Daenne's Journal Fam, let's get into my real journal for a piece inspired by a simple conversation.

As I was talking to my dearest friend, he told how it took him quite some time to fix his car. The primary problem was that it was his first time doing this specific work on his own in the evening. The secondary was that he was not using the rights tools. When he told me that something rise up in me and I started thinking about God and how sometimes we try and try and try things over and over and over again and they just don't work. Sometimes we never realize what the problem is.

"He thought that the screw was too hard to be unscrewed, but that was not the problem. The problem was that he was not experienced with those parts, he was not using the right tools. Also, he was not close enough to see that the tool did not fit, and there was no light where he needed it." The biggest problem was that he was convinced that the screw was too hard.

The problem that he thought was the problem was not the problem, but sometimes we are so convinced that the problem is the problem that we don't even dig deeper, we don't even look harder, we don't even look outside of the box, we don't seek help, we don't seek light, we just stay in our little bubble trying to fix something that we cannot fix.

When it was daylight, he was able to see clearly that he had been using the wrong tool the whole time. The same thing happened in my relationship with God. I was in the dark, there were so many things that I was unable to see, and I was convinced that the problem that I saw on the surface was the problem. God had to shed His light in my life so that I could finally see clearly. There are way too many things that I battled with on the surface and I don't want the same for you.

Are your "problems" really the "problem?" Are you fighting the wrong battle? Are you using the wrong tools? Are you fighting in the dark? Are you fighting alone? Are you ready to give up?

We were never meant to do life alone. We were never meant to fix our own "problems". We were never meant to carry all our burdens alone. God was, and is there for us to do life with us, but we have to accept it and invite Him in all that we do.

In the story of my friend, there was someone with experience to change the part in his car, but he did not want to wait for him.He wanted to try something new and be independent, I told him jokingly. He tried, and he learned. What took him two days to do probably would have taken him two hours with his uncle's help, but he didn't wait. It is so similar in our relationship with God. We live, we don't wait and we learn. But, God is a gracious God! He teaches us in love! He disciplines us! He is there for us! He is patient with us! He is always waiting for us with arms wide open to come back.

You have the choice to wait/seek Him or learn as you go, but no matter the route you take, remember to look deeper, remember that you need light. Remember that the surface is just a cover, you have to dig deeper because the problem is not always the problem.

Xoxo,

DD