Not FOR everything, But IN everything

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus"
1 Thessalonians 5:18

I've previously had difficulties in understanding how could God ask us to thank Him regardless of the circumstances. I mean come on, it can be difficult to picture yourself going through intense pain and struggle and yet having to say "Thank You God for my pain, thank You God for my struggle".
This can sound totally crazy! But until you've tried everything you could try, done everything you could do and until you've gone everywhere you could possibly go and still could not find any peace, you will learn what it means to thank Him even in the midst of pain.

Proverbs 14:10 tells us "each heart knows its own bitterness (pain, sadness), and no one else can fully share its joy". This verse means that we are all limited in terms of counselling and comforting others during times of pain and tribulation but also limited in understanding the depth of their joy and happiness in good times.
Indeed, we often found ourselves in situations where we cannot really explain or tell someone how we really feel deep inside, may it be pain or sadness, joy or happiness and we can also find ourselves not being able to really understand what someone else is feeling. Being humans, our ability to express or understand feelings is thus limited.
All of this to say that after all has been said and done and still no peace has been found, those situations call for us to simply and ONLY rely and count on  the ONE whose love never fails and never disappoints.

There has been many times in my life where  I found myself hurting sooooo bad it made me wanna rip my heart out of my chest, pull my hair off and knock my head against a wall . Okay that's a bit hard core I confess lol but I'm sure some of you will recognize themselves here...No? No one? Is it just me? lol Well in any case that's how I felt, and in times like that I would cry as if there was no tomorrow, speak to God and shout "Why this? Why Me?", go speak to everybody I could possibly think of only to find a little bit of peace, a peace that will quickly disappear the next morning.
All this to finally sit on the edge of my bed with tears running down, telling God:

"Lord I am tired! I have done everything, I've tried everything and I've seen everyone! I have asked you Why and I've cried day and night! Nothing has been able to take away the pain! So Lord I come today to let you know that I may not understand why all this is happening and why you have allowed it but I'm sure of one thing, nothing that You do is meant to torture me because You do not take pleasure in my suffering!
So here I am to obey, I come to Thank You in the midst of my pain! Thank you because you have a plan. Thank You because you've always been there, Thank You because you love me and will always be there to help me! Thank You because You were, you are and will always be God! Thank You for Your presence, Thank You for your support! Thank You for working behind the scene of my life, Thank You because You're in control. I'm hurting but I trust You. So Thank You!"

God is God and will always be God!
He has a purpose in everything He does and there is nothing that happens in our lives that he doesn't know about.
Once you decide to follow Him you've gotta make sure you have given every area of your life to Him. Following God ain't no part-time but FULL-time "job" and will require a great amount of faith to TRUST Him to lead the way-He never said it would be easy but He did say it will be worth it.

 "For I know the plans I have for You, there are plans for good and not disaster to give you a future and a hope"  - Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them." - Romans 8:28 

We may not understand God, but guess what? This is not what He is asking for!
"Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How IMPOSSIBLE it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!" says Romans 11:33.
To tell you the truth, I've kinda gave up trying to understand Him. Right now I'm just in the business of TRUSTING and THANKS-GIVING and I encourage you to do the same!

"It's natural to complain, but it is supernatural to give thanks when we are tested and tried by life's circumstances"- Joyce Meyer

Go and FLOURISH!

Alvezido :-)

A Glorious Obsession

We often find ourselves in situations where the majority around us have ideas, perceptions, opinions, lifestyles, or mindset that are completely different from ours.
And often, we tend to be influenced by the majority, putting our ideas, our objectives, our dreams aside just to fit in theirs and be more like the "ordinary".
But let me tell you something, YOU are NO ORDINARY Child and NEVER were created to be!!!!!

"There is nothing ordinary about your life! For ordinary is Monday, boring, average! And you were not called to be average but EXCELLENT, called to be AWESOME, not called to be ordinary but EXTRA ORDINARY! "- Lucinda Dooley

So why restraining yourself from going the extra mile, from achieving your objectives, from pursuing your dreams just because the majority say IMPOSSIBLE?

In one of his sermons, Pastor Brian Houston, from Hillsong Australia church, encourages us to have a  spirit with a zeal that will stir up the majority!

"Do not have the spirit of the majority but have a spirit with a zeal that will stir up the majority! Be part of the 1% ! Don't live according to the mindset of people who are there to pull you down to their mindset.  

Live with a sense of a Glorious Obsession that will rise above the majority! And let that Glorious Obsession even work against your on flesh! 

Keep speaking to your dreams with a Glorious Obsession and get that sense of purpose in your life. 

For a Glorious Obsession is the spirit of attitude  anybody who is about to do something significant has got to have! It goes beyond your human nature! It is about being bigger, thinking bigger, doing bigger!" 

My prayer for this new year is that you really start to embrace your uniqueness and most importantly that you shut the door on what the majority may say.
For in the majority's vocabulary are the words IMPOSSIBLE, TOO DIFFICULT, and UNABLE.
BUT your Glorious Obsession will always whisper You CAN!
The Glorious Obsession is what keeps us going when everything around us seem to go wrong.
So enjoy being part of the 1% this year, get out of your confort zone, dare to dream big and make it happen.
Let that Glorious Obsession break all the boundaries keeping you locked in a low selfesteem and no confidence zone.
Unleash your full potential this year!
Never get discouraged, get inspired!

Go and FLOURISH!

Happy New year!


Alvezido :-)