We all know life is not always flowers and roses. Sometimes it’s thick, tough, confusing, exhausting, relentless; literally a struggle.
Sometimes we can’t see how God is working or feel his presence, leaving us wondering, “Where is He?” “Has He abandoned me?” “Why won’t He help me?”
These are the times that our faith is tested and our perseverance is stretched, leaving us feeling frustrated and not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s in these bleak and troubled times we need to remember that God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) and He sees things and works in ways we cannot see nor understand (Isaiah 43:16-21).
But trusting that God, the creator of the universe, the creator of you and I, is so much bigger and loves us so much more than we can even comprehend, that we must trust that “this too shall pass” and although we may not be able to see outside of our personal storm or dark cloud, God has always been there, is in the trenches with you now, and will always be there…for all the days to come.
Thanksgiving and the holiday season can be so overwhelming and we can feel like everyone is happy, and life is perfect for them, and we should forget all of our troubles and put on a happy face, but that’s not always what’s true and what we’re feeling inside.
And God knows.
But even though God knows your thoughts and what you’re going through, when you’re IN the struggle, let God know. Verbally. Speak to Him. Not in your head, but out loud. Get to a quiet spot where you’re alone, and let it out. You’ll be amazed how different it comes out when you speak it, versus keep it in your mind. Although we can still communicate with God through our thoughts, our bodies need the outlet of verbally and audibly speaking to God.
Even though He already knows, he WANTS you to connect with Him. He desires a relationship with you and wants to HEAR from you, even if it’s not pretty and perfectly eloquent. It doesn’t matter! He’s more concerned about the relationship and communication than using the right words or the right posture or the right place. He loves you and wants to hear from you.
This Thanksgiving, if it’s not as holly and jolly as it seems to be for everyone else, it’s ok. God is with you and loves you. Reach out to Him and ask Him for comfort, intervention, to show Himself, to speak to you, to give you provision, guidance, companionship, Bible verses for comfort and encouragement, and to surround you with His love, reassurance and direction.
If you’re currently in the struggle and having trouble finding reasons to give thanks this holiday season, give thanks that God will not and has not abandoned you. He will be with you no matter what and deeply loves you. He is not afraid or offended by your questions, concerns and frustrations. He wants to hear from you.
As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.“
Giving thanks for you and in all things,
~Melody
It’s so easy to get caught up in the coming holiday season that we forget the importance of taking time for ourselves, let alone quality time with God.
I wrapped up a personal 30 day self-improvement challenge almost 2 weeks ago. My goal was not only weight loss (Goal: lose 10 pound;. Result: 9.5 pounds lost!) but also a commitment to developing personal habits for a morning routine as well as an eating cleanse to break my sugar addiction.
It was very successful and I posted daily videos to my Facebook page documenting daily exercises, tips or insights as I went through that journey. (Btw I share ongoing encouragement, tips and discussion in my free Facebook community, Worthy to Be Me. I’d love you to be a part of it and join here).
What I learned is how important it is for our personal well being to have habits and routines in place that regularly allow for the nurturing of our spirits and psyche, but also regular intentional daily time with God. Being a Christian I actively talk to God and pray all throughout the day, but I had not set in place regular time for reflection, quiet time and dialoguing with God without multi-tasking or other distractions.
In the few weeks that have followed I’ve found that if that daily time is no longer nurtured or attended to daily, I feel more disconnected and ungrounded. I feel as though something is missing, and I’m glad I feel this way because it means my goals for the 30 day personal challenge worked. They’re successfully created a routine that fed my soul, spirit, dreams and provided an outlet for intentional “me” time outside the hustle and bustle of everyday life…let alone the craziness that is on it’s way the closer we get to Christmas.
Currently I’ve just taken a 2 day road trip from California to New Mexico and am thrilled for almost 10 days of family time! But in just the few days of schedules being different, not having my regular snacks and healthy meals lined up, sleeping in different beds, time zone changes etc. I’ve really been more affected from this shift in my “new normal” I had just created only 2 weeks prior, and the effects were surprisingly challenging.
Not just challenging to continue to carve out the time for my newly created routines and habits, but challenging on an emotional level of how I felt internally from not having that precious time of cultivating my thoughts, productivity and intentional quiet time with God.
I was journaling yesterday after at least 3 days of missing it, and the realization came to me that not only was I missing the emotional and energetic outlet to feel my best, or at least to feel more like myself while in a different environment, but I realized that no matter what life brings us we MUST have our identity in Christ.
This is a MUST that if we do not realize how God views us and his unending love and admiration for us as His children, we will NEVER be satisfied in this life. We will always be looking for acceptance in the eyes of our peers, family, friends, co-workers, society and the like. This ultimately leads to feeling inadequate, lonely, unwanted, invaluable and leads us in a never-ending quest for perfection and acceptance that we will never fully gain.
In the eyes of our Savior, Jesus, we are already enough. We are already beautiful, loved, talented, gifted, treasured and precious. No matter what we do, say, create or become, we will never be more valuable, more loveable, more worthy of God’s love. He already loves us to the highest degree imaginable….exactly as we are!
Right now. This moment. Yesterday. Before you were born! As we begin to realize the immensity of our value in the eyes of God, we truly are “more than conquerors” as the apostle Paul writes.
Praise be to God who loves us more than we can imagine and nothing we can say or do can make Him love us more! So stop trying to please Him, others or yourself in a quest for perfection that is unnecessary to obtain. Yes it’s good to feel good about ourselves, both inside and out, and to treat ourselves and others with respect, but even before you pursue that, God already loves you.
Let that sink in and encourage you. God’s love already proves how amazing you are. <3
~Melody
P.S. On a side note, I want to make sure you don’t miss out on an upcoming Healthy Holiday Domination 31 Day Challenge, kicking off December 1st! Learn how to join here.
Eating healthy can be hard sometimes! Especially if you don’t plan ahead, or there’s an unexpected office party, and for goodness sake the holiday temptations will be at every turn in less than a month!
Sometimes what we need is a perspective shift.
In this video I talk about just that. The perspective shift that’s needed to make navigating those sugary temptations or going on that run so much easier!
Stepping into our calling and responsibility to care for our bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit they were created for is the most noble of job descriptions we can fulfill.
And that’s the key phrase, “we CAN fulfill.”
It can be done.
And it starts today.
With a decision.
With a calling.
With owning the responsibility.
With stopping the self-sabotage.
With taking joy in God’s creation.
With making better choices.
With choosing to plan ahead.
With choosing to pass the drive-thru.
With taking joy in eating from the earth.
With showing love to your body by keeping it active and healthy.
With each little decision adding up to a healthier body and a healthier you.
I hope you took the 5 minutes to watch the video above, as I’m truly sharing from my heart what each of us are capable of. If not, take that time right now.
Stepping into a healthier lifestyle is really answering the call to love our bodies and show that love to God through our actions.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Cor. 6:19-20
~Melody
P.S. Wanting more step-by-step actions you can take to recognize and overcome healthy eating sabotage? You’re invited to join me on a free Live call this Thursday, 11/5/15 @ 7pm PST where we will go into specifics on how to recognize healthy eating sabotage, and how to stop it!
I look forward to sharing these nuggets on inspiration and wisdom with you to help you succeed on your path of caring for the body God has entrusted to you to the best of your ability.
P.P.S. How to get the access to the Live call:
- Leave your email in the comments below -or-
- Email “Live call” to melody@fitplusfaith.com
>>Bookmark your calendars for THIS THURSDAY 11/5/15, 7pm PST. See you there!
