"! God is going to not only show up in your situation but I pray that He will show out in your situation. I'm going to simply trust Him completely and get back to what he told me to do quite awhile ago, so I will be back in the habit of writing what is on my heart. I hope that you will join me on this journey and as always I love all of you and please reach out and let me know if there is anything I can be praying about for you!
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Monday, April 29, 2019
Don't Be a Saul
Hey guys! I feel like first of all I should apologize to all of you....I have completely gotten behind on my very small goal of one blog a month. I know that there hasn't been many page views on the last few posts but I still feel like God asked me to do these and I have slipped up. So... where have I been the last two months? Well, I have had two amazing experiences with the young people of our church, we had our third Immerse conference which was absolutely amazing as always (I'll write more about that at a later time) and I stepped a bit outside my box and went along on our FaithKids trip to Kid Fest (I'm sure this will end up being written about as well). I've also continued on my journey towards better health and a better me and I am currently 55 pounds down and I can actually see my goal weight off in the distance....but even better than that, I feel like I actually have some energy to do goofy stuff with my kids again, nothing better than that! Alright, on to the actual reason I am writing today....
I find myself listening to sermons from other churches at random times during my week, man I never thought you would hear me saying that, and sometimes a message just slams me in the face and this is my outlet to get it out and for other people to perhaps benefit from what I have learned and have on my heart from the topic. Today I was listening to Pastor Michael Todd out of Tulsa Oklahoma. The message really got to me today because I think this is one that every one of us deals with.....so I'll ask this question. How many times has God called us to do something and all we do is come up with excuses as to why we aren't good enough or cant do it?!? Now I'm not talking about your buddy calling you up and asking to go hang out and you try to come up with an excuse to stay home and sit on the couch....I'm talking about your Heavenly Father marking you for a calling. I'm not saying that He is calling you to be a pastor or anything of that nature (all though I wouldn't doubt that someone reading this does have that calling). In 1 Samuel 9:21 (MSG) it says "Saul answered 'But I'm only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel's tribes, and from the most insignificant tribe at that. Why are you talking to me like this?'" Saul was being marked as the first King chosen by God, but yet his first reaction wasn't dropping to his knees to thank God for this blessing, his first reaction was to start making excuses. I think a lot of us do that every day. I know for me personally I have had many instances where I felt like God was telling me to go and do something but I stood back and told myself that I didn't know enough or wasn't good enough to do what I was told to do. When we sit back and wait and make excuses God will often times give us the word a few times in hopes that we will eventually listen....God left Saul in charge for 44 years even after he had disobeyed the Lord on many occasions, in hopes that he would repent because he was God's first choice....but then if you still aren't listening, God will move on to someone who will and that person gets the blessing that was originally for you. Now here's the crazy part to me....there's not a huge clock in the corner showing you how much time you have until God moves that blessing and calling on to someone else. So why in the world would anyone even hesitate for a second when God places a calling on your life? I know for me its a fear thing....I was reminded during a great lunch conversation on my Kid Fest trip about something extremely important for me to remember, Fear is a liar! I believe wholeheartedly that God placed me at that table at lunch with that person to remind me of that because there are times every day of my life where I will get a word from God for someone or will feel like God is leading me to do something and I let fear talk me out of it. I encourage you, and myself, today....stop listening to what you say about yourself and start listening to what He says about you. His plans are so much more than we could ever imagine! I pray that we all spend a little more time listening to our Father and less time listening to our excuses. I would love to be praying for you so please leave me a comment or send me a message with your prayer requests. I love you guys!
I find myself listening to sermons from other churches at random times during my week, man I never thought you would hear me saying that, and sometimes a message just slams me in the face and this is my outlet to get it out and for other people to perhaps benefit from what I have learned and have on my heart from the topic. Today I was listening to Pastor Michael Todd out of Tulsa Oklahoma. The message really got to me today because I think this is one that every one of us deals with.....so I'll ask this question. How many times has God called us to do something and all we do is come up with excuses as to why we aren't good enough or cant do it?!? Now I'm not talking about your buddy calling you up and asking to go hang out and you try to come up with an excuse to stay home and sit on the couch....I'm talking about your Heavenly Father marking you for a calling. I'm not saying that He is calling you to be a pastor or anything of that nature (all though I wouldn't doubt that someone reading this does have that calling). In 1 Samuel 9:21 (MSG) it says "Saul answered 'But I'm only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel's tribes, and from the most insignificant tribe at that. Why are you talking to me like this?'" Saul was being marked as the first King chosen by God, but yet his first reaction wasn't dropping to his knees to thank God for this blessing, his first reaction was to start making excuses. I think a lot of us do that every day. I know for me personally I have had many instances where I felt like God was telling me to go and do something but I stood back and told myself that I didn't know enough or wasn't good enough to do what I was told to do. When we sit back and wait and make excuses God will often times give us the word a few times in hopes that we will eventually listen....God left Saul in charge for 44 years even after he had disobeyed the Lord on many occasions, in hopes that he would repent because he was God's first choice....but then if you still aren't listening, God will move on to someone who will and that person gets the blessing that was originally for you. Now here's the crazy part to me....there's not a huge clock in the corner showing you how much time you have until God moves that blessing and calling on to someone else. So why in the world would anyone even hesitate for a second when God places a calling on your life? I know for me its a fear thing....I was reminded during a great lunch conversation on my Kid Fest trip about something extremely important for me to remember, Fear is a liar! I believe wholeheartedly that God placed me at that table at lunch with that person to remind me of that because there are times every day of my life where I will get a word from God for someone or will feel like God is leading me to do something and I let fear talk me out of it. I encourage you, and myself, today....stop listening to what you say about yourself and start listening to what He says about you. His plans are so much more than we could ever imagine! I pray that we all spend a little more time listening to our Father and less time listening to our excuses. I would love to be praying for you so please leave me a comment or send me a message with your prayer requests. I love you guys!
Saturday, February 23, 2019
No Cap Zone
Hey guys! It’s been a little while...I apologize things have been a little crazy lately. Felt the need this morning to post out of the blue and one thing I’ve learned is that when I get this feeling I need to go with it....so here goes. In the last year or two my faith has gone from pretty good to getting stronger every day. I’ve seen God do so many amazing things in my life and in the lives of people I love. I’ve prayed more than I ever have, I’ve even been in the Word more (and I can’t stand reading lol). But I’m not here to say that I’m becoming a better Christian, if that’s our only goal we are falling far short of what He wants of us. In the last two weeks I’ve started a journey that I really thought was all about me getting way over weight and wanting to be a better me for my wife and kids. My phrase for the year is “I refuse to put a cap on what God can do”, I pray that every night and every morning! I’m quickly seeing that I capped God by saying that I just wanted to lose weight and be a better husband and father. He has taken me to a place of togetherness with Him that I thought was not attainable by me. My prayer life has skyrocketed, I’m in the Word more, we’ve started a devotional study, and the most important/amazing thing to me....I’m hearing and seeing Him more clearly! I usually try to get up earlier on Saturday and try to get some chores done and out of the way with my headphones on listening to worship music....this morning I heard Him ask why I was just listening?!? We don’t have to be at church to sing and dance to worship music....this morning I had my own private worship time just me and the Father (and some dishes). I challenge you today...spend some more private time with Him....that can look like many different things, but it ALWAYS ends the same! There’s no better way to start a Saturday than in the arms of the Father! This was a very short post but the blog will be back to normal very soon...I feel like a lot is being downloaded right now and I’m so excited to share! As always please reach out if you have any prayer requests, I’d love to be praying with and for you! Love you guys!
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