JUST ONE WORD......

Yesterday, I came across a blog (SSweetly.com Sydney Stephens), and it spoke volumes to me. The blog was called, “This One Word Changed My Life.” One word. You think to yourself, what word could possibly change my life? In my case, the one word that changed her life was the exact word that changed mine and continues to change my life daily; “ODEDIENCE.”

 

I have been a Christian since I was 12 years old. I still remember that day fondly. The day I took Christ into my heart, to the day I was baptized by the holy spirit. I was so young. Through the adult years I knew Christ, I tried to lead a good life, but still I was living worldly ways and was searching for things in a world so messed up. I was doing it my way. I seriously thought my way was better. I have been through two marriages and 2 long term relationships. I even went through jobs trying to find something that would make life better. While I have went through many storms in my life, nothing prepared me for what was about to hit me 4 years ago. While searching for those “worldly” things, the enemy was lurking and being very sneaky. Never underestimate his power. God is more powerful than anything, but the enemy can get you when you least expect it and that is just what happened. I wasn’t being obedient in my life to God. I wasn’t living the life that involved him. I was living a life where I found scriptures that fit within my life and honestly wasn't using them as I should have been. That is our problem today! So many people try to change the bible to fit their needs. The bible is to change us from within. We aren’t supposed to change it. #worldlyways What happened in my life 3 of those 4 years became a darkness. I was living in a box. I was living a dark sinful life and no matter how many times I was at the alter on Sunday mornings and how many times I was on my knees praying to God to release me from that sin, All I found was silence. It was the scariest time of my life. I had no peace, no comfort, and there was no purpose. I believed the enemies lies over what God wanted to release me from. For 3 years I kept going back and listening to those empty words and I became depressed, anxious and lacking happiness, all because I believed in a superficial joy. Daily, I searched for a way out. Daily, I would lay it at his feet. Finally, in January of 2019, I became sick and had to quarantine myself for 12 days. I was alone. I was broken. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I will never forget that day I was in bed crying out to God, wrestling with him and asking him why? Why did he allow this? It was then, I knew. That peace flooded my heart. God never left me. I couldn’t hear him because I was living that sinful life. He wasn’t silent. He provided ample opportunities for me to make that CHOICE to leave sin. He covered me with comfort. God became the thing I needed most in my life going forward. I had to obey him. I had to make him number 1. I had to allow him to lead my life. Don’t think for once at all, that from that point on, the enemy didn’t try to tempt me, because he came at me strong.

 I wanted to share that with you because when I began to walk in obedience with God, my life started changing. Make no mistake that everything that happens in life, goes through God’s hands first. He gave us free will to make choices. When you are not walking in obedience with God, you make terrible decisions. Sometimes those decisions cost you more than you are ever willing to pay. When I was finally outside of my sinful life I was living, I began to see clearly where the choices I made, held me imprisoned. Those chains were broken.

 This past year God has blessed me with more than I can imagine. I have learned to say “yes” when he tells me to do something. It’s always not what I want, but in the end I know that HIS way is so much better than mine. Follow him. Be obedient to him. Trust that his way is better. I hope that whatever you are searching for in life, that you invite God in and understand that the joy you find, is simply walking where he leads. There is absolutely no other way.