Devotion: Honest, But Desperate

Can I be honest?

If walking out of a doctor’s appointment after 30 seconds wasn’t social Siberia, I would have today. There was just something about this appointment, that made it worse than the rest.

I say all that to say:

I understand having a bad day or the urge to walk out of a difficult situation.

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I want to ask you something that my Uber driver asked me on my way home. “What’s next?” Maybe, you aren’t too sure what your next step ought to be in the physical and emotional realm of things.

I want to be that friend who sits and prays with you – as you wait for God’s directive toward what is next.

What’s Next?

” Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).”

After we have grieved our situations with our Amazing God, we need to ask ourselves (or be asked by a loving friend) what is next for us. For myself, the next step(s) are clear. While I would love to run away from my life and ignore all responsibilities, I can’t do that. And, the odds are you cannot either. So instead of living in a fantasy world where I neglect all responsibility, I want to share what is next – for myself.

Your list may be completely different, depending on your circumstances, your relationship, and surrender to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

1. Make the next appointment with someone new, and keep searching until I find someone who both listens and is compassionate.
2. Spend the time praying.
3. Dive into God’s Word – the Bible.
4. Fellowship with other Christ followers.

Your answer to this question might look differently, I imagine, but this is my written response to such a question. But, I hope you include steps 2-4 in your plan of what’s next.

Choosing God’s Plan Over My Own

We desperately need to hear God’s Plan for what’s next!

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Spending time in prayer, His Word, and fellowshipping with like-minded Christians are each important activities, which will help us discern God’s will for our lives!

And I am desperate for God’s direction.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).”

I have learned enough to stand on God’s promises, because He never leaves my side. He always is acting on my behalf and even working in ways I cannot see or understand. So, I want to remember the essential need to cling to His Word and Will.

Disclaimer: You can now support Gracefully Overcoming through your Amazon purchases. At no cost to you, Amazon will allow you to shop and Gracefully Overcoming get a bit of a benefit from your shopping. It can be any purchase you make. But, I am still quite fond of this title by Charles Swindoll.

In Him,
Stace

Awkward but Divine Appointments

I am weary.
I am broken.
I am socially awkward.
I take more demands than I ought to.
I often people-please.

We come to the Lord with this list of what we are. God sees all that we are, and He pours His love over us! We come weary, broken, tired, overloaded, and just wondering what we are supposed to do. We come with both hands jam packed full of yes’ decisions that we have given to people, where we are “needed”. While there are many needs in our world, not every need means we have to come to the rescue. We are not Jesus. While we are called to be His hands and feet, we cannot afford (emotionally, physically, relationally, etc) to be overburdened. When we are overburdened, our sense of peace begins to be depleted.

I think this is a big point that is to be made. We come with both hands jam packed with things we have said yes to. We have tried and tried to people please, but all we have done is exhaust ourselves. When both hands are packed full, where is our room for God, our family, our relationship with Jesus Christ, our time for the things that God wants us to do?!?

We can’t please everyone. Just as we choose between God and money (see Matthew 6:24), we must also choose between pleasing God and pleasing others. If we say yes to all these other appointments, we don’t have anything left to give when God is calling us toward an opportunity to glorify Him and love others…

We cannot please everyone.
It is impossible to please everyone.

While it may be impossible to please everyone, we sure do try. We try and try. We sacrifice our attitude of love, and so many other things… just, to attempt to do for others. We don’t even realize what it does to us. We don’t even realize that it is making us crazy!

Is it worth going crazy over?
Is people pleasing worth the emotional debt we place ourselves in?

In all of our people pleasing, I think we expect that things will go smoothly when God invites us to an appointment. The true divine appointments aren’t always so neat and tidy. They require faith to continue to walk toward those appointments. Lysa discusses how she had to walk an uncomfortable and awkward road, to a God-given appointment. We can’t let the awkwardness stop us.

The awkwardness has something beautiful going on underneath the surface. God creates beauty. He gives us His Awesome peace. This Scripture talks about going to God with our burdens. It doesn’t mean saying “yes” to every decision we need to make. It means coming to God and trusting Him for His rest. It means knowing we aren’t super woman or the Messiah, and just relying upon the Lord!

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)”