Good afternoon and let me say, Happy Easter! I hope that as you read this blog, that each of you are having a beautiful day spent with family and loved ones. If you are not able to do so and you are reading this, then I hope that you will find love, inspiration and encouragement in my writing.
What a marvelous day this is, the day that Christ arose from the grave! I think that when you begin to give thought to superpowers, this is the superpower of all superpowers. I mean if you really think about it, Christ is the real superhero! When I think of something that I can not do, I go to a place in my mind where I am reminded that I am in the care of the awesome, great and almighty Jesus Christ – who arose from the grave and provided not only me, but all of mankind with a beautiful gift of eternal life.
So what happens when you need to keep it together in a world that seems to be falling apart and you got this really super cool guy that we call Jesus? I have one simple response to that – you can’t. You, me, those around you – none of us are capable of keeping it together in difficult times without the love of Christ. I have been on both sides of the fence. You know, the one side of the fence where I thought I could handle things on my own – which only proved to be a bigger disaster – and the other side of the fence where I have learned to let God have it all. I know there are some out there who straddle the fence just like I use to do! It is okay because being real and raw is totally acceptable and commendable. That is something that takes courage and we need more courageous people in this world! I have written about this many times in my other blog post. I have been open and honest about my struggles with depression, my tug of war relationship with Christ, my doubts, my highs, my lows – JUST LIFE IN GENERAL – I let myself be so vulnerable to those who read my personal journey. I have had no shame in doing so because if not me, then who? Which leads me to the next paragraph.
This morning I attended church with my mama. The one thing that stood out the most to me in the pastors message was basically this – if you are a Christian, then your journey, your story and all that you own ARE YOUR TESTIMONY. Are you sharing what God is doing for you with others? Are you being a witness to those around you of what God has done in your life? I am not talking about just those whom you know personally but to those whom you may work with that you never talk to. Those whom you meet in a social club. Those whom you may do volunteer work with. Those whom you interact with on social media. A stranger. A new friend. Your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents – your family. Are you sharing with them, what Christ is doing for you through the good, the not so good, the tough times and the really joyous times? He is always there through everything! I really felt that to be a profound message because I think that most Christian’s must have this idea that their testimony must be made of exciting stories or some grand tale of transformation and unless they feel that, then maybe they don’t share as much? Now this is just me and my opinion about why they may not share but I want to tell you something very important. You do not need an extravagant testimony to be able to witness to others. You also can not just sit on the church pew every week, show up at church events here and there and think that speaks to those around you. Being a witness of what Christ has done for you is simple. It requires no degree, no title but it does require that you simply love Christ enough that you share with others what He has done for you. In all aspects of your life! Let me tell you this (and I know first hand) you can not be transformed by the love of Christ and keep it to yourself! You are not only doing yourself an injustice by not sharing but you are doing an injustice to God the Father and to His son, Jesus!
To know me several years ago, you probably would have never seen me talk about Christ, let alone even blog about my personal relationship with Him. Life happened to me and in the most difficult way. Changes come about and my ability to handle things on my own were more detrimental to me than anything I was doing. If pain could have been visible, you would have been able to see the scars and marks on my body to the point that every square inch of me was covered. I was hurting. I was mad and I felt not good enough to even deserve the love of Jesus Christ. I felt so unworthy. All of that was a lie. A lie that I was being fed by fear. Fear of letting go, fear of not having control and fear of change. I mean, seriously y’all – what could God do with all of me as I was? If I told you all of my story, you may not believe that it was my story, my life. I laugh now when I look back at how my fears kept me from knowing true blessings in the biggest ways.
Here I am in 2018 and so much has changed for me on so many levels. I am growing in my faith each and every day. I have had to learn many HARD lessons that I brought on myself but that is okay because life before you surrender to Christ is not the same as life after you surrender. It is so very different in how you are able to handle things that come about. Yes, Jesus is still working on me with some things (and I am sure He always will be – we are not perfect) but when life has changed, when I have those temporary burdens that creep in (or come at me with a hard blow to the chest), then how do I handle it? I simply give it to God. I can’t begin to tell you some of the very personal, painful things that I have going on in the background of my life at this very moment but what I can tell you is that I stopped being afraid. I begin to get on my knees and cry out to Jesus. Literally. I ask for help. I ask for guidance. I ask for discernment. I ask for courage. I stopped asking for strength (or got very careful how I pray for that) because I felt like I was just saying, ‘Okay big guy…keep giving me what you’ve got! I am a strong woman! Hear me roar!’ hahaha. I become more specific in my prayers and I become more consistent. It has been life changing for me.
Last night I had made a Facebook post about how I have felt the brunt of some people’s hardened hearts and how I deal with that is not by reaction. None at all. There have been times that I have had to bite my tongue to the point I thought I was going to bleed because I wanted to speak up, to say something to someone who has hurt me or said soemthing untrue about me but you know what? My words would not matter but my actions would matter more so therefore, I turn that over to God in prayer because you can’t control people no more than you can control the weather. God see’s it all – even in the darkness of your room, He knows your thoughts and He knows your heart. You can’t hide that rather you are a Christian or not.
I recently got out of the hospital due to an illness that has been an off and on part of my life since 2011. Some days are pretty tough but I can handle this now because I am grounded in my faith. I have learned to let God have it ALL. On a recent trip with my mama, we talked about this and she said to me ‘Yes, you can give it all to God but He also wants us to use common sense as well!’ The wisdom of my sweet mama is priceless. She is so right. We can pray to God, we can read scripture, we can be obedient in following Him but we also must be accountable, responsible and as mama say’s, use common sense when making our choices. That is all it comes down to – a choice.
What will you choose? How will you choose to keep it together in life when the rest of the world feels like it is falling apart? My prayer for you is that you will allow yourself to know that you are so much more than you give yourself credit for, you are worth more than what the world tells you and that you will trust Jesus Christ to be your personal savior. He doesn’t want perfect. He just want’s you. He is the perfect one and through Him you can be perfect in His eyes.
If you are reading this blog today (or any day) I want you to know that I love you. I am here if you want someone to talk with you. No judgement. No pointing fingers. I have seen first hand what that does to a person and when we are trying to get things right in this life, those types of observations are not needed. Just love.
Peace, Love & Happiness
Christian ♥
The Sun Will Set To Rise 