7 Lessons I’ve Learned While Going Through My Storm

I’ve learned over many years of life that each storm of life holds “golden nuggets” of wisdom that God wants me to learn.  But like most people I couldn’t see the lessons while I was embedded in the pain of facing tough life situations.  Most recent years I have begun to dig a little deeper to understand just what God was trying to show me about myself during these times.

Once I began to hunger for the truth, God was gracious enough to uncover the treasures that were hidden in the waves of my storms.

1. My relationship with God is the most important relationship of my life.

There is no one in this world that loves me more or with a more perfect love.  Don’t compromise who you are for the world.

2.  Seek God for direction before making decisions for my life.

I realize that my understanding is limited to what I know and see.  God is all-knowing and He is the best one to give me direction for my life.  Sometimes our decisions can have an adverse affect on our lives and the lives of those we love.

3. Know and believe God’s promises for my life.

Studying God’s word gives us understanding of who we are and what God has promised to do in us and through us, but how do we know if we do not delve into His glorious word?  The trials become unbearable if we have no hope that things can or will get better.  His word is the blueprint that gives us everything we need to live our best lives. Jeremiah 29:11

4. Search for the lessons in each situation.

I began to ask God questions.  What is it that you want me to learn Lord?  How do you want me to wait while in the storm?  Every trial has a something that be for your good; build your faith, increase your trust, restore or turn you away from sin.  Romans 8:28

5. Be grateful in all seasons of my life.

Sometimes this part is hard especially when you are experiencing pain.  This is the time when you really have to dig deep and remind yourself of the wonderful blessings that still are surrounding you.  Look for them, make it a point to seek them, they are there!  There is a greater glory after each storm.

6. Tell my story to others.

There is always someone who may be going through a similar storm in their life.  By sharing your testimony you are giving them hope and encouragement that things will get better.

7.  Pray without ceasing.

I can’t say enough about prayer!  I have learned early in my Christian walk that prayer changes things, situations and hearts.  There is no greater gift than to be able to talk to the Father about all your heart issues.  There are some things that will only come by prayer.  Learn to pray and continue to develop your communication with the Father.  He will never fail you, that I know for sure!

Blessings

Lisa

Start from Square One

Well today marks the first day of our 6-month life makeover challenge!  Woo hoo! I am super excited about all the new beginnings and possibilities to change my life from the place that I am right now into the place that I desire to be in every area of my life! It’s not going to be easy that is why we called it a challenge.  There are some parts of our lives that we will breeze right through, other parts not so much.  But I am committed to seeing the process to the end of the 6-months just to see how strong I really am.

I prayed and thought and thought and prayed about what the first action step should be on this challenge and it dawned on me that in order to begin to change the fabric of our lives we need to really have a clear picture of where we are.  Make sense?  How can we challenge ourselves to makeover areas in our lives if we don’t really focus on where we currently are.

So the first action step is going to be internal.  What do I mean?  Well I mean in your heart; I need you to focus on the inner being of who you are right now.  Look at yourself in your spiritual mirror and take an honest look at yourself.  Where are you?  Reflection on oneself is not something that we do everyday or even at all, but in order for us to move into a new dimension of who we really are supposed to be we must figure out who we are right now!  Are you following me?

I know that I shared this part of my journey with  you many times before, but it stand telling again so you get exactly where I am coming from for this action step.  When I was depressed and started to heal (with the love of God), I asked God why did I end up in this place that I was in?  His response to me was simple, “look in the mirror of your soul and take a close look at your life”.  My life had become a jumbled mess of compromising who I really was, what I believed and my values.  For many reasons I found myself compromising to be liked, to be loved, to fit in, and to please people. But that portrayal of who I thought people wanted me to be was false,it was taxing on the real me. For me it was bittersweet to finally realize what was going on with me; on one hand I could finally make a decision to change and become the real Lisa, on the other hand, I had to face that I had let God down.  And that my friend was the bitter part.

Day 1 Action Step – Find a quiet place and begin to focus on your life, every part of it, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Listen to what your heart is telling you about what your life really looks like.  Some of it may hurt, some may make you proud, but remember there is hope for a brighter future.  Now one thing that I want to make clear is that it all begins and ends with you.  You can’t do this exercise and include others in the process.  If you have deep embedded hurt and unforgiveness that you need to deal with please seek a professional therapist to work those issues out.  One thing that God showed me in my process was ME, no one else, only me, I was responsible for myself – period.  After you have gotten a clear picture of where you are now is the time to begin to vision where you want to be in the next 6-months.  Have a set goal for every area of your life that you want to change.  This will give us a clear measurement of your progress.  If you haven’t purchased a journal to record this journey I suggest that you so today. You are going to be wowed at the end of the challenge about how far you have come and accomplished!

Ready?  Let’s go!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

And We Journey On. . .

Everyday God is showing me new things about life, my life.  I realize now that when He began to show me things about myself that helped to heal me from the dark place of depression it would not be the only lessons that I would learn.

