The Prepared Pilgrim

It had been one of the longest trials of my life and I was wondering if it was ever going to end. I was asking God to just change the circumstance and to please just fix it the way I thought it should be fixed. But nothing changed. And then one day God spoke to my heart and I realized that I had a pre-determined expectation of what I thought the outcome should be. I needed to loosen the grip once again and learn to rely on God completely. It really came down to “Thy Will Be Done” and not “My Will Be Done.”

What I truly learned and continue to learn is that I need to get my eyes off myself and my circumstance and focus my thoughts on Christ in every season with an eternal perspective. As you and I continue to do this in our journey, here are three things to prepare and proclaim in the process.

1. Trust God in the Gaps~This is truly living in between God’s promises and the reality of your current circumstance. It’s believing that God is who He says He is. Putting the focus on the eternal and not the earthly moment by moment. (Mark 9:24b~I believe; help me with my unbelief!”)
2. Invite God In~Simply put this means surrendering to God daily and letting go. But it also means spending time studying God’s Word, in prayer and speaking out His promises.
3. Open Hands and an Open Heart~God loves to be trusted and He loves when we trust Him. When we can loosen our grip and release the control of our circumstance over to Him, it builds our faith and once again says “I trust you God…have your way.” We are reminded in Joshua 1:9 of the command “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The prepared pilgrim will understand that ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in every season, yes even the most painful. James explains in the Bible that trials are going to happen in our lives and we get to make a choice how we are going to go through those trials. When we walk in step WITH CHRIST we will see that through it all the keeper of our heart is truly the protector of our heart as our God sees the big picture.

May we choose to trust God with the eternal perspective as we continue to prepare in the journey!