I love to do something called a heart check periodically. A heart check is a check of how tuned in my heart’s affections are toward the things of God. Most importantly, how in tuned my heart’s affections are toward the greatest commandment:

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” – Luke 10:27 (NIV)

Why a heart check? Because our hearts are naturally prone to sin. Yep, that’s right. It doesn’t matter how holy we think we are. We’ve all felt that sensationalism toward sin, whether, gossip, watching something inappropriate, or just thinking a wrong thought. It happens naturally.
What does not happen naturally is our intention toward loving God, and loving God’s way. That is something that we have to train ourselves in. Something that we have to make a conscience decision everyday to practice discipline regarding.
We have to practice discipline in not only seeking God, but having a desire to seek him and to hear what he has to say on any and all matters that concern us. We can drown out the voice of God by being too much in tune with things, messages, and distractions that do not concern God nor his way.

Psalms 97:10 – Let those who love the Lord hate evil. He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Periodically, the question what has your affections comes up in my spirit and that is when I do my heart check praying things like:  Lord, allow my heart to be after the things that concern your heart. Lord, help me to guard my heart according to your will.
King David realized the need for a clean heart praying to God to create in him a clean heart and to renew the right spirit within him. The truth is when we get all out of the way of where God is calling us to be, it doesn’t start just with our action, it actually starts in the heart way before we commit any act. When we allow our affection to take another turn outside of where God called us that is when we began to falter.
Our hearts could easily become concentrated on the wrong thing by opening doors of watching the wrong things on television that feed our hunger for sensationalism, lust, and passion.
Let’s remember the parable of the man with the great investment who saved it and stored it up on earth saying to himself look at what I have accomplished. His affections were all on the wrong thing–his wealth. He did not know that what really mattered was a rich life toward God. He had placed too much attention on what really did not matter allowing what did to slip away. (Luke 12:16-21)
Let’s make sure that our heartbeat is beating toward the things that God designed it for, and that is himself, and his direction for our lives. Heart check time.

 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:2-3

People say when a person gets into their thirties they no longer care what people think of them. They just do them and let it ride! Well, I don’t know if that is what is going on, but I feel like a good majority of my twenties was in a sense fighting and warring with the idea of me truly being and showing others myself.

I discuss in my latest book (The Single Christian Woman’s Guide) about how sometimes we buck against the call of God for our lives when we don’t understand it altogether. Often, as young people we view the identity that God calls us to as rejection. If I commit all the way to my convictions given to me by God, I will be rejected or I will not fit in, and lastly I will end up alone.
Satan is good at painting a negative picture of us embracing our identity because he knows that our identity comes from our consecration, (willingness to dedicate ourselves to the purpose and call of God for our lives), which leads to our purpose and that opens us up to endless possibilities of seeing the hand of the Lord at work in our own personal and individual lives.

One principal that I learned a long time ago is that a consecrated life can get you places that others will not be able to go. To be consecrated means to be set apart for a specific purpose by God. Therefore, that purpose from God supersedes any and all plans, culture, desires, and such. All of these things: desires, plans, interpretation of culture must be submitted to God in the life of a consecrated believer.

When I was about 19, I learned a valuable lesson from dating a young man at the time. We were in an unequally yoked relationship. We were together often because we worked together, went out a couple of times, and he came to my house a couple of times and met my family. We considered each other friends, but it was clear that he wanted more. When he came to my house, I remember my brother asking me after he left if he was saved. It was because he was not saved that he could only get so close to me and eventually had to fall back altogether.

The lesson that I learned was that when we embrace who we are, it determines who can get close to us. This meaning that everyone is not going to be able to be in my close circle because it would require me to alter my consecration to the Lord. When a person knows who she is, she should embrace that identity not allowing any relationship to cause her to compromise from who God called her to be.

The final part of the lesson learned at 19 was the understanding of why Jesus Christ had to die in order to reconcile us to himself. Because God’s identity is that he is holy, and cannot deny himself; he did something drastic in order to bring us close to him. He took his most precious and only son, made him to die to pay for our sins, and gave us his son’s righteousness. Thus, when we trust in and rely on Jesus Christ for our salvation, righteousness, and wholeness, we then are bought up to the standard that allows us to be in fellowship with God. Off the chain, how God could do that.

