My uncle taught me that “my God will provide”. In this season, those words have guided me through my day-to-day trials and allowed me to experience joy during my time in the valley.

While it may appear that I have been in a season of lack, God told me that I would not lose one thing. You see to the human eye it may look like a fall but in God’s eyes it is a setup for a come up. In this season, I often found myself saying Lord I do not know what you are preparing me for but I trust you. BUT, I had to change my words and just simply say Lord I trust you. Because no matter what He is preparing me for He has still been working in this season and for everything that I saw as lack, He has given me better.

A few weeks ago I received a major blessing that was over a year in the making. I had no idea nor was I even thinking about going in this direction but God said I have already seen what challenges are ahead, I know your needs and I will supply ALL your needs.  He put an individual in place and placed a seed in their mind that would come to harvest 18 months later.

Often in life we get so caught up in what things look like that we cannot see what they really are. We make plans and when the plans fall through, we are devastated. We waste time trying to regroup and we waste time trying to figure out what God is doing.  In these times, we must be still and allow God to truly be the head of our lives.

The super Saints will not get this but the Christians will… You do not have to be perfect for God to bless you, you do not have to say buzz words for God to bless you, and you do not have to stand on one leg and scratch your head for God to bless you…simply put, God will bless you in His way and in His time.

From this day forward do not to get caught up in the small stuff. So what your plans did not work out, God’s plans are much better than anything you could ever plan for yourself. Allow God to work out the details and follow His directions.  If you trust God to wake you up every day, why not trust him to make that day good. God is prepared to give you what you have asked for and everything that you need but the question is, do you trust Him?

Butterfly: Lord, why did you make me like this?

God: I created you to show the world that no matter how or where you start in life, your destiny is always greater.

Butterfly: But how? When I hatched, I was a small caterpillar, useless to others and unattractive.  I had to crawl everywhere, it took so long to get to different places.

God: I made you crawl so that you would understand life from the lowest point. By crawling you also had time to avoid dangers and traps that were awaiting ahead.  I made you small so that you would understand that your size was sufficient to achieve My purpose for your life.  Although you thought that you were unattractive, I created you to blend in with the elements for your protection.  You see Butterfly, I designed you for a specific purpose and everything about you contributed to you flying into your destiny.

Butterfly: But God, I had to consume myself and you hid me in a cocoon.

God: I know Butterfly, that was also in My plan.  You see in order for you to become who I wanted you to be, you had to give up who you thought you were supposed to be.  You had to consume yourself so that the things inside of you that were not in line with My will for your life would cease to exist.  Essentially, you had to die to be reborn a new creature.  I hid you so that you could develop.  I had to shield you from attacks so that you could transform without the weight (influences) of the outside world. I did all these things so that your transformation would show the world who I am.  Your transformation will encourage others to put their trust in Me.

Butterfly: So, you mean to tell me that You did all of this on purpose?  You care that much for me that you anticipated my needs and designed me to overcome the world.  God, why do you love me so much?  I have complained about my life and the things that I had to go through.  I have asked “God why me”, more times than I should have and I do not always follow your directions.

God: I love you so much because I created you in My image.  You are my child and I knew before you were created that you would complain about your life.  I knew that you would not understand the process but I also knew that your foundation was built on a rock and that rock would be your anchor. I knew that when times got hard, you would remember where you came from and appreciate where you are now.  I knew that your rebirth was going to be worth the struggles you faced in the beginning of your life.  My child, I gave you wings so that you could soar above adversity. I made you beautiful to others to show that everything I created is beauty.  Understand that everything I do is with purpose and there is purpose in your process.

Just like a butterfly, we are born to eventually transform into a new creature. He equips us with everything that we will need for this transformation and send us on our way to live our lives.  He has already determined who will be trusted to birth us, raise us, and stand by our sides throughout life.  God has seen every struggle, stumbling block, and attack that will come against our lives and He has made preparation in advance to get us through these times.  Trust God, He will never fail you. }i{ }i{ }i{

Romans 6-8: Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

It is normal to be different.  We were all designed differently for the purpose of fulfilling a common goal.  If everyone had the same assignment, no great work would ever be completed.  Therefore, have compassion for each person in their individual roles.  You need different perspectives and experiences to effectively tackle any situation.

