God has been revealing the best and worst of me over the last year and yes, it’s truly been exhausting yet exhilarating at the same time. Exposing to me and literally forcing me to become acutely aware of my weaknesses and strengths to reveal who He intended me to be through His divine grace. It is painful, awkward, funny, frustrating and silly all wrapped up in a ball. I guess this is what they call the divine transformation but let me tell you, for this Devine, it’s not a breeze.
I’m not making a very good case to “try this at home” but the payoff is so truly amazing it cannot be explained. I’ve been in a pressure cooker over the last year through work/life demands and through the pain and glory I find my way to a place that’s a little higher than before – I dig that!
Many talk about “controlling” emotions or don’t let them control you, but how? For me, trying to control them typically ended in masking emotions which means that it stays there waiting to come out probably 5 years down the road. Being disappointed has been a recurring plague in my life and God uses those past events to trigger the emotions that will allow us to become aware so we can address it head on and if we train ourselves with new processes we can reach a new level of awareness and find our way into living in a state of gratitude – the ultimate freedom destination.
How does one do this? Take a bad situation that broke your heart and find the events, people or outcomes that far outweigh the heart ache. It might take a little digging but I bet if you twist the mind enough to find something wonderful that lead up to the hurt or resulted after, you will find it hidden in the misery that steals our joy instead of releasing joy. Perhaps you met a life-long friend or participated in an event that would have never happened without this heartbreaking experience.
Earlier this week I had one of those moments – a moment that broke my heart with disappointment. I knew that it shouldn’t and I knew that I was way over reacting so I was determined to change it and find gratitude within my ego pity party. WOW! I am blown away by the result that came out of this small yet powerful shift in mindset which otherwise would have never happened. So radical that it makes me laugh out loud at the greatness surrounding this little disappointment! How can that be? Oh, it be – we do this constantly to ourselves. We can steal our own joy anytime we want OR we can see the miracles happening all around us!
Let me give you the practical wisdom of how I shifted from trying to control the hurt emotions to finding greatness all around the hurt that eliminated the pain. When I felt the hurt, I asked God to give me the strength to stop the painful emotions. That didn’t work. When I shifted my mind on finding tangible moments of gratitude I eliminated the hurt – it’s gone, seems silly now. This unlocks the greatness of God – the way He intends for us to use our minds so that we can serve Him and everyone around us as our best. Don’t misinterpret this as positive thinking or you will miss it. You must find the tangible evidence of feeling grateful. For me it was a multitude of things; friends and people that I’ve met, places I’ve visited and events that would have never been possible if I didn’t experience this little pain. It’s not a trick – it’s a new way to think, live and have permanent peace in our lives.
Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. ~ Acts 24:3
