Have you ever prayed for something and then when you received it or the Lord answered your prayer, all of a sudden, that prayer suddenly becomes a source of frustration and contention for you?
Well maybe I am the only one.
Y’all, I love to write (if by chance you haven’t guessed that yet, lol).
I also like talking about the Word of God and encouraging people.
Over the years, I’ve been grateful for the many opportunities the Lord has granted me to be able to share my gifts and prayerfully, encourage others in the process.
Encouraging people is like my feel good drug.
It comes so naturally to me.
And yet…I had a reality check the other day.
Truth moment:
A few weeks ago, I was grumbling and complaining about some of the things I have been working on and doing.
It was a challenging week for me, to say the least. As a result, I was under a bit of a mental attack so to speak.
I kept thinking about some of those things, i.e. the online Bible study, this blog and why I started it , and a major project I have been working on (which I hope to share very soon), just to name a few.
I found myself extremely frustrated, overwhelmed and truthfully, a bit defeated.
Although I know God has been instructing me to do these things (and I have tried to be obedient), I am not seeing any “fruit” from them (based on my definition).
I really was ready to throw in the towel.
Welp…
Can I just tell y’all I got checked real quick by the Holy Spirit…but also encouraged too.
Usually I will share with a couple of people how I have been feeling or what I may be struggling with so that they can pray for me. ( I talk more about the importance of this here.)
This time, however, I didn’t and decided that I would just keep it between me and Jesus.
Our Father, in His thoughtful way, took the time to personally deliver messages to me the last few days of that week, from new and old friends, who didn’t know how I was feeling.
He reminded me that He notices those small steps of obedience and consistency,
He told me, through them, that He sees it and that my harvest is coming.
In a YouTube video from my devotional, at the end of that week, the speaker said something that further drove this point home:
We want things fast, now and shiny…[and as a result, we] tend to miss what God is doing from these simple small steps of obedience. (First 5 app)
The following week, the Holy Spirit convicted me in another devotional as I was reading Zechariah 7: 5-6, (NLT):
When you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for Me that you were fasting.
And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves? (emphasis mine)
It caused me to get real with myself.
Was I now doing these things that I knew the Lord had instructed me to do for myself or for Him?
At one point, I was excited about being used by Him to do them–things I had prayed about.
Now, it seemed to become a chore and that wasn’t cool.
In the day to day of life and mundane tasks, it may feel like nothing you are doing matters to God.
You may be faithful in your waiting, and yet, because you may not see any fruit,you begin wondering, What’s the point of all this?
Let me give you a little perspective and two things to ask yourself:
2 Things to Consider Before You Throw In The Towel:
- What small things have I or am I disregarding as unimportant? What small steps of obedience can I (have I neglected to) make?
- Is what I am doing “really for Me” (i.e. God) or to please yourselves?
In the devotional, it talked about looking at the little things and how those things may not seem purposeful or significant in the grand scheme of things.
Yet, these things matter to God as well.
In fact, He is more concerned about our obedience than the things we are actually doing.
It shows we trust Him.
It’s also important that we have the right attitude when we are doing things in obedience to Him. We don’t have to, we get to.
As you consider these 2 things before you throw in the towel, be encouraged.
Don’t try to figure out if it makes sense.
Just keeping taking the next small step in obedience.
It will all be worth it in the end. You can never go wrong when you obey God.
Lady In Waiting 222 