We learn from God himself, the importance of not denying our identities, because God did not deny who he was, but bought up those who are willing to the standard necessary to hang with him. In a similar fashion, we as God’s children should allow those close access to us who are willing to come up to an appropriate standard. This includes friendships with males and females as well as romantic relationships.

The trouble with denying who we are comes in when we are around other believers who have a different level of consecration to the Lord, and having different levels of consecration to the Lord isn’t wrong. Some people have convictions about certain things because of the call of God on their lives that others do not.

For example, John the baptist in the Bible did not drink alcohol, nor cut his hair, among other things. While Jesus did drink wine. The consecration required for their purposes was carried out appropriately and they still remained on one accord with one another without feeling as though one or the other should change. However, in our culture when we perceive that we are different from our brother or sister, we feel a pressure to change ourselves. This should not be the case when we know that we are operating in our identities given to us by God himself.

This assurance and surety regarding our identities can only come from an intimate relationship with God. God will reveal his will for how he wants us to conduct ourselves. He often uses others in authority over us to confirm or reveal our identities and he will give us peace in our hearts regarding our identities as well.

From then it is up to us to embrace it or not. Because of the awkwardness of not fitting in, we often make the choice to deny who we are to fit in with others. The truth is there are several others out there just like us who love God with all of our hearts and willingly set ourselves apart in obedience to God for God’s glory, yet have the same fear that we are the only ones. If everyone adopted the ideal that they are the only ones who are weird, peculiar, and set apart for God; there would be no one living for God.

The thing is when we set our identities to the side, we set aside our purpose and every open door that the Lord had planned for us in that identity. It has been a part of God’s plan for my life for me not to have a boyfriend until I meet my husband. Of course, that makes me appear awkward or weird, and I could easily try to go out and get a boyfriend and cause all types of problems for myself, but that would take me off of the beat and path that God has for me, and I am not willing to do that. Instead, I make the choice to continue to embrace who I am and follow Christ

Sometimes people ask me questions like it must be really lonely being single for so long, and I think to myself well I don’t really have a big issue with loneliness. Loneliness as we know is a feeling of being alone that we can feel whether we are by ourselves or not; while being alone is simply being by ourselves.

It is not necessarily a bad thing to be by ourselves. Sometimes, it can be a good thing. When I am by myself, I get a lot done because I don’t have someone to distract me. How one feels being alone, can depend on her personality. For example, if a person is an introvert like I am, that person may need that alone time to recharge before going back into the world mingling around people.

Whereas an extrovert, on the other hand may feel overwhelmed from being alone. Whatever the personality, I’ve learned that giving of your time, and talent to others can be one of the best anecdotes for loneliness and it helps in personal development as well.

Just a few weeks ago, I ran into a staff leader from a group that I used to serve in while in college. It was amazing how everything that I learned serving with him, I am still currently using in my personal ministry. As a young person, I would visit a group called InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and one day the members of the group nominated me to be a leader. I had no clue as to what I’d be doing, but it seemed fun to do something new.

In the process, I discovered that I had a gift to teach, and deal with people among other things. Of course, our gifts need to be developed or else our gifts will just lie dormant, and go unused.  What better way to develop our gifts is there then to volunteer our gifts and talents under the instruction of those already operating in their gifts, we can do nothing but flourish.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 1 Timothy 1:6 (NIV)

The next time a holiday comes along where singles tend to feel some type of way, why not, check and see if there is someone in need of your unique gifts or abilities where you can serve them. In turn, you are really serving yourself, because you become developed, establish healthy self-esteem after utilizing your gifts, and healthy relationships with others along the way.

The Single life is not a sentence to lonely and unproductive days wondering and wishes for a date. The Single life can be very purposeful, and full of all types of joy and triumph if we allow it. Let’s consider others as singles, and watch God see to it that we are considered as well in personal growth, and fellowship with others.

Don’t be misled–you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Galatians 6:7 (NLT)

He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom. Proverbs 18:1

Normally, when a believer separates himself from friends or a community that would hold him accountable it is for the purpose to do his own thing or to sin. This is a very dangerous position for a believer to be in because doing one’s own thing leads to pride, and it also leads to foolishness.

