What if fulfilling your purpose will be really uncomfortable? It will.

What if answering your calling will take you outside of what is easy for you? It will.

What if living up to your God given potential will stretch you and push you? It will.

Oh it will. God never promised this would be comfortable, he never even suggested it. He never said this would be easy. He never said all he has planned for you would be within reach, be visible, or even make sense.

So Sis, why are you still here seeking to be comfortable on this journey? Why are you complaining about how hard this is, tempting yourself to give up? Why are you only entertaining the things that would be certain, would be easy, and would be within reason? Why are you settling for what you know, what you understand, and what you can see? There’s SO MUCH MORE FOR YOU.

God has more for you.

More living.More purpose.More impact.More beauty.More growth.More joy.

What you’ve experienced so far is just the tip of this iceberg.

An iceberg in the Arctic waters appears massive, but this mass you see is only a tiny fraction of what is really there. You only see 10% and think it’s big, but 90% remains below the waves in the water. And so it is with all God has planned for you. You see what’s above the water, but honey, there’s so much more for you.

This isn’t all there is. You can’t stop here. You can’t settle here. You can’t say this is good enough. This is that 10% tip of the iceberg, God wants you to dive in the deep waters and discover the true treasure of what he created you for.

What will it require of you?

It will require a willingness to get out of your comfort zone. It will require a willingness to do things that don’t make sense. A willingness to try and potentially fail, then try again. A willingness to look foolish. Why? Because you’re working for the 90% that is still unseen, trusting if God said there’s more for you in this life, then you’re out there looking for it. Diving for it. Digging for it. Going for it.

Why are you holding back? Why are you playing little? Why are you assuming you can’t?

God is calling you forward into bigger things that are way over your head … won’t you follow him there? Won’t you dare to show up for whatever he may be doing and just declare you want to be part of it?!!!

God, I don’t know what you’re doing. I have no idea what’s beneath what I see here, but I want in on it! I’m willing to be uncomfortable to go where you’re leading me. I’m willing to let go of all that is familiar to discover the depths of your plans for me. And I’m willing to do the daily work that appears small right now, proving I’m faithful so I can have a shot at the bigger stuff.

This is the tip of the iceberg … I want to know what else is here for me, God!

When God gave Noah instructions to build a boat, it is believed rain had never fallen on those deserts. They didn’t even know what rain looked like. So talk about being outside of your comfort zone, building a boat in a drought. In a desert place. In a barren land. In the sand.

But when God says build a boat, you build that boat, and you build it in the sand. In the absence of rain. When it doesn’t make sense. When no one else will understand. Why? Because you know what you see is just the tip of the iceberg. God has soooooo much more to still show you.

If you knew what to do here, it sure would make things easier, wouldn’t it? If you knew how to raise her, how to love him, how to work through this, and how to handle that … but you feel like you don’t know. You don’t know for sure what to do. You don’t know how to be the mom she needs. You don’t know how to be the wife he needs. You don’t know how to be their daughter, their teacher, their boss.

What if I could tell you exactly how to do this right? What if I could guide you to the answers you seek and show you exactly how to tap into the things you don’t know?

Of course you know I’m going to tell you to pray. Pray about it. It seems like a cheap answer, so I will give you something of greater value. I’m going to show you exactly what to pray for. A prayer God will honor. A prayer God will answer immediately. A prayer that guarantees you will be walking in divine answers by the end of this day. That’s a bold claim … I can back it up.

If you’re ready to pray a powerful prayer that changes any circumstance and applies to every situation, listen up.

This prayer is given to us by Solomon. King Solomon was known as the wisest man to ever live. I Kings 4: 29-30 “God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men. He was wiser than anyone else.”

But did you know Solomon wasn’t born with this wisdom. He wasn’t always the wisest man to ever live. His wisdom came as a result of a prayer. A prayer that changed everything for Solomon. We find his prayer in the previous chapter.

I Kings 3: 5-11 “That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied, “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong.”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

This is the story of how Solomon became the wisest man to ever live. He asked God for wisdom. And God is pleased when we ask for wisdom. When we ask for an understanding heart to know right from wrong, God answers in big ways.

If God came to you, as he did Solomon, and he said to you, “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you.” What would you ask for? Really, think about it. Right here in your current circumstances. In this unknown. In this mess and stress. What would you ask for?

