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

Enjoy the Journey

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement!  I met with my editor for the book (The Butterfly’s Journey) and she said the book is awesome!  I started to cry because I never dreamed of writing a book, but when God put it in my spirit to share my testimony in a book I felt unworthy to do so.

I am no Toni Morrison to say the least, but I really want to produce a product that is life-changing for women all over the world.  But as I began to think about the task at hand each week and each month that went by, I started to convince myself that it wouldn’t work.  I couldn’t do it.

The rollercoaster of emotions that I felt along the way were hard to handle.  Almost everyday I had to ask God to give me direction and clarity.  I began learning to walk in faith last year (for real this time) and it has been one of the hardest things that I have taken on in my life!  It seemed as if one thing would be working out and then something different would come along to squash my confidence and joy.

But I am learning each day to trust in Almighty God for every aspect of my life and it has been an amazing journey thus far.  I decided this year I would start a journal of my experiences with learning to walk by faith and not by sight with the Lord.  (just a little secret. . .this will be the base of my second book)!

As I challenge myself to live the best life that I can live; I want to also challenge you to do the same.  Tackling this project is not for the weary at heart.  It is going to require a lot of dedication, commitment, and praying in order to make it through.  I know that if we keep God first and focus on Him we shall be victorious.

My prayer for you and I is to keep our faith strong and never allow the doubts and fears of life stop us from accomplishing the greatest things that God has for us to do.  I pray that whatever comes to slow us down from making the necessary positive changes for a better life, will dissolve before our eyes as we lift up prayers to God.  I pray that every day brings us closer to working in our purpose and walking delightfully into our destiny.

Always take the opportunity to learn life lesson from your every day experiences and enjoy the journey!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

It’s Not About Me

My challenge this year was to post new blogs everyday of the week.  Unfortunately, life comes at you and changes things.  More important things have arisen to take my attention.

As I begin to understand the full spectrum of this ministry that the Lord has me involved in, it is not going to be easy.  I didn’t believe that it would be, but I know that God is with me every step of the way.  And so I push on.

This ministry – The Butterfly Journey; is not about becoming famous and living in the lime light of TV or books or anything else.  It is about helping women become healed from the hurts of life and move into a new place of purpose in God.  It is about interceding in prayer for the women that come to me with their hearts broken and their fears magnified.  I want the women that come to this ministry to be drawn by the love of God that is in me.  I pray that my spirit will always be in line with what God wants, not my own agenda.  It has nothing to do with me really.

My prayer is that every woman who comes in contact with me and this ministry  will receive the restoration that they need to move into their purpose and walk out their destiny with God.  My compassion for them is so deep that I understand that I will have some sleepless nights.  I understand the role that God wants me to play for them, the message that He wants me to share with them.  The prayers that I will need to pray over them and for them.  It won’t be about nice clothes and pretty faces, it will be about the condition of their heart that God (and I) are concerned with.

I had to write this out today because it is a reminder to me of how important each woman who I come in contact with is, especially to God.  I can’t take one moment for granted.  I can’t get caught up in the hype that is all around me.  I can’t look at success in numbers, but in transformation of souls.  I took on this mission because God asked me to share all that He has done for me.  When I was in my place of darkness and depression, He saved me for His purpose and this my friend is an honor for me!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

 

 

 

The Teachable Heart

As I was reminiscing about my “butterfly” journey one of the things that God reminded me was to have a teachable heart.  It has been years since my journey began and everyday I learn more and more about God and my relationship with Him.

When I was suffering with the depression, the one thing that was so important to me was to find the answers to why I ended up in such a dismal spiritual place.  I wanted healing and I certainly wanted out of the dark place that I found myself in, but more pressing was to find out the “why”.

My heart was so open to understanding, because I knew that it would be the pivotal point in my journey that would free me to becoming the woman who God desired for me to be.  So boldly, I went to God and asked Him the questions.  Deep inside I was afraid of the answers, but I had to know.  I had to understand in order to help others heal from their past.

As the weeks and months went by, God revealed every answer in vivid detail.  He was gracious enough to release little snippets to me and not everything at once.  I would surely have been overwhelmed that I may have experienced a relapse of my depression.  It would have been too much for my soul to bear.  (Please get my book – The Butterfly’s Journey, coming this spring for my full story).

I allowed my heart to be teachable to what God was sharing with me.  I was ready to face the truth, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Having my heart prepared for what I had to face was an important part of my journey and my healing.  Without it I would have remained in a place of despair.

As God leads me to minister to other women that are in a place of disconnect, pain, hurt, abuse, and unworthiness; I pray that they will allow their hearts to be teachable.  God doesn’t want to just help you, but He wants to fully heal you to purpose.  Your purpose!

My question to you today is: Is your heart teachable?  Do you want to be free from the things that have robbed you of your purpose and true worth?  Will you dig deep to face those pains that haunt you and keep you in a place of despair and disconnect from God?  The choice is yours and you have the resolve to change the course of your journey!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

The Circle of Fear

Once again I am going around this same old process.  I am tired of standing in the face of success with fear.  What am I afraid of?  God gave me the plan and endorsement, so just do it already!  But sometimes this paralyzing feeling of fear of success creeps up inside of me and I feel like a deer caught in headlights.  Afraid to run and afraid to stand still.

