God is teaching me that I am not in control. Over the summer, I trusted my sweet Father with the unknowns of changing schools my senior year of high school. He gave me the best transition possible and has filled my life with the most unexpected blessings!
This post could be titled so many different things. My days have been absolutely full of common themes from the Lord.
What has God been doing in your life, my friend? As I share the work God has been doing in and through me, I pray that you are inspired to fulfill the callings He has placed within you!
I’m a planner. I love to know where I am headed next and what I need to do in order to get there. Jesus has emerged fun into my senior year in ways I haven’t experienced before. I’m constantly being reminded that God’s love does not limit me. Our Father’s love sets us free. It gives us freedom.
As I am enjoying the unexpected blessings God has given to me, I have honestly been struggling to be excited about college next year. Now, if you had of talked to me last year, I would have told you I was ready to go to Liberty University! I was pretty ready to be done with high school and planned on meeting my future husband and best friends in college.
God continues to humble, challenge, change, and grow me each day. While at Liberty over the weekend, God used the voices of my loved ones to speak to me. Yes, I love Liberty. I love the people there. Most importantly, I love the way Jesus is present and active on Liberty’s campus through His people. I’ve prayed about God’s will for my college decisions since the eighth grade. It has been such a fun, interesting, and special journey! While I sometimes think I would like to receive the detailed plan God has for my life, I really don’t. The plans the Lord has for us are bigger and better than what we can even comprehend. Abba leads us into the plans He has for us one good step at a time. There is always a good next step with the Lord.
As I’m applying to scholarships, my family has challenged me to pay attention to closed doors. Who likes closed doors? Do you? I honestly hadn’t stopped to realize the significance of the doors I saw God closing in my life. Yes, I still desire to go to Liberty and know that God has a plan for me being there. What I am currently praying about is God’s perfect timing in me getting to where He wants me to be. While walking and talking with Him this afternoon, Jesus reminded me that He is going to get me to where He wants me to be; even if it means taking a different route than the one I originally had planned.
Can I tell you something, my friend? I believe our Father really just wants us to surrender our plans to Him. Daddy Jesus really wants us to be willing to obey and trust Him even in unexpected and new places. God’s plans for us are always better than the plans we have for ourselves. Our Father also places nudges within us that give us hints to His future plans. We should most definitely be paying attention to those nudges as we also listen for our Father’s voice! God isn’t going to lead us anywhere He isn’t at. The plans God has for us are good. They aren’t to harm us. They are to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
We don’t have to resent a future season of our lives just because we are enjoying where we are at now. One huge blessing of my weekend visit to Liberty was getting to meet Emma Mae Jenkins. Our encounter and time of interaction was nothing short of a hug from God. It reminded me that God doesn’t just know the desires of my heart. He acts upon them. As another girl and I shared things with Emma, she said that God wants us to enjoy where we are currently at. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is so true! We, as humans, are often looking for the next thing. We struggle to be content with the current second and set of circumstances we have. As I have said many times before, I am loving this school year. Because of that, I have sometimes felt guilty for not being gung-ho in thinking about dorm decorations. God knows exactly what we need, though, my friend. He is more than enough for us. We must be willing to go where He leads us, and we must strive to have extraordinary faith in believing in what God can do. Nothing is too hard for Him.
Nothing can stop or stand in the way of the plans God has for your life! Jesus whispered that sweet message into my spirit a few years ago and reminds me of it every day.
I also want to challenge you to believe in the power of prayer. Jesus cares about the things you care about! I have prayed for so many different things recently. I am honestly so glad God protects the conversations I have with Him near the woods! I have seen my Heavenly Father bring a new Bible Study to life in my school. He actually gave me a nudge about leading a new Bible Study a few months ago around the time of the flood. I had no clue what the details would be of what He was calling me to, but I kept praying about it. It is truly amazing to see God work! He also placed a nudge within the headmaster of my school about the Bible Study. My headmaster approached me, mentioned the possibility of starting a middle school discipleship group, and asked if I would be interested in leading it! The Lord had already warned me about His work! I had no clue He would use my headmaster to help bring this plan of His to fruition! God blessed my commitment to pray over the nudge He placed within me! I am so excited to share with you that Renew Bible Study starts this Friday! I cannot wait to spiritually invest into the lives of the girls Jesus places in my life!
Whether you are praying for a friend’s hurt ankle, a special revelation from God, discernment in making decisions, or trusting God to provide the scholarships you need to pay for college, keep praying. Believe in the power of prayer. God is with you every step that you take! He is never going to stop pursuing you! His love for you is always raw, fresh, and new. It is never stagnant!
I pray that as we trust God to do the miraculous things in our lives, His love will be vibrant in and through us!
Let’s enjoy the plans God has for our lives one good step at a time.
Much love,
Haley
Undeniably His 