More importantly, work your calling, do not attempt to fill the shoes of another.  You are a necessary part of the process.

While ironing my clothes, there was gospel music playing in the background. One song in particular came on and I began to sing along, thinking about how much preparation we make for the next day. We rarely stop and think that maybe there is no tomorrow for us.

One thing that I did faithfully for many years of my life was plan ahead.  I planned my whole life out before I completed elementary school.  So, naturally life has changed my outlook on planning but tonight, I was forced to reexamine my thoughts regarding planning.  As I listened to different stories today I heard a recurring theme, stories of plans but all the plans were contingent upon a tomorrow.

When we consider ourselves “healthy” (physically, mentally, financially), we have a tendency to arrange our lives so that we cut a lot of little things out because we think it will cause us to lose focus or hinder our progress.  It is easy to put things off for another day because you can justify your absence, your lack of compassion, or lack of interest due to your journey to the next level.  What we fail to realize is that time is something that we cannot get back.  We can develop the most well thought out plan and it will not mean a thing if we do not see tomorrow.

Life is full of the unknown but there are some things that we do know.  We know when we love someone, we know when someone has hurt us, we know when we want to see a change take place in our lives, we know when we miss someone, we know when we need to change course, and there are so many other things that we know so, LIVE LOVE LAUGH WITHOUT LIMITS.

1 John 2:19~They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

As we travel through life, we meet so many different people along the way.  The beautiful thing about this process is that we have the opportunity to interact and learn from each other.  Where we interrupt this process is by assigning temporary people, permanent positions.

A temporary person is meant to teach you a particular lesson, show you a different perspective, or maybe just share some of their sunshine along the way.  Often times instead of accepting the temporary nature of these relationships, we prolong the completion of their purpose by turning them into a permanent fixture in our lives.

It is ok to let go! It is ok to let go!  It is ok to let go! Today, thank God for those who left.

Chorus for today: “Letting go, letting go ain’t easy. Oh, it’s just exceedingly hurtful. ‘Cause somebody you used to know, is flinging your world around. And they watch, as you’re falling down, down, down, falling down, baby.”~MC

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh  from the beginning to the end.”~Eccl. 3:11

God has already told you certain things would occur in your life but because they have not happened, you have lost focus on the promise.

There was a time in my life that I started to grow weary in a promise God made to me.  I began to think was that God or did I tell myself that.  Sometimes we get discouraged by what we see and forget what God has spoken.  I was in church during Holy Week last year and the preacher said, “like a quarterback throwing passes to his receiver, you have to be in position to get your blessings.  God keeps throwing your blessing to you but you are not in place.  If you do not get in position, someone else is going to receive what God is trying to do for you.”  It was time to go where God was sending me.  God said be quiet because they won’t understand.  I did not have a major plan, I did what God instructed me to do.    He said don’t tell everybody because you don’t need their mouths on this.  People who care about you will always try to advise you as to what is best for you but when God is speaking, no other voice/opinion needs to be heard.  The moment I got to my destination, God sent confirmation that I was in the right place.  He sent an acceptance letter that I had been waiting two years to receive.  He was waiting for me to trust what He was doing in my life.  I had to experience growing pains to receive the promise.  God still had some things He had to work on.

Trust the Process because God’s promises shall be fulfilled, follow His instruction to receive the promises, and remember this is not about you, God wants the glory.

Chorus for today: “Sometimes you feel so alone, like a child lost with no home.  They keep telling you to be strong, but you say when will it end?  When will I win?  Just know He has His hands on you.”~Marvin Sapp

Trust and believe that God is always in control.  Allow Him to order your steps and watch God move.  Today was everything I thought it would be and more.  I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster.  My eyes are swollen, my voice is strained and my body is tired. In my new season God has stepped in and showed me, if I make one step, He’ll make two.

I’m running…..

My chorus for today is: “You’ve been qualified, by his mercy multiplied.  You cannot be denied, cuz you’re finally certified. It’s official, go ahead and testify. He’s gone bless you, you gone bless me, now God be glorified.”~Mary Mary