Grow Through What You Go Through

To walk by Faith...1 Corinthians 5:7.

How easy of a saying that is, and how many "Christian Merchandise" has that saying upon it but what does it truly mean?

But it's a completely different story when your faith is all that remains, when trials and hardships come will you still stand on the Solid Rock for your comfort and your support. Spurgeon said "I have learned to kiss the waves that slams me unto the Rock of Ages."

Do we kiss the waves when trials come or are we full of doubt and fear. Are we fearful when we finally realize we are not in one ounce of control of how our lives are going to roll out. That God is the one in control?

I was talking to a dear friend of mine last night and we were talking about fear and what it looks like. And realizing that we have nothing to fear for who is in greater control. That we don't have to fear what life throws at us because we have that firm foundation of who is in ultimate control. It's so easier said than done, it so easy to say oh I 110% trust God, but then what happens when the Dr. gives you bad news, or the police shows up at your door with a horrible accident report, or when a mother is bleeding heavily crying in agony and pain at the sight of her dead baby, or when you get the news one of your best friends is in Jail, or drugs have taken over the ones you love, or when you have no idea how you will meet rent and food this month, or when the people you loved and trusted the most end up stabbing you in the back... Where do you feet rest then? We are so quick to say I trust God yet when tribulations come we get angry with God. We get angry with Him, why we lost that job, why we lost that child, why we married yet, or why we don't have healing, why we lost all of our friend, why we cry ourselves to sleep at night.

We think that when we accepted into the Christian life it was going to be a piece of cake and full of skittles and rainbows...My goodness if I have learned anything over these past 10 years it hasn't been like that, there are such joyous happy moments in the walk with Lord but there are also painful hardships each of us have to endure. Ecc. 7:14-(NIV) "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore no one can discover anything about their future." We don't like bad times why because it hurts, it shapes our character it refines us... No one likes going through the refining process, it takes pain and agony and frustration to create beauty in the Kingdom of Christ. Romans 5:3-5NIV-"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE. And hope doesn't put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

An old bible study leader years ago told me to not ever waste your suffering. And I had no idea what that meant, but I am starting to realize that it means GOD is worthy of praise IN and out of every season you face in your life. A beautiful song I have been listening to lately is "Sleep in the Storm by Unspoken" and one of the lyrics is that how can you except to grow with out rain? You can't you can't grow without storms in your life. And you get to choose how those storms will effect you will it make you bitter or will it make you better? You can let God have ultimate control or you can try to take control and see how well that will work out for you.

Romans 8:28 NIV-"This we know that the LORD works ALL things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to HIS purpose." Do we trust God as much in the dark times as we do in the moments of pure light. It is so easy to see when the lights are on but in pitch black it can be hard. I think of like the trust fall exercises you do in leadership classes, how much more does God do that to us? Where He keeps whispering to us " Do you _____ Trust me." He is a good God and He is worthy of our Trust why? Because He knows how our story is going to end. He knows what He is doing, and He is the AUTHOR of our story not ourselves, God knew us before we knew Him. He says our days are written in the book of life, that we are inscribed on the palms of His hands, that our days are numbered and that He knows us inside and out more than any human can ever know you here on earth.

Perseverance isn't easy because we get tired, we stumble, we fall... but sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you fall but how you rise after the fall. Micah 7:8NIV-"Do not gloat over me my enemy for though I have fallen I shall Arise." I know it's been forever since I have written a blog and these past two years have been very challenging and hard but my goodness has God ever remained faithful to me despite the times I remained faithless. I think for so long I sat in the mistakes I made and chose to sit in the mud instead of rising and walking in my worth and my identity in Christ and who HE states I am, and who I am because of the blood that was shed on Calvary.

You know even in my current season in life it isn't an easy one, it is one of the most painful I have been through but Praise God almighty I am not walking alone. HE is so close beside me He has blessed me so incredibly much with so much support right now. So many people are praying for me I am an incredibly blessed woman. And if God is fighting for me then I have nothing to fear. And I don't need to fear because what can the enemy do to me nothing, for my soul is secure in the Blood of the Lamb. The Lord is fighting for me I only need to be still... 

May the Lord bless you and Keep you, keep always fighting the good fight of faith!

Blessings

Makayla Chalee