Reflections and 4 lessons I've learned
Reflections &
4 Lessons I’ve Learned
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Growing up is a never ending process.
This past year we have all definitely had the chance to grow in different areas. Quarantine will do that to us. If this season of Covid-19 and quarantine has taught me anything, it’s that there are many places in the depths of my heart that aren’t as “pure” as I would hope them to be. There were and are certain entitlements, certain anxieties and certain faithlessness that I have had to contend with in these times.
I had another birthday come and go(Check out Dayspring’s Birthday Blessing Cards) and I wanted so much to be full of gratitude, but I struggled in the days prior. Somewhere along the years I have come to see birthdays as a time of reflection, and mostly I tend to focus on the areas of life where things haven’t been fulfilled. I look at my failures, rather than the gifts. It’s sinful. And I became very aware and repentant of that this weekend.
We got to spend the weekend at the beach with my family. My husband woke up on Saturday and had planned to make my favorite banana cream pudding for dessert that evening. He had found this copycat Magnolia Bakery Recipe that we always get when we travel to New York because it is the BEST. I was watching him whip the cream and layer the bananas and vanilla wafers one by one. He then finished and began to crumble the wafers on top. It was perfect and beautiful and in that moment I felt very deeply loved. I recognized Gods grace and the love that he has for me in the simple act of love my husband showed by making dessert. My eyes were opened to the faithfulness of God upon my life. The time I shared with my family, my parents and brother and sister in law and nephews. The support and love from friends.
It’s not that I never recognize this, but sometimes we just feel entitled, expectant, or we merely forget.
Living on this earth for however many years the Lord grants you is not always easy. Seasons can be full of challenges, worries and sorrow. Yet, in every season, I can say with so much confidence that God is good. His faithfulness and goodness are so clearly evident in my life, even more so in the struggles of life.
In Hebrews 10:23, it says that we must “hold unwaveringly to the hope…” and the more I reflected upon the depth of that verse, the more I realized that God has been so faithful, despite my mess ups and that despite all my desires and doubts, my insecurities and inadequacies, my faith and my faithlessness, the one calling I have to resolve to for the rest of my life is in this scripture.
I must, above everything else in this world, hold on to hope. To hold in this verse means to keep in memory or to seize; unwaveringly means firm, unbent and resolute, and hope, means to have confidence or be certain of what is sure.
Can we keep in our banks of remembrance, without bending, but holding firm to all that we are certain of? I may not be certain of many things, but I am certain that my God is for me and he draws me near and in all my years, he has always been faithful and so I can easily stand firm in that hope.
As I reflected on all these things, I realized 4 lessons I have learned in these 30 something years on this earth we happen to live in, but certainly are not of…
4 Lessons Learned after 39 Years of Living
Self awareness is important. As you grow up, you as a person begin to make more sense. You understand things differently. Perspective is everything. And hey, you’ve lived and experienced more so…there’s that. But you can never fully understand who you are if you don’t first KNOW whose you are. A daughter of the king, an heir of grace, beloved and known by God. Knowing who you are comes to a greater fulfillment when you understand the depths of being known by God.
Every Season is important. Be it a season of sorrow or a season of joy, the seasons under heaven are so many. When we realize that every season is simply a season, we look for the grace upon grace that Christ bestows onto our life. We yearn and seek for grace throughout the season; grace that wraps itself around our days and when we follow the vines of grace we find the branch of truth and love.
Abiding in God outweighs every hustle, every hurdle and every happenstance. He wraps himself around us, whether we feel his presence or whether he feels far away, God is always near. He never leaves our side. We must learn to abide no matter what we feel, and simply know the truth of who he is, for abiding in his presence always brings him close.
He is faithful. Always. His goodness never fails. His loving kindness never ceases to amaze.
In all my life, God is, was and always will be. He draws me close, despite my frailties and failures and he sees a woman who wants to desire him more than anything in this world. And that is something I can hold onto, stand firm in and it is my forever hope.