According to the Bible, it is the fool who has said in his heart that there is no God. In other words, the fool believes in his heart that he can do whatever it is that he wants to do without God holding him accountable for it. He has no earthly reminders of accountability because he has separated himself. The person who allows themselves to become a fool will have a rude awakening to God’s judgment. It is foolish to allow ourselves to get to that point.

This is why I so value the ideal of community, and in times where my circle of accountable believers became minimal due to natural life circumstances such as people moving, starting families and having less time for friendship and such, I have remained intentional about involving myself in a community of believers.

Now, in a community of believers there will be a mixture of mature and immature. That is why we have to have discernment of who we can tell certain things to and who we cannot. One of Satan’s major tricks is to cause offense in communities namely churches in order to separate the offended from the body of the community.

Men typically fall for this quicker than women because men tend to attach certain offenses to their pride as a man. In many cases, men feel as though to look over a fault is somehow a demotion in their man-hood when it is the very opposite.

A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to overlook a transgression. Proverbs 19:11 (NASB)

The Bible makes it clear on how the body of Christ is to deal with offense. We are to forgive, forbear, with, and love one another. It is interesting that each of these three things that believers ought to do in order to remedy offense all point back to ourselves. For example, love your neighbor as you love yourself, and forgive as your heavenly father has forgiven you.

A simple nugget to help strengthen the community relationships and prevent offense is to understand God’s grace and the need that we personally have for it in order to show that same grace, love, and forgiveness to others.

Unfortunately, the old school church was not taught very much in grace, but taught harshly in the law alone. Therefore, many older people struggle with the ideal of God’s grace for themselves and then to others. God’s grace is what we don’t deserve, but what we need to overcome, and to walk in victory. It is that very same grace that we should show to others.

Lastly, another way that the Bible mentions to avoid remaining in offense is to go to the brother that did the offending and have a conversation. If that brother does not hear, then scripture says to get another brother as an intermediary. The point is not to cut off those who can truly hold us accountable in a Biblically sound and reasonable manner because of offense alone. It is important for every believer to have accountability because it sharpens us, refines us, and builds us up in ways that walking alone cannot do.

Accountability is so important that even God of the highest character and integrity made himself accountable to his very own word saying:

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The LORD told me, “You have observed well, because I’m watching over my message, to make sure it comes about.” Jeremiah 1:12

will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your lovingkindness and for your truth: for you have magnified your word above all your name. Psalms 138:12

We as human beings need someone to submit to because we are prone to sin because of our flesh, but submission to appropriate accountability and community helps to curb the weaknesses of our flesh.

Those that are intentional about accountability and maintaining a strong community will be less likely to walk in such an overt spirit of rebellion, self-will, pride, and foolishness because the community has helped to check a lot of that behavior through the transparency and sharpening that comes with appropriate community. Let’s be intentional about community, accountability, and not compromising with sin as we grow closer toward the Lord.

I remember when I was a teenager my brothers and I used to watch what was called, “The Box”. The box was a local music television channel that broadcasts urban music videos. This was before the digital television when all of the channels were on analog which meant that at times if we hooked up an extra antenna or hanger with some wires to the TV we could get additional channels that we would not normally get.

Anywho, we had the television set up to receive The Box, which was a big deal to teenage kids at the time. My brothers and I were home-schooled, and when school was not in session we used the school room as personal space to pray.

One of my brothers had finished praying and it was my turn to go into the school room to pray. I walked through the living room where TLC’s waterfalls video was playing on, “The Box.” I remember my state of mind around that time. I was a typical teenager that wanted a boyfriend, to feel beautiful like the girls in the videos, and to be loved.

It is ironic that I remember what I prayed for during that day, and not only that day, but that season of my life. I prayed for my desires to become the desires that God had for me. I prayed for God’s will for my life, and for our heart’s desires to be one. Such a big prayer from a young girl unlearned. I did not realize at the time how much in line with God’s will I was actually praying.

An interesting thing to note is that the more time I spent praying in God’s presence and acknowledging him, the more my desires began to dissipate and the desires that God had for me in him began to become the norm for what I wanted.

Slowly, but surely I no longer wanted a boyfriend as a teenager. Instead, I began to grow a hunger within me for more of the presence of God and fellowship with God. Little did I know that my desires actually weren’t dissipating for what I wanted, but they were being hid in Christ. Now, that I am older I understand that God took my natural desires that I had and simply shaped them according to his will. It wasn’t that I was giving them up altogether, but that pleasing God and being near to him became more important than what I wanted.