Wouldn’t we ask for God to make your husband change? Wouldn’t we ask for God to stop your child in their tracks and make them turn back? Wouldn’t we ask for him to come in and fix this? Change this? Wouldn’t we ask for a breakthrough? Wouldn’t we ask for a total turn around? Wouldn’t we ask for undeniable favor in these circumstances?

How did you wake up this morning? Did you wake up with anxiety, or excitement?

Are you anxious about this day? Are you overwhelmed before it even begins? Are you dreading all you have to do, already assuming you won’t have enough of whatever it requires? Dang, that’s exhausting, isn’t it?

I assure you, regardless of circumstances, anxiety was optional for today. It’s all a matter of what you are believing. If you’re believing in a negative outcome, you feel anxious. If you’re believing in a positive outcome, you feel excitement. It’s actually quite simple. If you shift what you believe, you will change the trajectory of your days.

Did you know the feeling of anxiety is physically and functionally almost the same as the feeling of excitement? Both feelings cause your heart to race and give you butterflies in your stomach. Your pits get sweaty. What is happening here is your body is preparing itself for action. However if you label it anxiety, it produces a totally different result than excitement, yet they are remarkably the same in your body.

Anxiety comes from a place of fear. When we operate from anxiety, we simply survive and we dismiss ourselves from opportunities and possibilities perfectly aligned for us. That same elevated heart rate, butterflies and sweaty pits, when received as excitement, could have us rip roaring ready to accept the challenge and show up as our best selves. It’s our choice.

Could this be why we are told in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

God’s will is not for you to be anxious … about anything! Ever. He never wants you in a tizzy. He never wants you flipping out, stressed out, or hiding under the covers. He never wants you hiding from your days, sitting it out, assuming you could never be better, and life could never be different for you. Guess who’s plan that is for you? Could it be Satan? You bet your butt it could be! Not God! Not God’s good plan. Not for his girl!

Instead, God’s word says, hey, don’t be anxious about this, but talk to me about it. Could praying about it change our perspective on the circumstances? Could we turn from fear to anticipation? Could we shift from anxiety to excitement? Absolutely we can, because we are assured God hears our prayers and is moved to action on our behalf!

1 John 5:15 “And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

Hey sis, you don’t have to be anxious about this. You have been given permission to get excited about how God is going to move for you. All you have to do is ASK HIM. And when you ask him, you know he hears you and begins to move mountains for you. You should go ahead and get excited for some mountain moving in your life. Impossible things shall be made possible! Maybe not in the way you expected, and maybe not in the timing you had in mind, but in God’s perfect timing and perfect ways, IT WILL HAPPEN. You can get excited about it.

As soon as you decide you are excited instead of anxious, you’re no longer dismissing opportunities, you’re showing up ready for them! There is a shift, and you will feel it. You will see it. You will walk in it.

A study out of Harvard asked people to speak out loud before having to perform in public. They were asked to announce that they either felt anxious or that they felt excited. One would say, “I feel anxious about this.” The next person would say, “I feel excited about this.” One by one,

Standing where you are, you cannot see what God can see. You see right now, God sees forever. You see right here, God sees where you haven’t been yet.

Maybe you’re freaking out about what you see. You didn’t ask for this, you didn’t want it, and you can’t control it. You can’t see beyond this. This problem. This issue. This threat. This hardship. It’s literally all you can see. All you can think about. But can you trust God has already prepared a path beyond this? Can you trust that God’s plan exceeds today’s problem? Can you trust his promise is still preparing you for your purpose?

Even when you don’t see it.Even when you can’t feel it.Even when right now is so overwhelmingly disappointing.Even when everything within you wants to freak out.

God is in this story.

Do you know the song? It’s practically playing every 5 songs on K-Love right now. “God Is In This Story” by Big Daddy Weave and Katy Nicole. It says:

God is in this storyGod is in the detailsEven in the broken partsHe holds my heart, He never failsWhen I’m at my weakestI will trust in JesusAlways in the highs and lowsThe One who goes before meGod is in this story

I may not know your story, but I know this much … God is in it. He’s in every detail. He’s in every broken part, every high and low, he’s right there with you, guiding you to the rest of the story. The next chapter.

