“Do anything, but let it produce joy.”
What happens when you choose to live your life to the fullest?
It seems to me that every New Year, each and every person's resolutions are, "I want to be a better person." "I want to get fit and lose weight." "This is my year." "I'm going to finally go out of my comfort zone." The list goes on and on, yet without fail, most of those resolutions tank right after the first few weeks of the New Year. I know this from personal experience. About ten years of failed New Year's Resolutions, to be precise. However, this year is far different than all the others.
This year I decided that I actually wanted to live my life to the fullest and that meant giving all my struggles to God, not just part of them. You see, I surrendered my life to Christ several years ago, but I was still clinging on to a few things that were "mine." I said, "God, you can have all of me except for this little part." I bartered with God, and that's just not plausible. In turn, I spent the next many months in an up and down roller-coaster of struggles and trials, all because I was trying to dictate the course of my life.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago when God really put on my heart that I needed to change. I needed different people in my life that would help me grow in the areas I wasn't willing to. He was in constant pursuit of whole my heart when I had part of it locked away. He gave me the strength and boldness to reach out to the people He wanted in my life, and let me tell you, it opened countless doors of opportunities.
By listening to God and His desire for me to open up about my struggles and to put it all in His hands was the first step in unlocking my heart and letting Him in. The first Christian woman I spoke with, God filled me with a confidence I didn't know I could possess. She was so easy to talk to, be open to, and pray with. After talking with her, that is when the healing began.
But it didn't stop there. God had a few more people in mind that He wanted me to open up to, and each one brought about a newfound peace. One by one, I was filled with this Joy that I have longed for. I was and am so full, that I feel as if I'm overflowing with this Joy of the Lord. So full that I want to share it with everyone.
Opening up about struggles and hardships is not easy by any means. It's painful, not always pretty, and it seems like it's the hardest thing to trust anyone nowadays. Yet when you hear even the littlest inkling from God that He wants you to share your story with someone, I encourage you to do so. Taking that first step is the hardest, but it brings the utmost Joy to you, if you place your heart in the Lord.