What I placed my value on during that season simply began to change. It reminds me of where I am currently meditating on in God’s word:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3

God uses an emphasis on being hidden in him to teach us what to place our value on. When we get into seeking earthly things, we can easily open ourselves up to corruption in particularly the corruption of seeking things over Christ. There is nothing wrong with having a desire for things especially God-given desires, but we need to hide those desires in Christ and in his will for us to avoid corruption. I have had many desires thus far in my life that have become unfolded and revealed into reality just by seeking and following Christ.

For example: My desire to write was accomplished through being obedient to Christ. The desire to teach young people about abstinence in public high schools was fulfilled through following him, and also meeting more mature and godly men and women of God. Even normal stuff like wearing cute clothes and getting deals on beautiful hairstyles have been accomplished through following and obeying God. I have so many testimonies.

The point of it all is everything that we need was given to us when we received Christ. This is why God’s word instructs us to seek first his kingdom and righteousness and all other things will be added unto us. Seeking Christ and keeping him at the center of our hearts is what is necessary. It keeps us from corruption, idolatry, and having things in the wrong season where they can be harmful for us.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3, NIV)

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God is good. He doesn’t ask us to give up certain things that he has placed a desire in us for without the expectation that he will fulfill those desires in his season, but he simply asks us to focus on and look to him knowing that he is good and that he is who he says he is. This is what it means to delight ourselves in the Lord and we will have the desires of our heart.

That scripture isn’t a formula for God to play some type of a Santa Claus or Genie based on a few fake Hallelujahs and Thank you Jesus’. Delighting in the Lord is a lifestyle where our desires become hidden in him through rest and trust in him.

It’s ironic that the video playing on the box was TLC’s waterfalls which is reminisce of how a lot of us treat Christ at times. We have a consistent stream of all that we need in Christ yet we are off chasing waterfalls or other streams just like the world in hopes to achieve what’s already been promised to us in Christ. Hide your affections in him and watch them come to pass in purity and in glory toward the one who delights to give us good things, but most of all wants our heart and affection for him.

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. James 1:9-10

There are times when we as believers will have to go down before going up. The above scriptures talk about various circumstances as believers where one brother is in a humbling circumstance and how that person ought to rejoice because the next step will be for him to be exalted.

The other brother is rich and he should also rejoice because he will be made low. In this world that we live in, the humbling experience is often despised, while the season of richness and fulness is celebrated, but in the kingdom of God we ought to celebrate both circumstances because both circumstances are necessary. The humbling experience is necessary to produce the humility that we will need in our season of fullness. The richness is necessary to give us faith for something to look forward to while in our seasons of humbling circumstance. Both of these seasons are necessary as believers and produce the fruit of depending on and acknowledging God in every season whether up or down abounding or in abasement. Apostle Paul said that he learned how to live in both seasons and that is how through the process of humility and exaltation. Whatever season that we may be in our process in life, we can be sure that God is faithful to provide the strength and grace for us to go on to the next season.

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

We have to become as children as Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 18 when they are debating among themselves who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Basically, Jesus interrupts their train of thought causing them not to focus on being the greatest as they understand, but being like a child who knows that he must depend on his parents for everything just as we must depend on the Lord the author and finisher of our faith. When we get lifted up in pride, and decide to go after vain-glory, and our perspectives shifts to that of the world and this carnal nature, that is when we can begin to rejoice knowing that God will allow humbling circumstances to come and shift our perspective to that of a child who looks up to his God who made him as children look to their parents who made them and are greater than them.

Even Jesus the head of the body of Christ humbled himself as a man finding himself in the fashion of a man although he was God in the flesh. Afterward, he was highly exalted above all that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every month confess that he is Lord (Philippians 2:5-9).

If you are in a humbling circumstance right now, get happy because God will next begin to exalt you. Sometimes, when God exalts us, it’s hard to remember the pain of the humbling experience that we had to go through to get there because God has done such a great work.

That’s how the Lord does. He gives us beauty for ashes and restores the joy of those who place their trust in him. So, be encouraged as you ride the waves of life going up and also going down.

