Faith.

The hardest part about having unwavering faith, is when your prayers aren't answered the way that you had hoped.  Things go the wrong way and things change, but we must trust that God is doing things to give us the best outcome.  When we pray, we mustn't pray for a certain outcome, but for God to do what He knows is best for us because we are struggling.  God is the only one who knows what is best and He is the only one who knows where our lives are going.  We sometimes think we know what is best and we sometimes think we know what the best outcome of a situation is, but that is when we really need to have the most Faith of all. We don't always know what is best because our judgement is often clouded by the wants of the flesh.

Why do I always struggle with this? Why do I continue to not have faith that God will get me through? Why does what I want always seem the best, and why do I think that in the end I may not get what I want?  God doesn't do things in our timing, he does them in his own.  Ugh. Patience.

Forgiveness

A lot of times I take to forgiveness too quickly...as I have learned in past relationships, forgiveness does not mean you continue to let a person in your life to continue to hurt you. Of course, in any relationship...you dont give up on someone when they make mistakes or the wrong thing slips out. But the important thing is to realize when it wasnt a mistake...or when they truly are not good for you.

Now...dont get crazy. This has no reflection on my relationship right now. But it makes perfect sense as to why I continued to let myself continue in past relationships that I knew werent good for me...or the other person. I just needed to learn that forgiving someone...doesn't mean you need to keep them in your heart.

Now that my lesson is learned...my heart is capable of so much more love than I ever imagened...because there is more room for Jesus. <3

Honesty.

Well...honesty. I guess I don't have a huge problem with telling lies...as I do with actually speaking the truth. I believe that most of that problem branches from the fact that I am never honest with myself. I constantly tell myself things are okay...things don't need to change...things will work themselves out. When I know deep down that they won't. I need to admit to myself that there is something not necessarily right...or not Godly going on before I can expect anything to get better. How can God change my heart if I don't let him?! I need to start getting serious. Start actually being honest with my heart and with God. Because the way I have been living isn't helping me...or anyone. It is only harming my heart. I need to be truthful. Completely truthful.

I need Jesus to change my heart. <3 I can't do it without him.

Love.

"Everyone has a desire to be loved by someone. What many people do not realize is that they are already loved beyond our comprehension."


Why do I continue to think I will be satisfied by earthly love? No one can love me the way that God does....his unending love is unlike any love I will  ever experience here on earth. Does that mean I can't love my boyfriend, my husband, my friends? No. It means that if I don't love God first....I can't love them the way that they deserve. The hard part is that sometimes I lose heart, and I forget that when relationships falter and we stumble and feel helpless, God's love will never fail us. He is always faithful.

"God's love for us is unending and will never change.  What a wonderful feeling it is to know that you are cared for with such a perfect love!  This relationship you have with the Lord can help you through any struggle you may face.  Knowing He is there with you and will never leave you can be a great encouragement."


I think that paragraph speaks for itself...you just have to let it be an encouragement, and that....is the hard part.


<3

Patience.

When reading my devotional today I found myself puzzled.  I have begun to notice that my patience with people and grown.  Especially in my relationship I have found that my patience has been tried and I have grown in how patient I can be with Eric and whatever we are going through...but what is really puzzling, is the fact that my patience with God seems to be so weak.  I know God has great plans for me, I know he is doing things that I can't even begin to imagine and I know he is doing things in my relationships that is much needed for success, but somehow I don't seem to be content with waiting. I tell myself that I am, but when it comes down to it....I am extremely impatient.

So, now that I see this...what do I do? Well, I guess I pray...pray for God to give me patience...pray for God to ease my worries and to help me push the devil away from putting negative thoughts in my mind. Because that is exactly what it is...it is the devil putting those thoughts in my head to push me further away from God.  I can't let him win! I need to push through! Sometimes you just need to stop and say...out loud..."No, devil, you are not welcome here! God is here, God is in control, and I will not let you push me away from him!"



"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
-James 4:7