A few years back, even though I found myself facing a major trial in my life, God was ever-present and ever-forgiving and forever gracious. There were constant reminders of His Goodness during this monumental change in my life.
It involved my career and reality, I knew it was something that I should have left a number of years before, but in my overly-analytical mind, I couldn’t rationalise leaving a job that gave me a lot of stability financially speaking. A job that I had worked so hard to attain and maintain. Simply put, I just could ‘not’ give-up and to be honest, I wasn’t a quitter – even to a fault.
I was also approaching an ‘age’ that made me, mindful of the perceived challenges surrounding pursuit of a new career-path. Ultimately, we can all imagine what that does to a person’s sense of security and self-worth.
Because God knew that I would never quit, He found a way to remove me from that position, in a way which led to (immeasurable) peace-of-mind both emotionally and financially.
I spent the next number of years focused on pursuing God's purpose in my life and going through the growing pains and gains associated with something that involved significant CHANGE!
There were many emotions involved at the time and so many opportunities to allow this to define me, derail me and stop me in my tracks.
There were also opportunities to be offended, hurt and forever marked by this situation. I knew I needed to make a mental-shift, a permanent decision to stick to it and see this from God’s perspective.
God wasn't surprised that my main stumbling block was myself! Let’s face it, most times it IS ourselves that we struggle with the most as we attempt to move past and through challenges/offences/emotions.
On the good days I now find myself humoured by my 'old habits' continually trying to derail me. I’m a do-er and always need to feel like I am accomplishing ‘something’ on my list!
As I reflect, when I first tried to implement some changes into my life, I found it very difficult to remain still and listen to the Lord’s leading.
Years before, the same habits that had helped me ‘succeed’ in business, actually derailed me and brought me to my knees - feeling lost, overwhelmed and frustrated with 'everything and everyone' around me!
I had to work at managing this emotion by getting to the root of it, knowing that it was Satan at work. And believe me, he knows exactly where our weaknesses are and he knows exactly what it takes to frustrate us to the core and ultimately derail us from God's intended purpose for our lives!
He'll use people including friends, family, as well as strangers, to ensure you second-guess yourself, even though just the day before, you were 100% confident of your next move/s!
Over the last few years I’ve had MANY opportunities to be offended and quit due to disappointment in both myself and people who surrounded me.
It can be a very frustrating process at times, but I'm also here to encourage you to persevere because you CAN get to the other side and thereby work on what God wants you to be! Just keep seeking His voice and be ready to swallow your pride at times!
So be encouraged my friend, because now that you know what's likely lurking around the corner as well as the associated challenges that will come your way, you won't be surprised by it! And when you know the opponent's strategic plan…i.e. his next ‘move’...you can be ready to stand-guard against it!
Here’s a great visual that I heard years ago, in the mid 2000’s from Dr Creflo Dollar, about being easily offended:
Your best Arsenal in your tool kit is the Word of God which needs to be spoken out-loud, as many times a day as you need to, in order to break-through these challenges! Why? Because it needs to penetrate our soul, (our mind, will and emotions), then fall into our ears and ultimately move down-deep into our heart (our Spirit);
Friend, you’ve absolutely got this!
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