I know I said earlier this year (and January isn’t even over yet), that I would walk by faith.  I said that I would continue to move forward regardless of my own human limitations.  But here I am again stuck in a place of overwhelming fear that I can’t do what God asked me to do.  I know that sounds awful and I feel awful for saying and feeling it, but it is true.  I understand that the key to being able to push past this feeling is prayer.  I need to continue to seek God every minute of the day for direction, motivation, and clarity to accomplish my mission.

I wonder if others ever feel the same?  Did those who have reach their moment of success ever feel overwhelmed with fear? I need to hear their stories of overcoming.  I need to know what was the pivotal moment that released them to push past that moment/feeling?  What was it that catapulted them to move past the fear and grasp the reality of success that they knew would come?

I really don’t want to continue on this circle of fear of success.  I want to move past it and begin to walk in the purpose and destiny that God has ordained for me.

Today I am asking for your feedback, comments, and stories about how you have overcome the feeling of fear of success and moved into your purpose.  Thanks in advance for your input.

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

Only God. . .That’s All I Need

One thing that I noticed about myself since I was delivered from the depths of depression, is that I am very aware of my feelings more.  I know when I am about to feel that overwhelming feeling that causes me to start to feel defeated.  I don’t like the feeling at all, but I am glad that now I can recognize it very clearly and act appropriately.

God has given me a censor (discernment) to know when I am getting in a place that is not good for me and I stop.  I stop right where I am and I pray and ask God to give me the strength and wisdom I need to push pass that place.  You see before I didn’t understand what that feeling meant and I would allow it to take over me and put me in a place of despair and if I wasn’t careful, it would take me right back to depression.

I am so glad though that God loves me enough to help me in every situation whether big or small.  I am glad that He is there for me when nobody else may understand.  I can depend on Him.  That is one of main lessons that I learned when I came out of my depression was I didn’t have to rely on a person to be there because God was there with me every single day of my 730 day journey in depression.  He was the only one there as a matter of fact and I never would have made it if He wasn’t there with me.

Wow, I could go on  page after page telling you about God’s goodness towards me especially during that time because it changed my life.  But  I will leave that for you to read in my book:  The Butterfly’s Journey, releasing in April 2012.

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

Preparing for Transformation

Before we can begin to start our “butterfly journey”, we must first prepare for transformation.  How do you do that, you ask?  It’s not easy!

First we need to change our mindset towards ourselves and recognize that we can’t do this alone.  That there is more to life than just living the way we have been.  We need God to help us through and we need each other to encourage one another along the way.  We have to build trust in God’s process.  Most importantly we need to desire the change.  We have to get tired of being tired of the way that things are with our lives.

Our desire to seek our “true” destiny has to be stronger than turning back or remaining in a life that is dead and unfruitful.  We need to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers to life and we need God to help us.  We need to begin the purging process and that takes a lot of courage.

You will need to dig deep into yourself to identify the places in your life that need to be understood and then buried.  Asking, praying, and seeking God for those answers is our key to moving beyond our past and starting anew.  I literally had to relive those places in my life that were not so wonderful and ask God to show me why I made the choices that I did and how to move past the hurt and disappointment that people had left in my life and things that I myself had deposited in my spirit.  I had to allow Him to purge me from those things that were keeping me from understanding my “true” worth in Him.

We can’t skip this part of the process because it prepares us for the transformation stage; which in itself is a tough process.  You have to put your trust in a God that you can’t see, but you can feel His love, grace, and peace all around you!

It’s time for you to prepare, let’s go!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

 

The Journey Part I

Today a group of adventurous women have set out on their “butterfly” journey!  Our first trek is “Down the Path of Worthy”; were we are seeking clarity and understanding of what our “true” worth is.  Until we understand this foundational point we will not understand our purpose.

We live in a world full of things to connect our worth to, but unfortunately those things are not our “true” worth nor do they hold any substance.  They are temporal and once they fade away then our worth goes along with it.

That is why it is so important to understand what God ordained as our worth.  The way He classifies us as worthy is much more than anything or anyone in this world.  It is of an eternal substance and will not wither away with the passing of time.

Our “true” worth is directly connected to our purpose.  So once we understand that pivotal point we are well on our way to understanding our destiny!  There is no better feeling than to walk in one’s destiny!  Until you are walking in your destiny your life is ordinary and feels like it has no basis.  Do you ever ask yourself what is it all for?  Waking up, going to work/school, back home to start all over again.  If God created you don’t you believe He had something marvelous in mind for your life?

Well He does, but you need to get deep into the things of Him to understand  and start living it.  That is what the butterfly journey is all about.  This month is only the beginning of a series of journeys that we will take.  There is a definite process to finding your true destiny.

I pray that you will join us on one or all of the journeys as we discover 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