Posture of the Heart
2016 has been an extraordinary year for me thus far. Not because I
had some major life altering change, not because I landed a huge job,
not because I suddenly won the "destiny" lottery, but because I have
chosen to be intentional... in the small things.
I'm a
big picture thinker. Which means I also easily get overwhelmed by my
dreams and desires. I tend to focus on the larger scale vision, which
then stresses me out because I miss all the little steps in between
right now, and 2 years from now. Does that make sense? I find myself
getting super overwhelmed with the sense of "How do I get there?" "How
do I leave THAT kind of impact?" "I know You've called me to great
things, but how do I DO those great things?" I so easily get stuck in
my own head thinking that my destiny will only come about because of how
hard I work, or what I do/don't do. But... it's not about me. And
lately God has been constantly needing to remind me of that. It's about
today. It's about RIGHT NOW.
"You
cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on
yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator." -Rick Warren
Posture of the Heart
(Thanks to my friend Brenna Carnuccio for this timely phrase!)
What is the posture of my heart?
This is the question I have been presenting to myself every morning.
This simple step has drastically changed not only my outlook on
situations I face (good and bad), but it has had a major impact on my
attitude.
To be honest, life in LA is hard. Yes
it's glamorous at times, it's fun, and exciting and unpredictably wonderful, but it's also comes
with so much pressure - pressure to stand out, to be skinny, to be
perfect, to be rich, etc. Those things I just mentioned are not
necessarily what I strive for, but simply the reality of what often gets
focused on in this industry. It's the reality of this culture. While
there are some amazing highs... there are even lower lows. It is SO
EASY to be distracted from God and His plan for my life - especially
when sometimes I'm like "What the heck is YOUR plan God?!?!?!?!?!"
But it's all about perspective.
This morning I read an amazing quote by Anais Nin... We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. Even
IF I have all of these BIG PICTURE dreams and desires, the reality is I
can't actually SEE the big picture, because I'm not God. So it's
really a waste of my time to plot out my life according to what I think
"the ultimate" accomplishment would be. Ya know? What I
can work with is today, is right now. God what is your plan for me
TODAY?
So
I have decided this year to be intentional - ESPECIALLY when it comes
to my time. It's amazing how - as I take these small steps - I've noticed
that they have major impact in my life. Again, what is the posture of my heart?
My prayer for myself every day is simply "God use me to show your love
to someone today & give me the wisdom to know TODAY how I should
spend my time."
And ya know what? The great thing is that God wants us to have maximum impact here on Earth! He
WANTS us to have a "big picture" effect on the world, so all the little
seemingly small steps we take out of obedience to Him, actually
perfectly aligns us with not only His purpose for our life but His plan
to make the most out of OUR lives and who we are destined to be.
I
am not here by accident. You are not here by accident. We are all
here because God has a specific plan for every single one of us.
So
all this to say, if you tend to get overwhelmed by life, by your
dreams, by where you are vs. where you want to be - I FEEL YA! Take a
step back with me... I'm telling you - it works! Take the time each
morning or evening or whenever to position your heart before God. Be
intentional. Take time to steward the most important parts of your being
- your soul and your time.
I want to end with a verse that has really been an encouragement to me lately.
isaiah 26:3 one of my life verses. encouraging blog. thx. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome perspective!
ReplyDeleteAwesome perspective!
ReplyDeleteAwesome perspective. I'm walking this one out with ya!
ReplyDeleteAwesome perspective. I'm walking this one out with ya!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I want to see more about this inner beauty because life is more then makeup, etc it's about God
ReplyDeleteVery timely word. I too get caught up in the long run instead of the training...and that's right where He wants us. I wonder at times if we will even be around to "know" we made it somewhere...maybe the adventure is a part of writing our story, others will read...and only when Jesus reads it back to us when we stand before Him will we really understand where the highlights truly were...probably not anywhere we thought.
ReplyDeleteVery timely word. I too get caught up in the long run instead of the training...and that's right where He wants us. I wonder at times if we will even be around to "know" we made it somewhere...maybe the adventure is a part of writing our story, others will read...and only when Jesus reads it back to us when we stand before Him will we really understand where the highlights truly were...probably not anywhere we thought.
ReplyDelete