God Led Life. You hear people saying many times that a specific activity or action was God led. Maybe these people are always positive thinkers or are hoping it truly was. Or perhaps it truly is God-led. How is a person to know? To truly know? What about the path God has us on. Did we choose to follow it or did we make a decision that has us on a detour?
God Led and Getting Us Back to Church
Many times we feel the world is crashing down on us. We also then tend to question, “why us?”. Many others blame God with statements like “Why would God do this?” or “If God would do this or that, then…” They say that Christianity is disappearing. That the attendances at the churches are reducing in mass numbers.
Who is causing Christianity to disappear? WE ARE! Who can bring it back? Only We Can. We have misguided beliefs in what God will or won’t do. We let others tell us how it is rather than read the word for ourselves. It is time that we give it all back to God. Our actions, our words, our thoughts, and our lives. He sacrificed his Son for us. The history of the bible shows that people turned their backs on God before. And God sent his wrath down to Earth then.
But our God is a loving God, just like a loving parent is supposed to be. That doesn’t mean we get everything we want. It means he will guide us on a path to do what is right. If we choose to go another path, he lets us learn the hard way. Some take longer to learn than others.
How To Choose The Right Path
When we are given choices, we feel as though we are in control and will choose what is best for us. But what if we stopped for a moment and gave better thought to our choices. Look at it from the angle of a parent who wants to give us everything but we need to receive affirmation if our choice was a good choice or not.
Example, if you are a parent you felt this way. Your infant is always making choices and learning from them. Everything goes in their mouth. If it tastes good (fingers, food, etc) then it will continue to go in the mouth. If it isn’t so good, they make a face and usually do not try it again.
Learn to walk first, then run
As they are learning to walk, they fall. Are you the type of parent who rushes in and coddles them? Or are you one to cheer on the fact that they fell down and then encourage them to get back up? I know I am the latter. When our son, Kyle, was little, he would fall down. He made falling down an art. We would cheer him on and tell him to get back up! We continued with that process with our 2nd son, Kory too. Only he was running at 9 months! Oh there were days we wish he would reverse time a bit, but it wasn’t our decision to make.
Learning Discipline vs Teaching Discipline
I remember Kyle’s first Christmas, he wasn’t yet walking, but he was close at just over 1 year old. All the little ones were playing in an area together when another cousin picked up a toy to play with it. Kyle chose to hit her. I was right there to correct that action with a firm “No!”, a quick swat on the butt and put up against the wall separating him from the fun for a few minutes. Since he was so little, I didn’t keep him in timeout long. I also didn’t give him a huge lecture he wouldn’t have understood it. His punishment was quickly learned and he was allowed to rejoin the fun. No further incidents.
We used the word no a lot in our house. I didn’t pick things up, we just say no. Our boys grew up understanding that no meant no. You cannot continuously make decisions for others and expect them to learn. If you tell them a cup of coffee is hot and not to touch, then they choose to touch, well, then they learned even quicker what “hot” meant and were less likely to repeat it. And the opposite is true. A toddler knows how to pick up a toy and play with it, therefore they can put them back in a box too when it is time to clean up. Repetition is sometimes necessary too.
Adults Are Slow Learners
We adults can be extremely slow learners in so many situations. We can be offered an amazing opportunity and walk away from it. Only to ask God to answer our prayers for more funds. Can you imagine how frustrated He can be with us? The problem is that we haven’t given everything over to God. We aren’t putting 100% of our Faith in Him that what he leads us to is what he has planned for us.
Deja Vu – Repeating Our Mistakes
Also, how many times must we fall down, pick ourselves up and learn not to do it again? For example, shopping. Many of us overspend when shopping. We get home, panic because there isn’t enough money to cover our expenditures. Or maybe we are using the credit cards too much. We swear we won’t ever repeat that again, just to go and do it with the next paycheck.
You need to stay dedicated and discipline. We cannot expect to have everything go our way without putting our own dedication into it.
We can pick any subject: weightloss, going to church, getting a job, starting a business, going to school, be law abiding citizens. Everything we do takes dedication and discipline. You cannot just decide on Jan 1st, you are going to lose 20 pounds by Feb 1 and not change anything. You need to make a plan, you need to reward yourself for small achievements. But most of all you need to lean on God for support, for the willpower to make better choices.
