Don't Make It Happen
There's a fine line between making something happen and being faithful where you're at...
I'm still trying to find that line.
How do I know for sure when I'm pressing forward in God's timing and favor and when I'm pressing on in my own power and will...
Because, I don't want to do anything in my own power and will and timing... I don't want to be like Abraham and Sarah, trying to bring the promised child on their own terms and in the process creating brokenness and pain in the world...
I want to wait for Isaac to come on God's terms.
I think covenant has a lot to do with this... Because a lot of times, if I were just to stay in close covenant with people who know and love me well, it is a lot harder to step across the line. But when I'm a lone ranger, riding off alone into the sunset, I am much more likely to do something I will regret and to step outside of God's will for my life.
I need to stay very, very close to the people who are the voices of truth and grace in my life when I'm coming to a crossroads so that I don't just assume I'm hearing God correctly when in reality, I'm only doing what I feel like doing in the moment...
And I've done this a ton of times.
But a few times, someone has had the guts to challenge me when they see me straying from what they know God has said for me to do, they have saved me from doing something I would have really regretted months down the road.
Abraham and Sarah had to break covenant to bring Ishmael into the world and, if they had only kept their covenant with each other and trusted that God would bring the promise through that covenant, they would have avoided a lot of heartache and pain.
So I know that I've got to be in covenant with people who know God's heart and are willing to speak the truth to me if I'm going to keep from stepping over into no man's land and trying to make something happen on my own.
Kristene DeMarco said that she never wants to try to make something happen because, if it succeeds, she'll always wonder if it was her or if it was God. It's much better to step out into something that you know 1,000,000,000% sure is God's will and timing for you so that, when things get hard down the road, you can point back and say, "No, I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be because only You could have gotten me here, Jesus."
And I'm just gonna get real practical and honest here... I've been really struggling for the past week and a half or so with feeling this pressure to make something happen for myself in the area of music.
I've recently signed up for a course on how to basically be successful and make a living as an independent artist, rather than going with a label or anything like that, and it's been amazing. It's giving me keys and strategies to move forward with my dream to create a finished album to give to the world of songs that are near and dear to my heart and to the story God has been writing in my life over the past 3 or 4 years.
But, in the process of going through this course, I've been starting to feel a lot of tension inside me... There are so many details and steps involved in what I'm trying to do that it has gotten very overwhelming and made me feel like, "Oh my gosh, I gotta stay up till 4am figuring this out!!!"
So instead of sticking to my bedtime I recently set for myself and living a healthy, sustainable life, I've gotten caught up in the frantic striving again to "make it all work out!!!" (which ironically is the name of one of the songs I'm trying to record and it's about letting go of control and trusting God with it stuff... go figure)
So that's another way I've recently been able to catch myself when I'm starting to teeter off course and am stepping outside of God's rest... I'll start living in unhealthy and unsustainable patterns that lead me quickly to burnout, exhaustion, and confusion.
I've got to remember that God made me with physical, emotional, and spiritual needs and, at least in this season of my life, He's not asking me to deprive myself of my need to sleep or eat or rest in order to "do something for Him"... What good is it if I do something great for God and my family and my health and my relationships and responsibilities are in complete shambles by the end of it...
What good did that do anybody?
Anyways, all I know is that I need to always be very careful not to step out of God's rest and favor in this season of abundance and destiny and growth... It's an incredible season to be in, but it's also very fragile and needs to be nurtured with care and with the Holy Spirit's ever present voice in my ear...
So I will stay close to Him, to others, and to my own heart - living in covenant and living in a healthy way as I use the small things I have to bring Him glory.
I'm still trying to find that line.
How do I know for sure when I'm pressing forward in God's timing and favor and when I'm pressing on in my own power and will...
Because, I don't want to do anything in my own power and will and timing... I don't want to be like Abraham and Sarah, trying to bring the promised child on their own terms and in the process creating brokenness and pain in the world...
I want to wait for Isaac to come on God's terms.
I think covenant has a lot to do with this... Because a lot of times, if I were just to stay in close covenant with people who know and love me well, it is a lot harder to step across the line. But when I'm a lone ranger, riding off alone into the sunset, I am much more likely to do something I will regret and to step outside of God's will for my life.
I need to stay very, very close to the people who are the voices of truth and grace in my life when I'm coming to a crossroads so that I don't just assume I'm hearing God correctly when in reality, I'm only doing what I feel like doing in the moment...
And I've done this a ton of times.
But a few times, someone has had the guts to challenge me when they see me straying from what they know God has said for me to do, they have saved me from doing something I would have really regretted months down the road.
Abraham and Sarah had to break covenant to bring Ishmael into the world and, if they had only kept their covenant with each other and trusted that God would bring the promise through that covenant, they would have avoided a lot of heartache and pain.
So I know that I've got to be in covenant with people who know God's heart and are willing to speak the truth to me if I'm going to keep from stepping over into no man's land and trying to make something happen on my own.
Kristene DeMarco said that she never wants to try to make something happen because, if it succeeds, she'll always wonder if it was her or if it was God. It's much better to step out into something that you know 1,000,000,000% sure is God's will and timing for you so that, when things get hard down the road, you can point back and say, "No, I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be because only You could have gotten me here, Jesus."
And I'm just gonna get real practical and honest here... I've been really struggling for the past week and a half or so with feeling this pressure to make something happen for myself in the area of music.
I've recently signed up for a course on how to basically be successful and make a living as an independent artist, rather than going with a label or anything like that, and it's been amazing. It's giving me keys and strategies to move forward with my dream to create a finished album to give to the world of songs that are near and dear to my heart and to the story God has been writing in my life over the past 3 or 4 years.
But, in the process of going through this course, I've been starting to feel a lot of tension inside me... There are so many details and steps involved in what I'm trying to do that it has gotten very overwhelming and made me feel like, "Oh my gosh, I gotta stay up till 4am figuring this out!!!"
So instead of sticking to my bedtime I recently set for myself and living a healthy, sustainable life, I've gotten caught up in the frantic striving again to "make it all work out!!!" (which ironically is the name of one of the songs I'm trying to record and it's about letting go of control and trusting God with it stuff... go figure)
So that's another way I've recently been able to catch myself when I'm starting to teeter off course and am stepping outside of God's rest... I'll start living in unhealthy and unsustainable patterns that lead me quickly to burnout, exhaustion, and confusion.
I've got to remember that God made me with physical, emotional, and spiritual needs and, at least in this season of my life, He's not asking me to deprive myself of my need to sleep or eat or rest in order to "do something for Him"... What good is it if I do something great for God and my family and my health and my relationships and responsibilities are in complete shambles by the end of it...
What good did that do anybody?
Anyways, all I know is that I need to always be very careful not to step out of God's rest and favor in this season of abundance and destiny and growth... It's an incredible season to be in, but it's also very fragile and needs to be nurtured with care and with the Holy Spirit's ever present voice in my ear...
So I will stay close to Him, to others, and to my own heart - living in covenant and living in a healthy way as I use the small things I have to bring Him glory.
Comments
Post a Comment