One way to get rid of baggage is to count your blessings!
Wishes and wannabes have a way of plaguing the soul. Most of the time we have decided the order of the way we want things to be. And then suddenly we have a bag or burden filled with unrealistic expectations!
It can be really heavy. Sometimes we just have to step back and count our blessings. Those blessings are meant to lift the weights, make us feel better and lighten the loads we put on ourselves.
How many times have we heard it said, “Take it one step at a time!” Or “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” We future “seers” often project. It can be a blessing and a stumbling block. People who can plan ahead for a lot of things help a lot of us and are often good businesspeople or ministry or social leaders.
It’s good to hear ourselves exhort us for what we should do, instead of someone barking it at us. But sometimes we can take on too much and then have to own that we did that. It’s zeal, but sometimes it’s zeal without all the knowledge. We all do it at times, we just have to catch it when we do!
I found myself on my own case, exhorting, rebuking, fussing, even looking for ministry when it was something I felt was something I should know. But God had ministry out there for me, and when I “saw the Light” on it, I had to own my limitations and not lose heart in His desire for my good.
Count Your Blessings
So, I went back and started counting my blessings. The nice things people said and did for me, the spiritual help in getting some things to work together like I wondered if they would. Finding time in the day to get some things done, getting insight on how to look at things that put me back in hope and good expectation. How did that get lost? Finding the provision, I needed in places I was fretting over. Kind words and helps of people wanting good for me when I was low on having that for myself. Now I know you never have that problem, do you?
Ha Ha! We all do, but it had been a while since I had been challenged that way and God gave me a refresher course! I had been doing good for a season and then in the warfare so many of us have been feeling, some things slipped in, and the weights got heavier and heavier until I was in some tears!
And I had to ask, “What is wrong with me?” Well, nothing was really THAT wrong! It’s just that I forgot some things! When you know how to pray, you are strong! Well, Christ in you is! But I had started putting burdens on me until the weights got too heavy and I couldn’t drag them along anymore. I wanted solutions but “I” was not the Solution!
And when you can’t do what you are called to do, that’s a problem! I had to go back and look at what GOD had done for me! And that was a lot! See, I had it all figured out because of favor, but He was letting me know there was another way, the way He wanted! Feeling bad that I “missed it.” I started blaming myself!
So, who did I think I was? Apparently more than I actually was! Oh, the devil was working it, and I had to separate my thinking from wishes and “thinking it was going a certain way” to “what is reality.” Now people can label it what they want, but I saw God doing a course correction that was for MY BENEFIT! HE is good!
I seemed “stuck” for a bit and then sad, but God had to show me HIM! What was going to get me out of this pit I found myself in? Love…. And then I remembered a lot of loving things that had happened to me. Things I took for granted at the time, like some compliments and then someone buying me dinner, some others appreciating things I had done.
He is a Revealing God
And in that remembering of “the real,” my countenance lifted, and I saw where the devil had laid his snare. He is working this stuff, it seems, and you can think God left the city, but then He shows you, He is there!
I think He has done some real intense things to prepare us for the days ahead, and to help us help others who are or will be going through things. I have been through hard things in the past and have used that to help others. It feels great when you can. But we have to remain teachable, even after some successes.
He is a revealing God. But sometimes we go too far on one side of the path and have to get re-centered. It happens because of our zeal but the Bible talks about “zeal without knowledge” and zeal is fun, exciting, looking forward for more power, seeing changes of breakthroughs, but if we miss some of the needed knowledge, then we have to back up a minute to see where we missed it and got deceived.
And I could think back to where I started thinking more negatively than positively about myself! And God had to show me WHERE He had blessed me, and I just took it almost for granted. We can expect blessings when we work to do it right. But when He is trying to grow us and mature us, we have to realize that we still are the servant and He is the Master, or even the child with its Parent. He is our Father!
We have to always remain teachable. So, after this real fancy party of pity, that led to nowhere, He started reminding me of where He blessed me. I thought, “I can relate to that!” I had to see His Love more than just the fleshly pleasures.
Now if I were the only one who had to learn that I would not be sharing this with others. But I’ve learned, that the more I share with others, the stronger it makes them and me.
Be an Encourager
We can be groomed as kids, but when we become adults, we have to groom ourselves! But we still long for that parental guidance and approval. It comes less frequently but means so much when it does come. And most kids want to be “grown-ups” and we do, too!
So, it’s good to be an encourager, something everyone can do, and follow the path of His Spirit, where you know that what you hear is from Him because you know His Voice and His Spirit. He will affirm us.
Pride wants to snare us but once you get past that, you feel so free! And when you hear His Love words, you know you are in the right place. He is always ready to bless, but with His Purpose!
I was watching a ministry on TV, and it was a reminder of what He had called me to do. Not a clone but breaker for other people to see more. And if I could not relate to the challenges, then could I really be a good or efficient minister myself?
And I can tell you that many of my best blessings are from those who DON’T have a ministry shingle on their door. Of course, I have grown from those called to teach and preach, and I love to learn but that one on one is sometimes what you crave. No strings, no expectations, just some real realness. He sets the captives free!
God’s people are in all kinds of places – at the store, at the shop, at work, online, just in so many of the ordinary places. Don’t we want the Love of God over our own reasonings? Because when it’s real, it works! Even if it is not in a church or ministry building!
Blessings in Disguise
Many times, God’s blessings come to us in disguise. You know, those angels unaware. The guy who bought me dinner was totally out of the blue. I wasn’t even going to accept it at first, but I could tell he felt strongly prompted and that let me know that God had an intended blessing for him too!
We have to learn God’s ways of doing things. Sometimes you do say yes when you thought you were going to say no. We need to let Love into the cracks of our lives and help seal our foundation. This was not a romantic thing; it was a Love thing! It brought a blessing to both of us!
When you get more publicly known for your faith, sometimes you get people’s anger too. And that can hurt, especially when you can’t explain it to them. They “need” to feel they are right about something. So, you just let them. Later they may get it, but if not, and you can maintain your core, you are both okay. Next time they are more open to hear you!
But the Work is God’s work and that is what you must be open to see happen. The Foundation is Him and His Word and His Work for our deliverance and better life to come. Some of that is here and some of that is in Heaven and He will show us things to come!
In Heaven with Jesus, we get deliverance from all of the evil that is here. He paid the price. I’m for that and it makes me stronger for enduring this life. Doesn’t mean I like the devil; it just means I grow stronger dealing with him until the full deliverance comes.
And we have to figure out, who is God and who is not, and sometimes it is us who is not! Ha ha. Don’t feel alone, we all go through it and it’s a blessing when we get it right and can make it better for us and for others.
As I focused again on my blessings more than my own thoughts of how it should be, my view of God came back into focus, without the weighted soul I was feeling, and my faith that He desires good for me! I will let Him be in control! He is the God who can raise people from the dead! And that is a good deal!
Pam Clark