Giving up our way of doing things is easier said than done. We try over and over again to bring things to pass on our own ignoring the need to rest in God allowing his promises to simply come to pass. When we are do things according to our own understanding, we try, work, toil, and do various different things on our own to bring things to pass that are already given to us and promised to us.

When we choose to put our trust in the Lord though it doesn’t make any sense to us, God always comes through and provides.

Recently, I’ve been meditating on the story of Issac and Abraham when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. It took faith and a putting off of his own understanding to get his son of promise. We all know that Abraham was old approximately 99 when he had his child Issac. His natural situation along with his wife’s was pretty much dead. There would be no producing of a child without the supernatural intervention of God.

Similar to many of our situations: Some of our situations are dead. We have tried all types of things to produce God’s promise in our lives on our own to no avail. When we get tired of doing things our way and decide to rest in God’s covenant and just obey him even when it doesn’t make good sense, we can expect God to move on our behalf.

Abraham is a man in the Bible marked by faith. The Bible says when God first told Abraham about a child of promise, he believed. Abraham’s faith and trust grew more in the Lord and he was finally granted his son. Now that he had gotten that thing that he had so patiently waited on. It was time for a test. Abraham, “Do you still love me more than anything? Are you still willing to obey me more than anything now that you have gotten your promise?”

God tests Abraham asking him to sacrifice his son. Abraham again responds in faith knowing God’s character he trusts the Lord all the way saying that God will provide a sacrifice and my son and I will come back (Genesis 22:5). He gets everything ready to sacrifice his son and an angel from heaven yells stop, do not harm the boy. God says, “Now I know you still fear me (reverence me, hold me in high esteem) because you have not held back your son your only son.

That thing that was most precious to Abraham that he had believed God for, God wanted Abraham to not get so caught up in it that he would forget and no longer reverence the Lord. After God was able to see that Abraham was still willing to honor and obey God despite the promise he provided Abraham with more.

The whole ordeal ends with Abraham saying that God will provide. The reality is God will provide everything that he has promised us. That is his character and who he is. He keeps his word, but he wants more importantly to fellowship with us which can only be done when we reverence him. He wanted to make sure he still had Abraham’s heart after the gift had been given, and it was so.

When we are willing to let go from our way of doing things and rest in God following and trusting closely in him, we too will experience seeing God’s fulfilling of his promises in our lives and that along with a deeper intimacy and faith toward the Lord like Abraham.

Are you willing to lose your life for God’s Best

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:24

What if we could hinder our own blessings by trying to do things our own way? What if singles could delay God’s best for them by trying to fabricate God’s best for them on their own? Worrying, not trusting God, but trusting only what we see. All of these things can be a hindrance to the working of the miraculous in our lives.

Recently, I’ve been reading about Esther, one of my favorite persons from the Bible. I was passionately moved as I meditated on Chapter 5 when her uncle Mordecai shared the plot of Haman to destroy all of the Jewish people. She responded with the obvious at first saying, “Well if I go before the king unannounced everyone knows that it is the law for that person to be killed unless the King’s scepture is raised.”

Mordecai shared how she would not escape the sword just because she was the queen, and if necessary God would raise up deliverance from elsewhere to save his people, but she would perish. He shared what if God called you to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Her final response was for Mordecai to instruct the Jews to fast for 3 days and afterward she would approach the king and my favorite part, “If I Perish, I Perish.”

How lovely that at that point the queen Esther was willing to give up all that she had inherited the lavish life, the notoriety of the kingdom, and her very life if necessary. When she decided to give up her very life and the way that she was used to doing things for the sake of the kingdom of God and her fellow Jewish brothers and sisters, that is when she saw the hand of the miraculous.

She acknowledged God through fasting and prayer, went and approached the king in faith and God not only gave her favor with the King granting her request, but he exceeded her expectations. She was offered whatever she wanted up to half of the kingdom, she had Haman and his 10 sons hanged. A new bill was written for the Jews to defend themselves reversing what had happened. Instead of the Jews being in fear of everyone else, everyone became in fear of the Jews.

The point is there is a crisis in the land just as it was with Esther. Our crisis just looks different in this day and time. She was positioned by God specifically to bring remedy to that crisis. When she decided to consider more than herself being willing to give up her life if necessary, she got her life back and much more. If we are willing to do the same thing in our lives being faithful to where God has positioned us, we will see God’s best as well.

