20 Minute, 20 Day Challenge

As I read through people's daily Facebook posts, Pinterest boards, magazine articles and television ads, I am realizing a common trend--the 30 minute, 30 Day Challenge for better arms, tighter abs, and a better body.  It seems no matter what you want to fix there is a plan out there that can do it in a month, for just a few minutes of your day.  People are getting enthralled by these plans, especially those who have already seen their New Year's Resolutions bite the dust, who have seen the bathing suits brought out at Target (shudders) and who are desperate for change in their lives.  Don't get me wrong, I find myself pondering these same plans, and who doesn't want stronger arms or flatter abs? But I ask myself, "Where is my focus truly going?"

I felt convicted this morning that our focus is completely altered when it comes to finding our confidence, improving our character, and feeling better about ourselves.  I asked God today what I was doing wrong, why my confidence seems to be the bulls eye of the enemies arrows, and why no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to shake the constant state of dissatisfaction.  I think as women this is something that the enemy especially uses against us, and that somewhere along the road we have come to value ourselves based only on our outward appearance and our ability to compare to those around us.  I felt that God answered my question this morning by simply stating "Draw closer to me, and I will draw closer to you."

I know that if I spent 20 minutes with God for 20 days, my focus would start shifting, my confidence start soaring, and my personality would bloom into the woman that God created me to be.  Our confidence can only be found in God, our power is only as strong as the power we give Him in our lives, and our personalities can only bloom when we are fed by God's word.  I'm trying to find every quick fix in the book, every miracle plan that can give me quick results, and yet I fail to do the one thing that I know will make me stronger than any Sit-up, push-up, marathon PR, or diet plan.

My goal for the next 20 days is to spend at least 20 minutes a day with God.  I want my confidence to be founded in Him, I want my beauty to be defined by His standards, and I want my strength to be unswerving as my testimony proves to others the importance He has in my life.

My hope is that others will see that they are wonderfully and beautifully made by God for a purpose and a plan that goes beyond skin-deep.  Don't get me wrong, I have plans to be healthier, to start a work-out regimen; but I know that until I first make God my priority and draw closer to Him, the enemies arrows will continue to destroy all the work I attempt to do on my own.

Here's to becoming stronger women of God, with a confidence that can not be shaken, and by an exterior that is toned to resist the arrows of the enemy.  Day 1 starts Today!

Understanding

How do we understand when God says wait?

There is a worship song that has the lyrics...
"He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name."

We want things so badly, we desperately plead with God for answers for understanding, for relief.  There are those moments when we get so excited, we get full of hope and we feel that our prayers have finally been answered; but then in the same breath the hope vanishes and the excitement fades as our answers disappear as quickly as they came.  My first thought in these moments is that I am being punished or that God is being tricky or crafty in playing with my emotions; but my faith requires me to dig deeper and to ask God the harder question of...."Why?"

My last blog was about God's blessings in bringing us comfort and peace, but this blog is directed at the feelings we have when we know God is in control but we don't understand how.  There are blessings God lavishes on us and then there are blessings that God is preparing for us, but that take time.  I know I often feel that if God is not lavishing blessings on me then He must have forgotten about me; but there is a feeling deep inside of me, a level of understanding only stirred by God Himself, that speaks to me and says..."For my ways are not your ways, nor are my thoughts your thought."

I don't know why an answered prayer sometimes gets pulled back up to Heaven but I choose to believe that it is because God has a better answer.  I do not believe that God disappears or that He turns His back on us, but instead I know that God gives us opportunities to grow our faith and to trust in Him so that the true answer to our prayers is not in circumstance but in how we handle circumstances to come.

I believe that all things work together for good when we have given our hearts and our souls to God, but I also believe that our ways are not God's ways and that our thoughts are not always His.

I pray that my heart will always choose to say...Blessed Be The Name, whether He gives or takes away.

The Blessings of God...

God's blessings have been amazing me lately, and not the grand answers to prayer but the gentle voice I hear day after day guiding me, encouraging me, and reminding me that He is there.  I always pray for things, I pray for relief from burdens and hardships, I pray for God to take away what hurts and what is difficult; but I am starting to realize that the true blessings are not in things, they are not in grand gestures.  The true blessing is in feeling God's presence, it is in feeling the warmth of His love, the power of His embrace.  The true blessing is in singing a song of praise and being moved to tears because you are overwhelmed with His strength, you feel His presence in your soul.  The true blessing is in feeling burdened by obstacles and fear and hearing God say to you, my strength is sufficient for you.  The true blessing is being in a new place and praying for comfort and hearing God say, I want to be your friend. 

I am amazed by all that God has been doing in my life, stirring in my soul, but I am most amazed that He has made himself known to me on an almost daily basis. I crave His presence, I crave His voice, I crave His visions for me, I crave to be in His loving arms, in His will--because no matter what may come against me, whatever may threaten me--my confidence comes from a strength not my own and I know that I can overcome.

There has been a specific burden I have been praying about for almost a year and a half.  It has at times felt like it threatened my future, my life, my hope.  I was in Church and trying desperately to find perspective, to be obedient and lay this fear at the feet of God, but sometimes when things are so close to your heart it is hard to find the strength to move them on your own. I had this crystal clear vision, that I can not doubt was God--There I stood, weary, and burdened by this hardship I continually choose to carry but then I saw God stand behind me with His hands just above my shoulders and the burden was there in His hands.  He lifted it off of me and held it for me.  Sometimes we can be obedient and lay our cares and concerns at His feet but then other times He meets us where we are and lifts our burdens for us and says, My power is sufficient for you.  I am amazed that God meets us right where we are, even when we are weak and untrusting--He comes to our rescue.

My prayer is that I will always view the Blessings of God in the relationship I have with Him.  I pray that I never take for granted His presence in the everyday moments of life, that I will always crave His voice in the quiet moments, and that no matter the outcome to my prayers, I will always remember that He holds all things in the power of His hands.

The Blessings of God are all around us.