Understand, my sister, this isn’t all there is. This may be all you can see, but this isn’t all God has written for you. There’s a high after this low. There’s healing after this disease. There’s joy after this heartache. There’s restoration after this breaking. God sees it, and he’s leading you to it.

When all you see is a cross, God sees the empty tomb. He already sees how this suffering is for eternal impact. He already sees how what seems so unbearably bad today becomes something unspeakably good later. But honey, we didn’t get that empty tomb with a risen savior, without first going to the cross. And my guess is, we don’t get our beauty without first holding some ashes. We don’t get our victory without first facing the battle. We don’t overcome without first being overwhelmed. The breakthrough comes after the break down.

All you see is that cross.

When you’re in Matthew 27, all you know is:

Verse 35 “They nailed him to the cross.”

Verse 46 “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Verse 50 “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.”

And now Jesus is dead. Hanging on a cross, dead.

Defeat. Hopelessness. Silence.

But, you haven’t seen the next chapter. All you see is the cross. You see the suffering. You see what is wrong. You see what is hurting you. You see what you want to change, but seem powerless to change. But honey, God is in this story! And when God is in the story, it isn’t over.

Can I just assure you, your story isn’t over. You may be staring down a cross, but there’s so much more beyond this. There’s a victory after this battle. There’s beauty after these ashes. There’s wholeness after this brokenness. There’s eternal after this temporary. There’s a Chapter 28.

You can’t stop at the cross. You can’t stop at the nails. It doesn’t end there.

I trust God, but sometimes I like to give God suggestions. You know just in case he was 50/50 on what to do, I like to interject by bright ideas and tell him how he could make things work out really good. I occasionally even tell God how he could do “cool things”, as if he was sitting on his throne in heaven stumped over how he could pull off something cool today and he was waiting on me to help him.

Do you do that too? Do your humble prayers sound more like, “Oh good heavenly Father, you are all-knowing and all-powerful, now use your power to make this work out for me the way I want. And go ahead and make it really cool. Amen.”

Yip, mine too.

I wonder what God thinks of our ideas of taking the path of least resistance. I wonder how God views our tendency to desire what is fastest and easiest. I wonder how God feels about our complete avoidance of hardship, struggle, and suffering.

Well, there just so happens to be a story in the bible about this exact thing. Let’s read it together.

Matthew 16, Jesus is walking along with his disciples. They’re doing awesome miracles together and making a huge impact every where they go. In fact, they had just finished feeding the crowd of thousands with a small amount of bread and fish. Now they know his power. The disciples know Jesus is the One. They’re all in.

Verse 21-23 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Understand Peter was just trying to save Jesus from suffering. He was trying to find an easier way. He was trying to fix this. And Jesus said, THIS SUFFERING DOESN’T NEED TO BE FIXED. THIS HARDSHIP DOESN’T NEED TO BE AVOIDED.

That’s a hard pill to swallow. I want my suffering and your suffering to be fixed. Like immediately. I don’t want times to be hard for anyone. If there was something I could do to ease my friend Nicky’s pain after losing her husband 3 weeks ago, gosh I would do it. If I could lift the suffering of my friend who just lost her baby, I would do it. If I could make your marriage problems go away, I would in a heartbeat. If I could solve your financial problems, boom, it would be fixed in an instant. If I could lift your burdens… If I could clear the way… If I could bring your child back… If I could restore what has been broken…

I would be like Oprah. You get a new car. You get a good marriage. You get health. You get a whole child. You get a bonus. You get a baby. You get a tiny waist. You all get EVERYTHING! No suffering. No struggle. No waiting. All your problems are fixed and there’s nothing but sunshine and glitter ahead, my friend. And my work would be complete … I fixed it all for you … If I could.

And to that, Jesus would say to me, “Satan, get behind me!”

Why? Because just like Peter, I’m focusing on the wrong thing. I’m focusing on human concerns and overlooking the fact that God’s concerns are bigger, greater, and far beyond anything I can imagine. God is in the eternal game where current suffering will be redeemed. I tend to play in the right now game where suffering is always avoided.

In your effort to avoid the suffering, go around the hardship,

Everything you need to fulfill your life’s purpose has been given to you. The path to your destiny has been laid before you, and you have been equipped for the journey. You are lacking absolutely nothing.

But your very first thoughts this morning were likely on lack. You didn’t get enough sleep. You don’t have enough energy. You don’t have enough time.