God Led Life in Action
Now putting all this in action takes dedication. Take baby steps, small changes. Babies do not get up on two feet one day and just start running. They fall down. It seems they take two steps forward and crash. But they don’t sit there and watch the world go on without them, they get back up. They Re-set – if you watch a baby learning to walk you can watch their brows furrow together as they sit there for a moment. Then they Re-focus, just watch for the determination on their faces. And finally they Re-commit, they bend over, get their feet back underneath them and they try it again.
Decide What Your Action Will Be
Get a piece of paper to start. Write down your action and make a plan. Going to be healthier this year? Awesome! Write it down, big letters. But now let’s contemplate how you are going to do it. Let’s make a plan to bring it to action.
Making a Plan
- Determine how much you want to lose (inches, weight)
- Buy groceries that are healthier
- Find recipes that are healthier
- Track your water consumption
- Maybe look into other products and programs that will assist you in your success (I can help you with an amazing product line where you can improve your attitude!)
- Sign up for a gym membership
- Look up on Smartphone or Table some Bible plans that pertain to Fitness & Weightloss
- Be realistic in your goals.
- Be open to additional options that seem led to you.
- Put this list somewhere you will see it every day. Make multiple copies if you need to.
- If you have a setback, start again. Everyone fails, but how you pick yourself up again is up to you.
Starting A Business, Staying God Led
What kind of business are you looking to do? Do you want it to be from your home or will it be a brick and mortar type of business? Are you going to remain working your current job? Does your boss/company allow moonlighting? How much time can you dedicate each day or week? What sacrifices are you willing to give to make this a reality. How much investment are you willing to put out?
Don’t just put thought into it, pray on it. See what comes to you. Let it be God Led. Put it in His hands. In addition trust in Him and wait for it. Remember, good things come to those who wait. Go read Genesis and determine how many days it took God to create our world and everything in it. Does it say in the bible how long a day was?
Making Your Life God Led
Whatever it is that you are looking for in life, let it be God Led. Make a new commitment to yourself and to God to put Him first in your life. Find a church that fits you and your family.
My Story
I was born and raised Roman Catholic. Always went to Sunday School, then CCD (Faith Formation), receiving my sacraments in the church including our marriage. Our sons were both baptized in Catholic Churches and received their 1st Communions. However, for about 7 years, from when the boys hit middle school through high school then left for the Marine Corps, my husband and I did not attend church. We are still believers, but many things have been occurring in the Catholic Church that we no longer support. It felt for us more like a cult than building our faith and following God.
The first year our sons were both in the Marine Corps, Easter fell on our wedding anniversary. Both my parents have passed and his parents reside in South Texas so getting together with family was highly unlikely. We decided to try a church outside of the Catholic religion. It was definitely different to have to pay attention the whole time because you didn’t know the order of things. We became involved with that church for a few years. But after a few years, it no longer felt right and have now found a new Home Church. The church we chose is because the messages it gives to those who attend. We also feel led to it, that it chose us as well. It feels like home here. We feel part of a family, God’s family.
Finding a Home
The church we were led to is very different than the Catholic Church. It is Evangelical Covenant. We worship with modern Christian songs we listen to on the radio rather than sing songs in a book that no one else will hear outside of church. The messages are based on Bible verses that are explained to us. And then communicated to us in a way that is relatable to real life. We are making choices in our life that are more God Led. We feel it when we make the correct choices based on what God would like us to do, more so than what we would prefer to do.
Final Thoughts
Now that we have found a church home and put attending church as a priority in our lives, everything is on easy street, right? WRONG! We still make mistakes and we are learning from our mistakes. My husband and I still have our struggles and are learning to trust in God to get us through the storms that come at us. We also have received many blessings. One of the biggest blessings is that one of our sons willingly and regularly attends church with us.
May God shine down on you so you feel God Led. Be a blessing to others. And most of all surrender your life to God.
For more guidance on getting out of your way and letting God in, check out my page here on Self-Limiting Beliefs