Potato Chips. Today, we are talking potato chips. How we can sit down, eat nearly a whole bag of potato trips and the only reason we stop eating them isn't because we are full, but because maybe we've had too much salt. In fact, we aren't full at all.
All jokes aside, potato chips are actually a pretty good representation of the harvest we will or will not produce if we don't persevere, retain, mature and grow.
For this series, we have been talking a lot about focus. How important it is to stay focused on what God is calling us to do.
Today, listen in to dive in deep on the element of distraction. There are so many distractions in our life each day, that they themselves can be hard to recognize. So what can distraction look like? What impacts can it have on the life God has called us to live? What impacts can these distractions have on our harvest?
Are you digging in, or are you going through the motions?
To understand when we are or are not producing a harvest from the gifts God gives to us, we have to take a look at our personal strengths and weaknesses. Our weaknesses can keep us from having a fruitful harvest. In today's episode, I talk about my own areas of weakness and strengths and exactly how those have played in a role in my harvest.
Oh the distraction of trying to read other people's minds. What do they think of me? Did I just say that? I should've done better with this? I forgot to say hi....you know what I'm talking about.
Living our life to seek other's approval of us can be a huge distraction from who we are called to be. The truth is, if you are listening to God and what He is asking you to do, not everyone is going to get it AND not everyone is going to approve of it. Receiving approval isn't the end goal. Following God's call on your life is.
Last week, we talked about distractions. This week, we are discussing fear. Not only fear itself, but how fear can be one of our biggest distractions from living the life God has called us to live.
Ask yourself, how much does fear affect you in your everyday life?
I feel like we are living in a time where we are loaded with distractions. Social media, our phones, games, streaming services, etc. At any moment, we can find a way to "entertain," or distract ourselves from our problems and our life.
If we are distracted from what God is doing in our lives, our harvest will not produce grain. We will choke the seeds. So let's get focused...
Without hope, we won't produce a harvest. I would categorize a lack of hope as the rocks in the soil, as mentioned in the parable.
We can choose hope. When things are hard, when things didn't go as expected, when something didn't work out, we can still choose hope.
"I see a girl that didn't understand what it was going to be like to build meaningful things. I see a girl who didn't understand that having five kids, which ended up being six kids, would happen over years, not months. I also see someone who at times didn't consider the struggle that her partner was going through when I was so determined for my goal, that I didn't take into account that it was really hard for him."
What happens when we allow our feelings to be our guide?
In this episode, we are talking about the importance of clearing the noise of our feelings. They can confuse us and should not be followed on a whim. We should learn to understand them, to acknowledge them AND say no to them when we need to.
Let's talk about your core beliefs, priorities and gaining wisdom.
I would like to invite you to take a moment and do some digging into what your core beliefs are. The true foundation of your beliefs. Today, we are covering how our priorities and wisdom can help us stay on track with our core beliefs and have good soil to produce a harvest from them.
Where are my planners at? The people who like to think every step of every experience through and have it all figured out before you ever get there?
It's me. I am one that likes to know and have a plan. But I have learned that if we open ourselves to see the plan outside of our own, we can have greater experiences than we could have imagined for ourselves. Are you willing to open yourself up to God's plan?
What kind of fruit are you seeing in your life? Do you feel like you aren't receiving the fruit that you believed you were harvesting?
In this episode, I share a journey I experienced in my life where I constantly desired approval, but at the same time, I was walking an intense season with God and wondered why I wasn't experiencing fruit that I thought I deserved. Listen in for the story and what God showed me during that intense and challenging season.
Transformation is not easy. To think so would be lying to yourself.
We have to dig deep, get quiet, make mistakes, give ourselves grace and listen to what God is calling us to do.
Surrender. Trust. Clarity.
How do all three of these elements come together? In my experience, they don't come all at once. We usually won't find clarity until we have surrendered and reached a true level of trust with God.
Today, I open up more about my own journey of working through trust with God and what I have learned this far that may help you as well.
I have grown up and lived my whole life in the Christian culture. I have known God. I have loved God. But when it comes to Trust and Surrender, I begin to struggle to truly release things to Him.
Join me as I share a recent journey I have been walking with God and what I am learning about trusting Him.
You are not obligated to Transform. There will be a lot of opportunities in your life to back out of a season of transformation. Maybe people around you not being on board with the transformation God is asking of you, not understanding your own transformation, the transformation taking too long, etc.
You always have a choice. Are you going to lean into God's invitation for transformation in your life?
What are some thoughts/doubts/fears that come up for you when God asks you to do something that you feel like you aren't ready to do?
Do you believe God would ask you to do something for the only end result to be that you fall on your face, embarrass yourself, make a huge mistake etc?
There is so much to learn from our struggles. I think it is important to dig deep, lean into trust and unveil the true meaning of our struggles.
"You will find any excuse to not do what I have asked you to do."
Wow. I felt called out when I felt like God was speaking these words to me. And these exact words stick with me to this day. Are you going to say yes to God when he asks you to do something, no matter how inconvenient of a time it is?
Oh getting confused in this life. I've done it, not once, but several times in my life. I feel like there are times where our path isn't clear or straightforward. Maybe we know where we are headed, but no we have no idea what we are supposed to be doing each day to get there.
How do we obtain clarity in regards to the purpose God has placed on our lives? I believe there are two forms of clarity that we need to be aware of to get us back on track when that confusion hits.
What comes up for you when you hear the word church?
Now join me as we explore the true meaning of church and what it actually looks like to be living church.
