Rejoice Through the Struggles

Often as followers of Christ we find ourselves in situations where it is not so easy to be Christlike. Since we live in a fallen world it is not often normal to act like Christ in this day and age. 

Coming home from my D.T.S. was a huge challenge for me. I myself was a changed woman but the life I left behind was exactly the same. I was pumped up and on fire for God ready to give it all up and follow Him, and I was inpatient. What i did not realize is that in order for God to use me He first needed to refine me. I experienced so much healing in D.T.S. But there were still and i'm sure will always be, areas in my life that i needed to work on. 

 I wasn't sure what the next step in life was so i decided to get a job temporarily to save until the Lord revealed to me the next step. I could have had my dream job at Starbucks (i am extremely passionate about coffee) but, they wanted me to commit to working there for a year. I would have committed, but, there was such uneasiness in my spirit. I knew I wasn't gonna be around that long. So, I had to call the manager and turn her down. Sad day.

The very next day I got hired at Panera bread. I hated, loathed this job at first. The customers were rude to me all day long and I knew I was way overqualified. But, as much as I prayed about leaving the Lord kept telling me to stay. I had asked Him to help me be a better person and this was the answer to my prayers. This job forced me to see areas in my heart that  needed change. I learned how powerful our words are and what an effect life-giving words have on people. I learned how to love people that are not easy to love with God's heart and sometimes that just means being kind to someone who u think doesn't deserve kindness. Speaking life when death was being spoken to me. I believe these small things can be big steps to changing the world. I will tell you i know first hand that it is really easy to talk about things like this, but, absolutely impossible to live  without God's grace. It pretty much took me up until the last day I was there to learn these lessons. 

So, the lesson in all of this was that I needed to trust God even when I didn't understand what he was doing, even when I thought I knew what was best for me. He is so faithful and always comes through when we trust Him. I am so thankful for that experience and so thankful that it is over! : )

Praise God For The Struggles