For the last several days, I have seen several cars abandoned on the side of the road. So, I decided to ask God about it. "Lord, why do I keep seeing cars on the side of the road everywhere?" He said to me, "These cars are like people, once having direction and purpose, but now they have lost their fuel, they are worn out and exhausted."
If you are like most of my readers, you are a woman who desires to experience the real, abundant life that Jesus came to offer. You want to be happy, fulfilled and free. You want to know God’s heart, develop meaningful relationships, find freedom from the things that hold you back, learn how to hear God more clearly so you can follow Him more fully, discover the purpose for which you were created, and then freely give yourself away, leaving a lasting impact on the world around you.
We live in a world that is asking us to "mask" ourselves. But if I were able to take your mask off for a moment, I think you would also say that you are at times out of gas, tired, stressed, overwhelmed, disillusioned, and “directionless”. There just seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel of chaos, and no clear pathway to finding and fulfilling your purpose. Maybe you can identify with this reader: “I have so many desires in my heart, and find myself discouraged. I don’t think God would put these desires in my heart if He wasn’t going to fulfill them. I just want some clarity. Some clear direction for what is next for me. What really are the next steps down the path He has chosen for me, so that I don’t go down my own path and miss the life He has for me? It’s tough some days.”
Does this sound like you?
Do you feel like you are constantly running but getting nowhere?
Do you fear that what is really important to you gets put on the back burner?
Do you worry that you might “miss God” and His purposes for you?
Do you wonder in the stillness of the night if there is more to life than what you are experiencing?
You are not alone. I can SO identify. I think all of us can.
I know what it feels like – to want to desperately fulfill your purpose but being detoured and distracted by both the obstacles of the enemy, and the objects of your affection. For years I struggled with the proverbial “hamster wheel” life. Too often, my busyness, even doing good, Godly things, came at the expense of my health and my most valuable relationships.
As the co-founder of Stained Glass Ministries (marriage ministry), and now founder of a discipleship ministry to women, Living Deeper Ministries, I have faced the reality that opportunity will always outrun ministry. There’s always more to do than there is time. But I also realized the answer isn’t simply to work harder. The answer comes through deep relationship with God who offers discernment, balance, discipline, and rhythm, so that your relationship with God, your health, your marriage, your family, your faith family, and your contribution to your community becomes your top priorities.
God is much more concerned about you being
than you doing.
I have found in my own personal life that when my focus is just on being with Him, the doing for Him takes care of it self. I do for Him, as a result of being with Him.
The mission of Living Deeper Ministries is to enlighten, encourage, equip, and empower women to walk with God, discover their unique purposes, and make an impact in their world. By using God’s Word to help you develop a better you, cultivate healthy relationships, discover your purpose, and learn how to lead others, we want to help you discover and embark on a pathway of walking with God in deeper waters of relationship, and helping others do the same. It will be the greatest blessing of your life, to discover this deeper living, and then, help others find it.
If you have found yourself on the side of the proverbial road, needing a tune up or some fresh power for your spiritual walk, it is our prayer that Living Deeper Ministries can be the place where you find it and get back on the incredible path God has for you!
What put you on the side of the road?
Expectations of ourselves and from others are what sidelines me as well. Thank you for the reminder that when I focus on just being with God and in His presence, the expectations take care of themselves and I find myself more willing to Love on others and I am more at peace. The doing does take care of itself when I take the focus off of me!
What put me on the side of the road was expectations....expectations I put on myself and expectations I allowed others to put on me. Today, I am learning to lean into the Word that says, “Owe no man anything but to love one another.” The only thing I should expect of myself or that should be expected of me is to love. I receive the love of the Father and then I give that love away.💙