“God made my life complete when I surrendered all the pieces before Him. When I got my act together, He gave me a fresh start”
– Psalm 18:20-21
2010 was the best year ever.
2010 was a year of healing both physically and emotionally.
As the year draws to a close, I would like to share to you and my future self things I have learned in the past year.
1) God is smarter than me.
– I’m stubborn. I don’t know why but I am. I set schedules for the day and whenever something goes off course I get really panick-y. That’s the reason why this was a difficult pill for me to swallow (God is magnificent, He has changed me in this area– only through Him) because I’ve always wanted things to happen the way I want them to. I wanted a specific person (idioticity at its best) and so on. But it never works out that way because our God is smarter than us and letting go of a dream doesn’t make our faith lesser (unlike what The Secret says we cannot use our minds to manipulate things to be the way that we want them to), it actually means that we are bolder in faith when we let our biggest dreams go because it means that we are letting go of our own desires to make room for God’s very best- which speaks of faith because we are trusting a God so great that even if we don’t know where we’re headed next, we have no fear because our God is good and He will pave the brightest way for us.
2) I could never demand from a person what only God has the ability to give me.
– If I could rate my number one weakness it would be this one: I’ve always relied on another person to make me feel good about myself. So many years of blindness has led me to use people as crutches because I cannot get up on my own. Again, I have been freed from years of stupidity, Praise God! Because finally God has showed me that no matter how perfect a person is, he could never fill me in a way that only He can. Only when we find our joy in Him is that we are able to love someone without false expectations.
3) Talking about my problems will not change anything, talking about how great my God is will.
– I AM HEALED. I AM REDEEMED. I AM LOVED.
4) Before God changes your circumstances, He makes sure to change you on the inside first
– I always thought that I would be happy when and if. But that’s rarely the case. God wanted me to be completely happy in Him before He even changes my circumstances because if I rely on my circumstances alone, I would always be unstable (yes, been there, done that– wasn’t fun). This year, I went through pruning that wasn’t the prettiest thing but it was what I needed, I needed to cling, rely and depend solely on my Savior. It’s the kind of need that is refreshing, never draining, the kind that I need every single day.
5) Redefining Prince Charming
– Just so I don’t mention anything that I shouldn’t mention, let me quote Max Lucado, “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek HIM just to find her.” I don’t want to spend another day feeling sorry for myself or pining for someone who God hasn’t sent to me yet. I don’t want to take for granted what Jesus for me on the cross, I am beloved, I am precious in His sight. I shouldn’t waste the life He died for me to have believing that I am not worthy. In His time, He will lead His best but for the mean time, I will fall in love with Him and His goodness.
6) He takes away because He has something better.
– There was something I’ve been praying for for the past two years and just when I was given the opportunity to have it, God told me that there was something better. It’s taking awhile for me to let it go, but I know God will never ask me to give up on something if He doesn’t have something better prepared. So even though I let go of that with tears (yes enough water to sink another Titanic), I am holding on to His goodness and love. God is smarter than me, He knows what’s best. That being said, nothing is being taken away from me, I am just making room for God’s best to work in my life.
7) Being kind to the unkind will not kill you.
– Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, a rumor for a rumor: that was the cycle of my life. But I realized it didn’t kill me to not defend myself and my choices. At the end of the day, it’s between me and God, as long as i’m doing right in His eyes (and only through His grace) I’m all good. So many people in the world are spewing hatred and bitterness, it wouldn’t hurt to spread the love every once in awhile.
8) He never leaves us hanging.
– There have been moments of silence, but I never doubted that God was with me the whole time. That even though I couldn’t hear His voice, I know that He was always with me, “going before me and making the broken places straight”. He has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. And if there’s one promise I am relying my life on, it is that. He will never leave me. Never and that is where my security is from.
9) Your biggest heartbreak will lead you to your biggest breakthrough.
– We shouldn’t run away from brokenness because every place of heartbreak, failure and disappointment leads to a place of goodness and rest. Even Ted Mosby said it, “there are twists and turns but it all leads to one great plan”. So whatever the tears, whatever the heartbreak, God will replace it. God allows it so you are taught a lesson and you carry these things to a whole new level of breakthrough. We go through the wilderness because it’s in the wilderness that we come to know how great, how beautiful and how wonderful He truly is and we carry this praise unto our very own promised land.
10) God is in the business of making dreams come true.
– 2010 has been a great year. He has healed me. He has blessed me with a good job, walking into that place everyday is such a miracle. I met people i only dreamed of meeting. He taught me security in His name. He blessed me with relationships that I cherish. God wants to make your dreams come true, but He wants to make sure that we are prepared so we don’t mess it up. So trust in His name and in His goodness, you are on your way to the fulfillment of your dreams.
11) God loves me for what I am– nothing more, nothing less.
– Unlike what the world dictates (make yourself skinny, starve yourself to death, be perfect), God meets us where we are, no matter how messed up we may be (in whatever sense that may be). He takes us in during our darkest of days and through His grace and mercy, He cleanses us and reveals us to a whole new level of beauty. Beauty that doesn’t come from outward adornment but from the kind of beauty that comes from knowing that we are loved, whatever the state of our lives may be.
He loves you and He is ready and willing to take care of you, let it go and leave it to Him.
2011 is going to be our best year so far because our God is guiding us to miracles after miracles. He is good. He will never leave us and He has our best interests at heart.
Step into His beauty, His grace, His love and His perfection– with Him on our side, we will never go wrong.