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

What you sow is what you will reap. God sees our sacrifices for his kingdom and will reward us. There is no one who seeks God’s way of doing things diligently that God does not reward. Continue to put God first and his way of doing things and prepare to see God’s best in your life.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

God keeps telling me to stay on course. It’s something how we can be so sure of what God has called us to do until we get around others and see something different and then want to try what we see others doing instead of staying the course that God has set for us. That is the main temptation when God has us in a waiting pattern for something that he has promised us. The temptation is to do what has worked or seemed to work for others instead of what God is leading us to do for ourselves.

God recently gave me a dream heralding the same meaning that he has been trying to entrench into my spirit which is to stay the course or path that God has given me. It’s not always easy when your path seems so unique, but the truth is even though my path is unique, there are several others who God has placed on the same path. One of the major ways that Satan distracts us from walking the path God has for us is through making us think that we are the only one. Not true, we are not the only ones.

In the dream, I was walking to a specific destination on a bridge and I was almost there so much so that I could literally see my destination in front of me, but there were a few other people who came up from behind me and launched in front of me or at least seemed to launch in front of me, but when I focused in on what they were doing, they had crossed over a broken boundary rail that was separating those walking on the bridge that we were on from the water and ice beneath.

Those who had launched in front of me risked their lives of falling into the water and ice scaling and climbing the side of the bridge to get to the destination first. These were people who walked in their flesh and tried to make things happen on their own. They were still scaling on the side of the bridge as I watched and they appeared closer to the destination than I was, but their struggle was greater to make it there because of all of the additional acrobatics they put themselves through.

I thought to myself in the dream maybe I could get there quicker if I leaped ahead and jumped over the railing, but inside I knew that was not the way. I moved closer toward the edge where the broke down railing was and held on to the railing, but it was not as stable as it should have been.

In the meantime, a girl came up along side me and greeted me. I greeted her back and shared that I wasn’t really comfortable jumping the railing like the others. At that point, fish that looked beautiful almost like crystal-colored jumped out of the water toward me. Someone yelled those are Piranhas and at least three of them were near my clothing. I shook them off as I screamed and awakened.

Basically, that dream was a picture of how I had been feeling inside like I had been walking the path that God had for me, but others seemed to get to what I am believing God for quicker through their own means instead of doing things the way that God set out for them to do it. I was on a sure foundation and path through going about believing God his way. Sometimes doing things the way that God has given to you seems slow or like things will never change. Sometimes, we are tempted to move ahead of God because others seem so successful, but that isn’t what God is calling us to do.

I believe the young girl who came up beside me in the dream to greet me was a young lady sent to encourage me and who I was supposed to encourage and be an example to. Had I gone and did things in another way I would have confused her and myself and risked not reaching my destination at all or working much harder than God intended to get there. In the dream, my thoughts were to just keep on walking the way that I knew because I was so close to my destination and if I just continued to walk I was sure to get there. The piranhas in the dream were an attack of the enemy to get me discouraged and off track. Just as I shook them off in the dream, it’s the very same way that I need to shake off the discouragement of my flesh in real life staying focused on the path that God has set for me.

I found myself comparing my life to others in ways that seemed innocent thinking why don’t I have anyone to date or why don’t I have an intimate and close godly guy friend? Truthfully though, I don’t want to just date around. I don’t have time for that, and I know that isn’t the path that God has called me to. He has called me to be a specific woman about how I use my time to be constructive and build the kingdom of God and in doing so, The Lord is going to bless me with the appropriate gentlemen that I am to be with. God knows I am a 110% person often times and thus, it may be easy for me to lose focus with a godly brotha as my close friend who is mature and attractive. All snap!

Therefore, I have to fight those urges and nudges that seek my attention to get me distracted and off course. I have to realize that sometimes God says no now, so that he can say yes later to what he has been preparing me for all this time and that is his promise. If we stay on course we will find ourselves at the doorstep to the promises that God has placed in our lives and forget all of the pain and misunderstanding that we had to endure on the way there. Trust God, don’t look at others and stay on course.

I Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

In a young person’s 20s there is often a burden to get certain things done by a certain age. A young person may say by a certain age I want to make my mark doing A or B. I also want to have checked off of my list buying a house, getting married, dashing into my dream career, all while avoiding the process that builds character, causes us to have patience, become stable well-rounded adults, and most importantly causes us to learn to depend on the Lord.

