Year of Awakening

2013 has been a year of awakening.  Before this year I was in a spiritual slumber.  It felt like I wandered around for a long time.  But my life began to shift when God led me into a period of relearning to fall deeply in love with Him.  It was in this period that I learned to pursue Him through constant prayer and worship.

It was really difficult at first as I had to strip out many things in my life.  I gave up on playing video games, watching TV shows, staying up late, and doing many other things.  I forced myself to live a simple and disciplined lifestyle filled with constant prayer and worship.

Sometimes it felt really tedious and boring.  I whined to God and I cried a lot.  But His grace enabled me to keep pressing on until His presence began to overflow from inside out.  Throughout the week God would speak to me through random thoughts, verses, and encounters.  Somehow these seemingly random things would come together on almost every Sunday.  God’s voice and encouragements reminded me that He is constantly pursuing me and wanting my attention in every moment.

As I began to reconnect with God on a deeper level, I learned to humbly ask for His heart and His thoughts for people.  There were people that I had a hard time loving and connecting with.  People like my coworkers, family members, and even friends.  It was a very humbling experience to realize God’s heart and God's love for others, especially for those that I had no interest in.  He taught me to love others not in my own capacity, but to always abide in Him so that I could love others in His capacity.

When my inner person began to change, God opened doors for new opportunities and brought me into new seasons.  He led me to Living Water church; He restored broken relationships; He formed new relationships; He gave me an opportunity to go on my first mission trip; and so much more!  All these blessings helped me realized that when my heart is done learning God’s intended lessons; He will release me into new seasons for new lessons. 

Finally, God has been reminding me that He is in every season of our lives.  All He ever wants from us is learn to enjoy Him in every season and in every moment.  We don’t need to strive to get to the next chapter in life.  God is faithful to finish what He has started.  He will lead us into new seasons as we surrender to His goodness.  Trust Him, Father knows best.