To say the least, it has been a learning experience ever since I opened myself up to Him.  When I decided that my own way of living life was limited and literally a mess, I finally turned wholeheartedly to God.  And when I did the “real” journey began.

It has not been easy!  But everyday as life plays out before me, I try to learn what it has to tell me.  What is it that God wants me to understand about the situation I am dealing with.  Sometimes the answer comes quickly and sometimes not so much.  But I continue to persevere to find out.

More and more I am understanding that we don’t just reach a point in our journey and stop learning.  We continue to evolve with each new challenge, every triumph and even with every failure.  One thing I know is that God is consistent in who He is.  He never changes, His promises are true.  He doesn’t lie.  I can trust Him with everything.

There are a lot of things that still leave me wondering what am I supposed to do with that?  But God always has the answer and if I seek Him, He will reveal it to me in due time.

The reason I blog is to tell my story as it unfolds, not scripted or rehearsed but just like it is.  My prayer is that something that I share will help someone else as they travel the road of life.  With God I can be me, the real me.  He knows me better than anyone and He loves me.  Just knowing that for me is priceless!

I will never stop learning and asking God about my life.  I won’t stop because I need to know in order to live my “best” life on this side of heaven.  I want to please my God with my life, it is all I have to offer back for what He did for me!

So as you continue on your journey of life, keep an open heart and mind toward God.  He will give you everything you need to make it.  Yeah, it may get hard some days, but the reward in the end is greater than the worst day you have to live.  One day we will understand it all.

I love you God and thank you for loving me!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

Today I Pray

The only burning thing on my heart today was a prayer for you!

Oh Lord our God how excellent is your name in all the earth, how marvelous are your works.  Father, I thank you for the liberty to say a prayer for those that are out there in internet world that I don’t even know.  I thank you for being a God who is wonderful to me!  I thank you for being God!

I pray for those whose hearts are breaking in a million pieces at this moment from some tragic situation.  I pray that you will guard their hearts and minds and comfort them through to the other side of pain.

I pray for those who don’t know how they will make financial ends meet for their children/family.  I thank you in advance that you will provide every provision that they stand in need of and that you would send an unexpected blessing to give them hope.

I pray for those who are sick and dealing with illness and depression.  I ask that you reach down and touch them with your healing hand and set them free from the infirmities that cause them to be in a place of dispair.

I pray for the wayward son/daughter that has lost their way and has landed in a pit of vipers.  I am asking that you would deliver them Lord back unto yourself.  I ask that you hold back the night so that they can make a conscience decision to be free from the dangers of the evil one.

I pray for the spiritual leaders all over the world.  I pray that you would protect them as they share the gospel of life.  I ask that you would cover them with angels of protection so that no weapon formed against them would prosper.

I pray for the soul who has given up and wants to end it all tonight.  I ask that you would whisper in their ear that they are somebody and that you love them.  Send a ministering angel to them right now!

I thank you Lord for allowing me to bring this humble prayer to your ears and that you would be faithful to answer!  And I thank you in advance for what you are going to do!  We love you tonight Lord!  We worship and adore you!  We give you all honor and glory!  In Jesus name, amen!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

The BAMS of Life

Life is so unexpected.  Just when you feel your on the verge of getting started with your purpose and you’re feeling great about all the possibilities and BAM, something comes along to smack you in the face.  There is a trick to being able to stand against the BAMs of life and that is God.

Unfortunately, there is no “real” silver lining in life, but from my experiences with God, I can stand firm that “this too shall pass.”  Nothing lasts forever and tomorrow will come.

Sometimes things come to rattle our whole world.  I just read a Facebook post that a man lost his wife and newborn baby in a tragic situation.  I am assuming it was through child-birth, but the post didn’t really say and they didn’t really have to, after all it was a tragic loss no matter how it happened.  It is in those times that you ask yourself; “how in the world will he get through that?”  We ask ourselves all kinds of questions trying to figure out the reason.  How will he cope with the loss and raise his 2-year-old son in the midst of his grieving?  There is an old hymn that says: “we’ll understand it better by and by” and sometimes this hymn gives me hope that one day we can find out just what happened.  God can explain the full picture of what we can’t see.

Nevertheless, the BAMs of life can leave us numb and full of pain.  What do we do, how will we survive?  For me it is by the faith in God that He has my heart in His hand and  that He will be the one to come along side of me and comfort me.  Sure sometimes  you doubt, sometimes we even question God, that is a part of our human nature.  I find if I don’t have hope in God, then I don’t have any hope at all and that my friends is an awful life to live.

So as I ponder my own BAMs, I can remember that God says that “I will not be utterly cast down.”  I may trip and fall, I may even be laid out prostrate under the weight of the BAMs that come to kill me, but I remember the word of God tells me that “no weapon formed against me shall prosper!”  And to that I hold on to in the midst of the BAMs that come my way.

What gets you through the BAMs of your life?