Many of us have grown up hearing older people say go get it. You can do anything. All things are possible, and yes these things are true, but one of my mentors shared something additional with me. She said that I know you have your plans and the things that you want to do and you ask God to make it happen for you, but you need to learn how to follow God.

Sometimes, we can be anointed and appointed for something, but God wants to take us through a process to build our character and cause us to rely on him first. One of the most important scriptures in the Bible says to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things will be added unto us (Matthew 6:33).

King David in the Bible was specifically sought out by God through the prophet Samuel. He was anointed and appointed by God to be the king of Israel in place of Saul, who displeased God.

I love David because him and I have a lot in common as far as being rejected and off to himself as a shepherd tending to the sheep and worshiping God. He was not sought after by men who overlooked the many gifts that God had placed inside of him. When Samuel first came to Jesse’s house (David’s father) to anoint a king; Jesse never called for David until Samuel specifically asked if there were any more sons. Jesse bought out all of the best looking sons that appeared strong and prepared according to man’s standards.

David, however was prepared by God. He would not take the throne right away, but he even after being anointed had a process that remained for him to go through. God would create an opportunity for him to defeat a Philistine named Goliath which gave him favor with the current king Saul, yet also it placed him at odds with the king to the point where he had to run for his life.

David displayed godly character in having an opportunity to kill the King, but continuing in respect he humbled himself and allowed the king to live. It was clear that God was with David and he had to seek God several times to figure out what to do. In seeking God first as young people we allow seeking him to become a part of our character where it is a normal thing to acknowledge God in all we do. When we are placed in position to do the things that God has shown us we will be better for it.

Today, we can see many young people in their 20s and 30s with their hands in so many things trying to make that mark, but God is saying that the mark is right here with me in my presence is where you will find your identity, your vision and goals for life and guess what the responsibility to bring those things to past also falls on God as well when we seek him first.

I mentioned this before in one of my blogs, but I will mention it again. I can remember one day I was on a fast seeking God laid out on the floor praying asking God how to deal with all of these different desires and passions that I have inside of me to do various things. I asked God how would I do these things seeing how it is so much. Where would I begin. God gave me a scripture as a response.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

That scripture took the pressure off of me and placed it on God who is well able to carry it and bring it to pass. He bears the responsibility of bringing the things he has placed within us to pass, and our responsibility is to follow him, but if we aren’t prioritizing seeking him how can we follow him?

As young people we have to learn to place our burdens on the Lord, and he will give us rest as he carries us. He will give us instruction, ideas, witty inventions, as we walk by faith and God’s leading into his promises for our lives whatever those promises may be.

When I was a late teen in college about 19 or so, I used to lead a prayer group called, “The Prayer Closet” at the school. We would pray in a designated empty class room in between classes. I remember praying in their one time with a friend of mine who is a prophet. She told me not to worry about what I was to do when I graduated that God had me. She said that I would be working at a non-profit.

Yep, that happened just like she said. When I was 22 years old I got my job at a non-profit. That is the full-time job that takes care of most of my needs. I have been there for going on 9 years. All the while I do additional things that the Lord has placed on my heart such as the Abstinence education, blog writing, small group leading with a young adult encouragement group and radio program. God has given me favor, grace, and the ability to do these things preparing the way for me.

If we would seek and trust God, he will direct us. God has got us. The Bible says that God enlarges our steps underneath us to keep us from falling (Psalms 18:36). That means that a lot of scrapes and bumps can be avoided as young people through following God.

When we do things on our own without following him; we run the risk of being so out of whack that we don’t know what we are supposed to do, rejection due to not meeting other men’s standards or standards we have set for ourselves, or pride if we are successful.

There is nothing wrong with having ambition, and a burden to do something great, but we are greater when we follow God. Either way we are covered as believers because of the covenant in Christ that we have. When we fall all we have to do is come to God and he will restore us, cleanse us, and cover us. We are such a blessed people and we need to realize that as we walk with God and allow him to take our burdens for his burden. The Lord is with us and for us. If we come to him and ask him for wisdom he will not look down on us (James 1:5), but love us and gently guide us to our purposes found in him.