Beauty is everywhere.
I have just emerged from a season of struggling. Struggling to hear God’s voice most clearly. Struggling with changes on the horizon. Struggling to trust God’s purpose even when it didn’t look like what I had planned.
God has been beyond good to me! I am overflowing with gratitude today for Who He is and everything He has done.
During The Victor, a ministry of my church, God used an encounter with a humble man to challenge me. I was in the balcony whenever I extended a bright prayer card to a man I did not know. He was accepting of the prayer card. Seconds after he received it, he asked for help. He could not write on his own. I gently bent down to where the man was sitting and asked what his need was. He desperately wanted to see his sister find new life in Christ. He was not ashamed of his inability to write. He boldly admitted his weakness in order to receive God’s supernatural strength.
I needed to be more like this man.
I had been struggling with my own weaknesses. Struggling to trust in God’s purpose despite my failed plans.
Walking around the parking lot of my church with a runny nose and a hungry heart, God bent down to hear my requests. He didn’t laugh at me for being human and weak. He was drawn to my weak areas because they are the areas He died for. Jesus doesn’t expect us to be perfect, my friend. He wants us to come to Him humbly as we are. He will meet us where we are at and take us where we need to go.
We cannot give up whenever we struggle to see beauty, hope, or answered prayers. God does the most crucial work in our lives whenever we are vulnerable. The soil of our hearts must be worked with. Weeds must be pulled up. Vitamins have to be deposited.
Jesus is the Gardener of our souls.
He brings beauty out of the darkness. He plants seeds before we see fruit.
Do not be ashamed of your weaknesses, inabilities, or shortcomings. God is able to deposit more of Himself into us whenever we are empty.
God’s perfect purposes are far greater than our best plans.
With my prom date situation, I have seen this to be true. I know God was really waiting for the posture of my heart to change before He revealed His plans to me. He was waiting for me to desire Him first. He wanted me to truly believe that Christ alone was more than enough for me.
This world is full of false hope, brother or sister. While it is so easy to become distracted from your true Purpose, there is such a great need for your life! You are living and breathing for a Purpose extraordinarily bigger than yourself. God is going to use your life to impact millions of people. I truly believe that with my whole heart. Do not give in to Satan’s lies. Do not trade God’s best for what is familiar. Our calling is not one of comfort. Rather, it is one of growth.
How is God bringing beauty out of the darkness in your life? How is God stretching you in order for you to grow?
“The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.” -Isaiah 40:8
Our God is all powerful. He is bigger than any mountain we will ever face.
I pray we will develop greater faith, vibrant love, and endless passion this spring!
God is for us, my friend! With Him, we will never be shaken. Stand tall. Keep stepping. Be cleansed by God’s grace and forgiveness. Continue to make the enemy mad. You mean more to me than you even know. Thank you for running this race with me!
Full of true Hope,
Haley
Undeniably His 