The Victorious Life
What is keeping you from living a victorious life?
Lately, I have not been living a victorious life because I'm stressed out. Besides being a mom and having a husband who is traveling a lot, my recent excuse is that I'm taking on way too much blogging work. Additionally, I worry about our financial situation, our long journey of residency ahead, and how I need to do 9472395 things around the house. Lastly, there is just the hard life stuff that's always present. Relational issues, sickness in the family, depression, etc.
Write yours out. What's stopping you from an abundant life? What's causing unnecessary stress?
So those are my, let's call them, "victorious life stoppers". Those are the things that keep my mind so occupied that I am NOT being the best mom that I can be. I'm also not being the best wife, friend, daughter, and so on. Too many things taking up space in my head and heart and keeping me from thriving.
Through all of this, God has been teaching me how to handle the "hard" and control what I can.
He's showing me that I complain way too much about "how rough I have it". We all have something, right? Instead of saying, "my life is so hard," I'm rephrasing it and saying, "God has entrusted me with much." It's almost as if saying that out loud lifts a burden off of me. God has given me much, and entrusted me with all of it. Let that sit. He has entrusted you with that difficult job, child, friend, person, or circumstance.Yes, I feel overwhelmed and like I'm drowning at times, but I also feel equipped, ready, challenged, and honored to be entrusted with much. It's a small step into living the victorious life. It also convicts me because I know I've been grumbling a lot in this season and have much to be thankful for.Side note: You are not the judge on who has it hard in life and who doesn't. I played that game for years and it made me into a bitter, nasty person. When you're defensive and hurting, you can think of a million ways why your life is harder and how no one understands you and blah blah blah. Stop it and get yourself out of that rut. Again, we all have something.Let me ask you a question. Do you look at all that God has allowed in your life, the good and the bad, and see those things as blessings? If you answered no, then you're probably still resenting the pain. Maybe you're even resenting a person, or maybe even God for allowing such hard things in your life. It's ok to question, talk it out, or cry because hard things are hard. But, consider how empowered you would feel if God is using everything in your life for His glory. Because He is, even if you don't believe it. That's what we want, right? To be used for His glory?I'm not saying all that hard stuff in your life is just a pile of blessings. However, I am saying that God's ways are NOT our own. That through a horrible thing, He can bring beauty. Through all that is going on in my own life and all that has gone on in my past, I need to remember that God is going to use it. And he's not just going to use some of it...But ALL OF IT! He's going to use your experiences, pain, and joys. He's going to use that horrific thing that happened to you when you were a kid. That person that you can't stand that's still in your life for some reason? He's going to use him/her. Your kid that always has something difficult going on? God is going to use that, too. He's even going to use your financial struggles, marital problems, insecurities, and how you get frustrated every day because your whole house is carpeted and never feels clean, haha :) He'll use that.That is the kind of God we serve. He is so, so Good.He's going to mold you and I into more of the women He called us to be, and he's going to bring out more of Him and less of us. Good thing, too, because sometimes I can't stand myself.I can honestly say that I would not love Jesus and my family and be who I am today without the pain that I've had. Usually we give credit to someone who helped shape and changed us, like our grace-filled grandmother or our best friend. I give credit to the Lord for allowing the pain. If life is always great, your need for God seems less. That's why people often "find God" when they're at the lowest place of their life because He always shows up.So, whatever your hard is or whatever pain you're feeling, know that this place here on Earth is not our home. Know that things are seasonal, change is coming, and that you can conquer whatever is thrown at you. Make those small changes and forgive that person. Hire a cleaning lady, get counseling, or get someone to help with the kids. Do whatever you need to do to take a step into a victorious life. Because at the end of the day, everything is a choice and we serve an incredible God that cares enough to make you into something beautiful.