Those were just your first thoughts. They are quickly followed by a barrage of thoughts suggesting you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve let others down, you’ve let yourself down, and you’re just one huge disappointment. Why even try today? You’re lazy. You’re fat. You’re incapable of change. You’re hopeless. You’re you’re not loved enough, supported enough, or strong enough.

Isn’t it odd how a perfectly equipped girl like you can feel so totally unequipped.

Why is that?

Has the enemy been whispering in your ear, convincing you that you simply don’t have what it takes? Has he been backing you into a corner with the intentions of keeping you stuck doing the same ol’ things you’ve always done, always feeling like you don’t measure up?

Well how much longer are you going to allow him to back you into that corner? How much longer will you do the same ol’ things that haven’t been working? How much longer will you believe this is as good as it’s going to get for you, so settling here is your best option?

Have you been co-signing with the devil? He suggests you are too tired today and you quickly partner with him in agreement. You know what, I am too tired today! Satan, you’re right. This girl is exhausted. All that I said I was going to do today is going to have to wait.

The devil suggests you are overwhelmed, and you’re like yasssssssssss, that’s exactly what I am. I am overwhelmed. As you accept that identity offered to you from the pits of hell, every thought in your mind aligns to what you have accepted, and confirms, indeed, you are entirely too overwhelmed to try to do anything different.

He suggests you are unworthy. He suggests you are incapable of change. You are weak. You are broken. You are lazy. You are not good enough. It’s all suggested to you, and you’re co-signing every suggestion so fast your hand is going numb. “Yes, I am that. Yip, I feel that. Absolutely, I’ve been told that my whole life. Uh huh, that’s exactly what he said. Yeah, that’s my truth.”

STOP CO-SIGNING THE DEVILS SUGGESTIONS ABOUT YOU!

Did he form you in your mother’s womb? Did he plan all your days before a single day began? Are his fingerprints on the inner parts of your being? Did he send his son to die for you?

No. No he did not.

God did that. God formed you in your mother’s womb. He knit you together with love and care in every detail and declared you were his masterpiece. He planned all your days before a single one began, and he said they were good plans, plans to prosper you and give you hope and a future. It’s God’s fingerprints on the inner parts of your being, designing you first as a soul and then giving that soul a body. And it’s only God who willingly gave his son for you so that you wouldn’t perish, but have everlasting life.

So, here’s a thought …

I know this is wild. I know this is really out there and bizarre. I know this might be really awkward in the beginning because it’s so unlike what you’ve been doing before. But,

When you’re trying to get somewhere, you want all green lights, right? Give me the go, and let me get there fast. Oh you feel like God is really on your side when every light turns green for you. Ohhhh, look at me moving forward with favor. Ohhhhh girl, the Lord must be delighting in me. Look at every light turning green for me right on time.

But what about the times when you see yellow on your approach? You know that light is turning red and you’re too late to make it. You reluctantly hit the brakes, and you sit there and you wait. Frustrated. Going nowhere. Being held back. Denied entry. Delayed. Finally you get to move forward again, and wouldn’t you know it, the next light is red. And the next one. You can’t seem to make any progress because every single thing is working against you.

So, which one is walking in the favor of God? Which one is a result of the direction of the Almighty?

What if I could prove BOTH are the favor of God? What if I could prove to you that your series of red lights is just as much under the direction of the Almighty as your series of green lights?

If I could prove it to you, would you calm the heck down and enjoy the ride a little more?

Girl, you are not enjoying this ride. You’re in such a rush to get to where it is you think you’re going, but as soon as you get there, you will be rushing to what’s next. There’s no joy in this. And guess what … this is the only ride you get. You get one shot at this journey through life. If you’re rushing for green lights, and hating on every red light, you’re missing the joy of the journey.

Imagine if every light were green. We all get green lights all the time. What would happen? Massive pileup! Disaster! You think all green lights would get you there faster, but the truth is, all green lights wouldn’t get you there at all. Red lights protect you from head on collisions you would have never seen coming.

What’s God trying to tell us this morning? Stop hating on this red light you’re sitting stuck at. This isn’t a punishment. This is divine direction and providential protection.

Psalm 37:23 “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

Girl, if God is going to direct your steps, he’s also going to direct your stops. Your light is going to turn red, and you’re going to have to stop here, and this journey will go a whole lot smoother if you can learn to trust the stops instead of fight them.

