I haven't posted a blog on here for awhile. But this week has been on of my greatest in a very, very long time. I made a step that I knew had to be done. I left Texas and returned to Michigan. Now that I look back, I wonder if I was ever supposed to leave? You see, when I left, I asked the same question and came to the conclusion. Yes, I was supposed to leave.
But now I wonder what the truth is. Hindsight is always 20/20 they say. And I am finding that, no, I should not have left Michigan. When things are tough, is that always an indication that I need to flee and find greener grass somewhere else? NO! I wrote a blog once wondering if I was the prodigal son...taking my inheritance and running away. But now I'm beginning to think I was more like Jonah than the prodigal son.
See, God asked Jonah to do something and he looked at the hardship involved in what he had to do and decided to run from God rather than look what he was supposed to do in the face and conquer it. He got scared and ran away.
But you can't run away from God, can you? You can't run away from purpose! You can't ignore the design and plan woven into your very being! God created YOU for a PURPOSE and when I ran away from that purpose...from where I was supposed to be, no wonder why it never worked out!
Every place that Jonah went, he ran into trouble. Same with me. When the pressure was turned up here in Michigan and I faced any kind of hardship, I fled to Oregon. While in Oregon, I never once felt that I was supposed to be there. And once the opportunity struck, I knew what I had to do. But I fled again, this time to Texas with the same result.
Now, exactly a year later, I am back in Michigan and for the first time in that whole year, I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be! It has been amazing! I have gone to church and heard the word preached for the first time in a very long time. The message spoken? When the rain is pounding and the wind blowing...will you reveal your faith? You say that you believe...you think you believe, but when the hard times come rolling, when the waves start crashing...will you reveal that you believe? Better yet, will you PROVE it?
I haven't been proving it. I have been running scared. Just like Jonah. And he ran into trouble everywhere he went. It even got bad enough that he fell off a ship and got swallowed by a whale. Not only that, but he stayed there until he realized that he needed to take care of some business. No more running.
I've learned that it's when the times are tough that God gives you the strength to get through. Whenever faced with a tough challenge, I need to rely on God to provide with me the courage and the strength to deal with it, no matter how huge my Goliath is. Running away only caused more problems in my life. Facing it with God by your side is the only way to true peace.
But now I wonder what the truth is. Hindsight is always 20/20 they say. And I am finding that, no, I should not have left Michigan. When things are tough, is that always an indication that I need to flee and find greener grass somewhere else? NO! I wrote a blog once wondering if I was the prodigal son...taking my inheritance and running away. But now I'm beginning to think I was more like Jonah than the prodigal son.
See, God asked Jonah to do something and he looked at the hardship involved in what he had to do and decided to run from God rather than look what he was supposed to do in the face and conquer it. He got scared and ran away.
But you can't run away from God, can you? You can't run away from purpose! You can't ignore the design and plan woven into your very being! God created YOU for a PURPOSE and when I ran away from that purpose...from where I was supposed to be, no wonder why it never worked out!
Every place that Jonah went, he ran into trouble. Same with me. When the pressure was turned up here in Michigan and I faced any kind of hardship, I fled to Oregon. While in Oregon, I never once felt that I was supposed to be there. And once the opportunity struck, I knew what I had to do. But I fled again, this time to Texas with the same result.
Now, exactly a year later, I am back in Michigan and for the first time in that whole year, I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be! It has been amazing! I have gone to church and heard the word preached for the first time in a very long time. The message spoken? When the rain is pounding and the wind blowing...will you reveal your faith? You say that you believe...you think you believe, but when the hard times come rolling, when the waves start crashing...will you reveal that you believe? Better yet, will you PROVE it?
I haven't been proving it. I have been running scared. Just like Jonah. And he ran into trouble everywhere he went. It even got bad enough that he fell off a ship and got swallowed by a whale. Not only that, but he stayed there until he realized that he needed to take care of some business. No more running.
I've learned that it's when the times are tough that God gives you the strength to get through. Whenever faced with a tough challenge, I need to rely on God to provide with me the courage and the strength to deal with it, no matter how huge my Goliath is. Running away only caused more problems in my life. Facing it with God by your side is the only way to true peace.