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

 

The Change Zone

Traveling to a new place is sometimes a little scary.  You don’t know what to expect.  You don’t know if the people will be friendly or will you make new friends.  It is just a big unknown.  That is how it is changing your life from one level to the next.

We don’t know what the new level  will be like because we have become accustom to where we are right now.  Most people tend to stay in their comfort zone; well because it is comfortable.  To me the thought of never trying to reach that new level is even more scary.  Never trying to be all that you can be; just living the ordinary life.  For me if I didn’t ever try, I would always wonder if I could have made it to the next level and actually enjoyed the benefits of living that extraordinary life.

I believe you go through a series of emotions and growing pains when you decide to launch yourself into the new level of life.  It isn’t an easy process; that’s why so many of us will decide not to venture out into the new zone.  No one wants to fail, so we stay comfortably in the place that we may or may not be excited about being.  The thought of stepping out is too daunting.

When I decided to walk a life of faith in God and allow Him to grow me into a new level; I never thought I would feel so indifferent.  I know God is great and would always lead me to a better place in life with Him.  But the journey isn’t easy and each day is a challenge just to stay on course.  I can only imagine what Jesus felt as He walked through His journey on earth knowing His ultimate assignment was to die.  I am grateful that He did complete the assignment for you and me!  It allowed us to have hope and  a future!

God is not asking me to die for Him, but He is asking me to walk into this new level with Him.  When I think about Jesus, He didn’t have many who understood His journey and at the end some of the ones closest to Him would betray Him.  But that didn’t matter to Him, He knew He must fulfill His calling.  He did suffer; and we too sometimes will have to suffer in this life in order to reach our full potential in Him.  To complete our assignments.

My prayer for each of you is that you trust God in your journey whatever that may be.  You are better off  finding your true self than remaining in a place of unfulfillment.  More so, I pray that you will have someone there to encourage you through the tough spots that are sure to come.  I vow to be that someone who will come along side you when things get unbearable and pray you through.  I will be that one who you can express your feelings to that will understand, because I too am on my journey and I can relate to the rollercoaster of emotions that come with growing into that person that God would have you to be.

The butterfly’s journey isn’t easy; what you see when you see it fluttering freely through the flowers is the end result of its journey to become what it was meant to be.

Don’t stand still in the place that you are in right now; God has something greater for you!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

Seeking God!

I have been working on writing my first book for almost a year.  I was writing steady in the beginning and as I approached the final part, I have stopped writing at all.  Coming up with excuses, becoming busy with all this other “stuff” and my energy level has basically plummeted to zero!  What happened?

I am scared of the outcome; I have become afraid of the success of the message.  But God reminded me as I sought after Him this morning that it is His book.  He wrote the words, I have just been the vessel that He used to get the message out.  I have lived out the message in my own life to be qualified to share this message of hope.  I need not be afraid of its success because it is not about me personally; it is about someone finding God for their life.

I realized that during the time of not writing I was not seeking God for direction or clarity for my life.  I started relying in myself and others.  I was stepping away from the true purpose of the book and my life’s mission.  I was delaying the positive effects I know this book will have on the lives that are waiting to be changed.

But when  I sought after God, He showed me everything that I needed for my life and the completion of this project.  He gave me clarity on my purpose!

If you are a believer, then you know how important it is to stay connected to God and seek Him in all things!  You can’t rely on Him for only parts of your life, He needs to be in every aspect.  So as  I live and grow in His grace, I understand more and more I can’t do anything without Him and I don’t even want to try.

If you are going through anything today that you can’t figure out, seek God!  He has the answers that are so much greater than your own.

Be blessed so that you can be a blessing!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

September

I love September!  Not only is it my birth month, but it is the time of harvest.  For farmers and gardeners this is the time to reap what they have sown into the ground.  It is literally the fruit of their labor.

In the spirit we also sow and reap.  Whether it’s good or bad.  We will all reap what we have sown into our spirits.  As one of my good friends and I were talking the other day she reminded me that I have planted seeds of faith into the spirit  and one day I will reap a harvest!  I got excited about that!  What will my fruit look like?  Will it be desirable to the eye and satisfying or will it be rotten and of no use?

As I finish up my first book, I want the words to be seeds that are planted in the hearts of hurting women near and far.  I want it to reap a harvest of healing and purpose for each person that reads it.  I have to continue to remind myself that sharing my deepest pain is not about me, but it is all about God and His healing grace.  It is about the women who will read it and feel motivated to press on to see what the future holds.  It is for that person who feels unworthy and unloved to understand their true worth in Christ.  It is for the ones who desire to live out their purpose.

So I won’t make anymore excuses that I don’t have enough time to finish the book in 2011.  I will make every effort to finish this book of seeds so that they will be planted and grow and reap a harvest of righteousness for God’s sake, not mine.

What are you sowing into your life today?  Are they seeds of goodness and love or are they seeds of discord and unrighteousness?  What will your harvest look like come harvest time?