Have you ever ridden with one of those hasty drivers who refuses to sit at a red light? They’re cutting through parking lots and back roads, all in an effort to never have to stop. I was once one of those drivers. Really, I was, but it was only in my Grandma’s 1985 blue Chevy Cavalier. Grandma’s car had a little issue. After driving on the highway for an extended amount of time, the engine would die at the first stop, and getting that puppy started again wasn’t easy. As a teenager, taking my grandma to the big city of Springfield, Missouri for her doctor’s appointments, sitting at a stop light with a stalled out car was the most embarrassing thing ever. For real Lord, just take me now, I don’t want to see my grandma roll down the window and wave another car past us.

So, I got smart. I strategically planned my escape route. If the first light off the highway was red, I would cut through the gas station, gun it through the other parking lots, and cut back in on the road. Don’t stop, and the engine kept running. About the third time I tried that little trick I nearly lost the bottom side of t...

Sometimes life simply isn’t fair. We can sit and sulk in that and lose all hope, or we can lift our eyes to heaven where our help comes from. Help is here for you today. Hope is here for you in this moment. Strength and courage are here for you, my sister. And although it may not feel like it right now, there’s something else in alignment for you. Something else straight from the hand of an Almighty God who is personally invested in your life.

What is it?

Double for your trouble.Double blessing.Double repayment.Everything that was taken will be restored, double.

Now maybe you’re trying to filter that through your current trouble and you’re having trouble reasoning how that could be possible. How could God repay you double? How could he ever make this right? How in the world will you ever be okay? Well, Sis, this doesn’t require your understanding, it simply requires your availability.

God says in Zechariah 9: 11-12 “Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon. Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles.”

Bring what little bit of hope you have left, and come to the Father counting on this covenant.

Lord, you promised to repay me two blessings for each of my troubles. Well, here are my troubles. It doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense to me how you will ever be able to make this good again, but I know this much, I can’t. I can’t fix this. I can’t make this okay. So, I turn it over to you and I’m waiting for you to do what you said you would do.

In this surrender, you have become available. Available for the Almighty to work in miraculous ways and do impossible things.

How will he do it? In impossible ways.

When will he do it? In miraculous timing.

Why will he do it? Because he promised he would.

A covenant has been made between us and God. That covenant was sealed with the blood of Jesus. God meant what he said, and he will fulfill every plan he has for us. No matter what has happened. Regardless of how bad things look right now. God plans to restore you and repay you. Not just what you lost, but double!

1 Peter 5:10 “The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ, will have you put together and on your feet for good.”

Can God put you together again? Well, only he could, right? Only he could put your feet on the ground again after this knock down. Only he can turn this suffering into rejoicing again. So our job isn’t to fix this, our job is to be available to the one who can.

But I know what we do after a hard blow. We pull back. We hide. We shut down. We withdraw into darkness where our mind is attacked and our spirit grows heavy. It’s what we do. But God has asked me to share this with you today. Will you receive this?

The Lord says, stay open to me! Stay open to my good plans, even when the unimaginable has happened. Stay open to my power, even when it feels hopeless. Stay open to my guidance, even when you feel like all you do is stumble. Don’t shut down here!

If you’ve been shutting down, if you’ve been hiding, if you’ve been checking out, I have a very simple prayer to pray with you today. Say this with me:

Lord, I won’t shut down here.

What is alive within you, but it has never gotten to live anywhere outside of you?

God has given you something. He’s given you a dream. He’s given you a vision. A passion. A gift. And it’s been secretly tucked away inside of you. You think you’ve been saving it. You’re protecting it. But do not be fooled sister. If you’re not doing anything with it, this thing God has given you is sitting within you, rotting.

You’re not keeping it safe by keeping it all inside. In your head are where dreams go to die. It’s where they get overwhelmed. It’s where they get talked down and wiped out. In here is where you dismiss yourself, where you play little, and you assume you could never be good enough to do anything about what might be inside of you.

Girl, what is dying inside of you?

The tragedy is not that one day you will die. The real tragedy is what is dying within you while you are alive.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

In your heart has been set eternity. God put eternal things within you. You don’t understand where it began and you can’t comprehend how it will never end, but you come from the eternal to complete your Earth journey at precisely this time and place in history. You’re here to represent the eternal with what you have inside of you.

