God constantly challenges my faith, the toughest times can be how I see everything. Specifically, he seems to like to challenge things with me that are contrary to popular belief especially in the church.

Obedience is sacrificing what you WOULD do for what God TOLD you to do.

Yes. I learned this from TD Jakes and it has completely freed me in experiencing God's will in ways I've been praying for. Do you know what that means? God hears your prayers even when you're unsure of how to talk to him or experience life with him and walk with him.

You: So how do I apply this to my life?

I'm glad you asked! Have you ever had God show you something that comes off as something "you could see yourself doing"? or have you ever been exposed to anything that has shown you that there's more to life for you than what you currently experience? A lot of these experiences helped me to discern what God has been trying to show me what he wants me to do.

When I'm sacrificing what I WOULD do for what God told me to do it means that I'm:

Just sending that text message to my mom or calling her right quick even when I don't have anything to talk about because I thought about her.

Just going a little farther in my work whether that's doing more research or getting ahead so I have time for other tasks God has shown me to do rather than usually completing the minimum work done in my life and telling God "if there were more hours in the day I would.."

Just applying to more positions, internships, or opportunities than I regularly would see what God is trying to show me rather than applying until I Feel Like I've done enough

Just watching that video or listening to that song or replacing some time that I usually spend scrolling for hours on social media (aka doing nothing lol wasting time) with spending some time with Him. This has been one of the best decisions I usually make. When I spend time with Him, he really begins to transform my life and I get to tap into the will He has for me.

But I can't hear it when I'm surrounded by the noise of people, social media, information, etc. These are not bad things but because my heart belongs to Him, I must seek Him first and then everything else is put into place.

Often times we get this order backward which puts us out of order. What's out of order? Out of order is when you're intoxicated with information and with every opinion, you can read of everyone else and then go to God asking why are you confused and frustrated about life. You're out of order. You can't pursue the culture's standard and expect to have God's peace.

You must seek God's standard to receive God's peace. Sometimes God will put you in a position where you don't have any peace about your life, situation or career because he's THAT invested in you that he'll put your peace on the other side of your obedience.

So I encourage you to start looking at different areas in your life where you could seek God more. How can I hang out with Him more? How can I spend more time with Him? What areas am I being convicted about where God wants me to give more? God, how do you want me to give more when I feel like I'm already giving it everything I got?