Reflections of Grace 106: Entering 2016 with Faith and Assurance

Reflections of Grace 106: Entering 2016 with Faith and Assurance Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As we welcome 2016 in I want to speak to you about the many seasons of our lives…When we start to realize that God is involved with every aspect of our lives, and is acutely aware of every step we take because He has a plan for each of us, then we can rest in the spot we are in until that plan is revealed to us. We talk about “waiting on the Lord,” but sometimes I think we really don’t know how to do that. Waiting is waiting—being patient while God reveals His plan for your life.

There are many seasons in our lives here on this earth, and I have found some of them are just about finding the freedom to just “be.” We don’t need to be spinning our wheels trying to make our lives have significance. We are significant and loved, no matter if we are in a season of being Mommy or Daddy (in my opinion being a Mommy or Daddy is the highest calling for a man or woman of God), or in the season of experiencing the empty nest syndrome. Seasons of pain and suffering and seasons of joy are used by God to bring us closer to Him and grow us into maturity.

When we allow anxiety to drive us, we miss learning about His desire for sweet communion with us in the midst of our lives. Every trial and painful thing we have experienced throughout our lives is something He can use in us and through us for others, as He uses us to comfort others and to show them they can and will make it with the Father’s help.   He didn’t cause those bad things to happen to us, but He uses our experiences to set others, and ourselves, free.

The plan of the enemy is then defeated, for he always means to destroy us in any way he can. The Father wants to use us to reach others who have experienced the same things we have. He has prepared us, through the school of life’s experiences, to be exactly who we are, and who He meant us to be all along. He made a way for us to be free of the past and move forward, right into His plan for our lives.

Through the many and varied seasons in my life, seasons of molestation, guilt and condemnation, confusion, betrayal, ministry addiction, isolation and loss, forgiveness, rebuilding, surrender, and joy, I have learned so many valuable lessons about myself and about others. I have come to realize that I am, indeed, part of the body of Christ, part of His true church, whether or not I step into a designated building on a particular day of the week, or follow someone else’s misguided rules for spiritual behavior. I am finally coming to enjoy the reality of God’s unconditional love for me, without worrying about whether I’ve “earned” it through any actions of my own.

I know so many people who are still trying to do their duty by going to church on Sundays, but complain that it just doesn’t seem to be enough for them. They are missing out on true relationship with God. It is not easy to make the transition from legalistic religion to true relationship with Jesus, and to find confidence that He will lead us to the right places for fellowship, but with faith, He will take care of us.

Our Father is looking for people who are seeking to follow the Living Christ. He wants to be the center of their conversations, their affections, their walk, their entire lives. He wants His people to step out of their religious boxes and be authentic to free themselves and others. We are family in His body, and when one hurts, we all hurt. We all rejoice at others’ victories. We are free to follow His voice without others accusing us of being divisive or rebellious.   There are so many in need within the body of Christ, His true church. When we become so materially focused on buildings and prestige, we miss the whole reason why we are even there. This new place of resting in Him is where we all sit together and, instead of watching those whom we judge to be more or less “spiritual” than others, we all can participate and be valued, using our individual gifts and callings, while the whole process is divinely ordained and directed by the Holy Spirit.

Everything we learn from Jesus will be through His absolute and unconditional love. When we believe in His love, because He is love itself, we know that all of His plans for us are for good, and not for evil. Everything He wants to do in you will get done as you learn to live in His love. We mess up by trying to fill up broken places by ourselves, those holes in our hearts, the empty dry deserts within us. We try to fill that emptiness with even seemingly good things, instead of allowing Him intimate access to our hearts. Once you discover and have revelation of how much He loves you, all that changes. As you grow in trusting Him, you will find yourself increasingly free from doubt, because you are filling those empty places with Him. He is the only One who can truly and fully satisfy us.

In our lives, we will experience the desert places many times, and with each trial, we grow more and more into His image. He created us with a free will, and does not force Himself upon us. But He will be there waiting for you, every time, until you are ready to surrender yourself to Him. Isn’t it sad that many in the body of Christ think they can pressure people into spiritual maturity, instead of helping them grow to trust Father more, and find Him changing them? They think it is up to them to make a person transform and if they don’t progress, then they are usually cut off from fellowship with that church organization.   Does God treat us this way? When we continue to mess up, does He cut off His love from us? Any growth that needs to take place in us is His job, and He will do it.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)