Lately I have been noticing some themes in the emails I receive, so I was thinking it would be fun to write my thoughts about these topics in posts on the blog as well as try to answer people personally. And though I truly believe in groups of people that can support each other, I know that todays topic is one that can help us find strength in ourselves.
Today I wanted to talk about the power of personal
revelation. The key word is PERSONAL—revelation that is just for you—insights
into your life that you receive in a personal way.
How does personal revelation come?
It comes in many forms that are just as personal as the
answers one receives: ideas that just pop into your mind, answers to prayers
that show up at just the right time, or promptings to take a different path.
Some people tell stories of hearing a certain song that helped them feel the
truth to a message they needed to hear. Sometimes answers come in an inspirational talk or a podcast.
Some people hear words in their mind when receiving personal
revelation. Other people describe it as a light feeling that won’t go away. In
scriptural times, angels came to deliver messages from God and there are many
recent stories that help us see that angels are still part of our every day
lives.
Prayer is the key in starting our communication with God in
hopes of receiving inspiration and revelation in the things He wants us to do.
So you pray. You listen . . . and then you wait. With a
promise that all our prayers will be answered, we have to make sure we go into
prayer knowing that sometimes the answers will be different than what we think
we want or need. Just like in scriptural times, sometimes that answer will take
longer than we had hoped in our plan—and sometimes they will come before we
think we are ready. But when we go to God—with a sincere desire to do His
will—we will always get an answer. He has a plan for each of us.
So lets say you start gearing your prayers to something you
feel strongly about and soon you get a prompting for a new relationship, a life
change, or a new career path (or
whatever it is you feel is time to change or do differently). You feel good
about it in the moment. You feel brave, excited, and a little scared, but
pumped up with this idea that you just know is an answer to many prayers. You
start making plans in your head and just can’t wait to share it with your partner, or your parent, or someone you love. You are ready to take it all on and you can’t
wait to have someone to celebrate with.
Here is where a struggle can come. In your excitement,
you share your prompting with people—or the person—you couldn’t wait to share
it with. Sometimes your change, your new idea, has not been anticipated and is
greeted with doubt or questions that make you start to wonder if you really did
receive personal revelation or if you just had a hair brain idea pop in your
head that you really shouldn’t waste your time on.
Defeated, you walk away full of doubt, feeling a little dark,
even doubting if you have the ability to receive inspiration for yourself at
all. Thinking maybe your mom, or your co-worker is the one who is right. You
start thinking about all the times you have failed in the past and realize that
starting a new path will probably just end the same. So why try?
You let that idea fade away. Sometimes you look back and
wonder What if? But never really feel
brave enough to ever go there again. So you don’t really fail . . . because you
never started . . . but you don’t really feel like you are succeeding because
where you are is just safe . . . not because it feels right, but because it has
just been what was easy.
Fear of failure.
Maybe this hasn’t been your story. But I
have heard thousands of stories just like this. And you know what? It makes
sense. What better way to keep us from success than to send those we love to
make us doubt? Especially ourselves. Satan is a clever one isn’t he? For a lot
of us—in these moments—it just takes one doubter to stop us. Or one fear to
keep us stuck in our tracks.
So today, I am proposing a new way. Maybe it won’t work for
you, but it is something that I have learned the last few years that works for
me. Before you turn to another person for advise in your life, first ask in prayer for your own personal revelation to know where He needs you to be. So when you are secure in your plan and turn to others for their support you won't be blown back and forth by the noise —their fears, their thoughts, and their expectations of you.
Personal revelation is a gift—for you—from God. It is answers to your prayers to strengthen your
faith and help you make decisions on your
path. Once you find that answer, you have to move forward with the knowledge
that there might be many who are sent your way to try to stop you from using
your gifts to do good. Mean comments on social media, doubts in your abilities
from people you thought would be excited for you (this one happened to me when
I was pregnant with the twins), fear, frustrations, doubts that come into your
mind, and even the fears others share with you in their belief in you as a
person, can—and will—try to stop all of us from walking on our own path of
light.
Fear. Anger. Hate. Struggles with forgiveness. These are all
part of the process—opportunities for us to get back on our knees and ask for
more light to help us grow in our own unique way. Sometimes we have to fight
for light on our own. We have to be able to be humble enough to admit that we
need grace—the strength that cannot come from another mortal person—the light
that can only come from Christ.
Nobody ever got big muscles asking others how to lift
weights, but never lifting anything. We have to do the work. Spending our time
asking others what they would do—if they were us—doesn’t help us figure out where God needs us
to be.
As sons and daughters of God, we can communicate with Him, through
prayer. We don’t need another person to use that gift and we don’t have to do
anything perfect in our lives to earn that blessing. He will hear you, no
matter where you are or where you have been because you are His son or daughter
and He cares about YOU. It is never too
late and you have never gone to far to say His name. His grace is enough. I
promise that if you are seeking an answer from Him, you will find one. Maybe
not the answer you were hoping for, but it will be the answer that is right for
you.
You have unlimited potential. Do not let the fears and hate
of others hold you back from becoming everything God sees in you. You are
worthy of His love because . . . you are you.
God doesn’t get us to change by sending fear. He leads us to
the light. Follow that light. It will
never fail you. And remember, nobody can give you more love than the love they feel
for themselves. If someone is sending you hate, it isn’t you they can’t stand .
. . it is themselves.
You don’t need to listen to the noise. To be genuine is to
be you. You are one of the greatest gifts God gave this world. So go be bold
and let your light shine. You were made for this life thing. Light it up.
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