But if what you have inside of you is dying, then you’re missing the point.

Here’s proof you God has set eternity in your heart … you know there’s got to be more. You can’t explain it, you’ve never seen it, but you know there’s more to life than is here now. You feel the call and pull toward more. You have felt that stirring of your spirit that connects with something greater than you. You have a longing and a hope for more.

Sis, that’s the eternity that God himself set in your heart.

He has trusted you with something special in your lifetime. Something of immeasurable value and worth. Something divine. And if you’ve allowed your doubts, fears, uncertainties and insecurities to push it down and hold it back, then you’re not fulfilling your time and place in history.

We’re all dying. But some of us are dying with that special thing still unlived inside of us. That piece of eternity that our world desperately needs and only you can offer … is it rotting inside of you?

Several years ago I shared a TEDTalk stage with a brilliant man who delivered a talk called “Live Full, Die Empty.” He shared the most expensive place on earth is not a palace. It is not a grand building at all. It is a cemetery. This place where we are buried, and if we die with what God has given us still unlived, then it becomes the most expensive place we will ever know.

You have something within you. God has set eternity in your heart. This is why you feel an undienable pull toward more. It’s why you can’t get away from it. It was put deep within your heart by your creator so you would never forget where you come from, what you’re made of, what you’re capable of, and what you’re here to do.

You’re here to live. Live full. Live completely. And let none of what God has put within you be buried with you.

Pour it out sis. Live out loud. Hold nothing back.

Is there more to all of this? No doubt! Now it’s up to you to live it and die empty. Let nothing go unsaid.

When was the last time you stopped in your tracks and thought “wow, I’m living my best life”? When do you know you’re in alignment with who you were created to be and what you were created to do? Where do you find that sense of fulfillment and completeness that confirms, yip, this is it, my best life?

Most would say it’s on a vacation of some sort. You know, those days when you wake up and the fancy coffee is already made for you. The days when your clothes fit just right and oppps, did you forget to take the tag off of that? Oh shucks, it’s because it’s all new. Welp, just a girl living her best life. A day when the sun is shining and you have absolutely nothing you have to do. It all just looks and feels so good.

Is that you living your best life?

Actually, that’s you living a 1 week vacation. That’s you escaping reality. That’s not your life, so how could it be your best life?

I’m going to speak a truth to you that may sting a little. What I’m about to say will go up against a whole lot of popular ‘name it and claim it’, ‘believe it and have it’, “do you boo” teachings of today, but I’m quite certain this is what God has asked me to share. Are you listening?

If you are only living your “best life” when you have totally escaped your daily reality, you’ve missed the point of your life.

Your best life can’t be 1 week out of the year. Your best life can’t be on some far removed place from the rest of your life. Your best life can’t be a pretend life that you can’t afford to maintain.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that he came so that you may have life, and have it abundantly. Do you honestly think he intended for that abundance of life to only be found 1 week out of the year while traveling? Imagine Jesus saying, “I have this abundant life for her, and when she is living it, she will know it’s her best life, but I’m only going to offer it to her in an allotment of her vacation days. The rest of the time she’s going to need to be miserable and just push through.”

That sounds absolutely ridiculous, yet that’s how we often live.

Today is just a Wednesday in November. There’s nothing great about this day. Nothing special knocking on my door. I’m not really looking forward to anything in particular today. This isn’t my best life today, this is just my ordinary life.

And so we separate our ordinary life from our best life. But how many days of your life are ordinary? The overwhelming majority! In fact, let’s look at the numbers. If you’ve reserved living your best life for your 1 week of vacation, that’s 1.9% of your year. Oh, you actually get 2 weeks of vacation? Okay, let’s give you that increase to be fair. That’s 3.8% of your year.

Are the numbers setting in?

Let’s be generous. Let’s assume your best life is really the entire summer months. Now you’re up to 17%. Do you really think God, in all of his power and wisdom, designed you to only get to live your best life 17% of the time?

What about the other 83%? That part wasn’t covered by the abundant life Jesus came to give you? That’s the part you just have to trudge your way through until you get back to the best parts?

Seems to me like we must have our best life confused here. Our best life is one living in alignment with God’s design for our existence. And maybe that really has nothing to do with fru-fru drinks served on a white san...