Hello fellow readers, just to put you in the picture, it’s a Monday night, my kids are asleep, hubby has tea and is finally relaxing and as for me, well, I’m in bed with my laptop and my worship trying to find a blog topic that will be next level, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure what this blog would be about. I wasn’t sure of my topic choice or how to even start this blog. Doesn’t that happen to you, whereby you set time to do something and then when the time comes…. you hear crickets because you don’t know where or how to start.
So, like any other blogger, I try and find some inspiration while reading through quotes, verses and listening to the odd podcast. That’s when I stumbled upon a short video clip where the punchline was you cannot have a testimony without the test and that if God had shown us our lives upfront and shown us what we had to go through in order to become the people we are today, that most of us would probably have turned around and said no thank you, because we didn’t want to face what we have to face in order to become the people that God destined us to be.
This really resonated within me and got me thinking about all the highs and the lows in my own life, how I handled them and had me wonder that if I knew what I had to go through to become who I am today, would I have taken the easy road or pushed through?
The truth is, I probably would have taken the easier route and my life would look completely different today, because every single valley that I managed to climb out of or mountain that I climbed over and wall that I knocked down has groomed me into a stronger, more driven, humbled and most definitely, a more faith filled women of God.
So, what am I actually saying? I am saying that your journey is unique and so are you. The hardships that you have gone through and the joys that you have experienced are your own and you can choose to either grow from it or live in the past. Personally, growth from past experiences is the route I would take, but it’s easier said than done. Here are some tips on how you too can stop living in the past; stop being trapped by the hardships you have endured and rather look forward with hope, with expectation and with an excitement that can only come from Jesus:
- Replace the negative thoughts. Living in the past tends to focus rather on what was lost rather than what was gained, instead focus on the growth, what you have overcome and how you can use this to help others going through something similar. Read Philippians 4:8
- Renew you mind with scripture. The word of God holds phenomenal power and can transform any mind and/or situation. Read Romans 12:2
- Refocus on gratitude. Having a grateful spirit can increase our happiness, joy and change our attitude to that of a positive one. Let’s make it a habit to see the glass half full and to always count our blessings. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18
- Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Trusting Gods word takes practice, and it requires you to step out of a place of comfort and do something that may seem unfamiliar to you. Trust begets trust, start small and grow from there. Read Proverbs 3:5-6
- Repent, forgive and pray. Unforgiveness in your heart, whether for yourself or someone else, can hold you back from the destiny that God has for you. Consider it like a chain, holding you back; It is time to break the chains of the past and move forward.; It is time to replant yourself in fervent prayer. Read James 5:16.
In closing I just want to reiterate the title of this blog “you can’t have a testimony without the test”, when we are going through the “test” we often feel like giving up, but now, knowing what we know as children of God, we can choose to see it differently and in turn possibly even help someone else see things differently too. Every battle you have faced and overcome has made you who you are and you are where you are because God brought you through it.
Much love always,
Nats
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17
