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At two different times in separate seasons, my husband and I were called off the mission field back to the States.

And both times were for the same reason, because of my mental health.

This morning I was reflecting on our latest stint abroad and was remembering that in this very month last year we had just flown back. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since our return.

Once we returned, a lot of different things happened that quickly pulled our attention away from our reality of re-entering back into our home culture and processing that return. So I was not surprised that my brain began bringing up those memories of our return now that it had been one full year.

I watched the second season trailer of The Chosen, a wonderful and beautifully done series on the life and ministry of Jesus. In that trailer the ministry of Jesus triggered in my heart the grief of us having to walk away from our ministry for Him in both Southeast Asia and East Asia.

The tears poured. And my conversation with Jesus went like this:

me: “I wanted to serve You.”

Jesus: “And I wanted to heal you.”

me: “But it has always been my desire to serve You as a missionary overseas.”

Jesus: “I called you to follow me… to follow me where I lead you and your husband… to follow me wherever that takes you in this life.”

And then more tears poured followed by a comforting peace that only comes from Him.

If you have had to walk away from an assignment the Lord had previously called you to and grief wells up within you because you miss being a part of that type of work for the Lord, have peace in your heart.

As long as you followed Him and continue to follow Him, then that is reason to allow yourself to be filled with joy that your service to the Lord, though it looks different now than before, has not come to an end and never will.

It is not about what we do for the Lord, for that can change in different seasons of our lives, but it is about continuing to have a heart that still responds to the daily call of Jesus to follow Him wherever that leads.

When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
John 21:21-22

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” 

Matthew 7:13-14

I keep hearing two different words simultaneously for two separate audiences. The first word is a strong warning I have felt in my spirit since January of this year for the disobedient and those who do not walk with and trust in God.

God longs to show the unrepentant mercy. He longs for all to know Him and to live an abundant life. When a lost sheep is missing, he is in great danger and his life is in peril. God goes after the one lost sheep, and the heavens rejoice when that lost sheep is found.

The Lord has been working to get your attention, to wake you up, to bring you back to His heart, but sadly to no avail. And His warning for you is that you are continuing down a road that does not end well; a very destructive and damaging road. He is calling you to Himself, to return to safety and security in Him, where your salvation alone is found.

The second word is a word of encouragement for those that are close to the Lord. He is about to move powerfully on your behalf and for His glory. Good things will come as a result and joy and rest are your portion, for He knows of your suffering and pain you are and have been enduring for righteousness.

Keep on persevering and trusting Him and His ways. He is not finished with you, on the contrary, He has only just begun His good work in and through you.

In this second part, I am continuing to share encouraging helps that will motivate you to share your faith more confidently. I will also be giving visual examples of how to begin sharing the gospel with new ears, something that is not complicated or overwhelming to discuss. And of course there is so much more to share when we discuss the gospel with others, but these are just the early talking points and ways to begin these conversations. Do not fear sharing your faith and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you!

 

 

In my time with the Lord this morning, I fell apart. I cried for a good portion of the time, lamenting and asking the Lord, once again, for help with a challenging situation.

 

This situation started with difficulty and has grown to be more trying over time.

 

I have been long-suffering and patient, truly relying on the Lord to be my strength and help. But I had no idea how to improve this situation or make it better.

 

Then, while crying out to God with great frustration coupled with sorrow with not knowing what to do, He spoke clear and gentle to my heart. He told me to research my situation on the internet and to gain the insight of others who were educated on this very issue.

 

While I was doing my research the Lord used it to speak to my heart with what He wanted me to do.

 

He answered me. He provided me a solution that I had never thought of before and mostly because I was lacking in knowledge in this area.

 

And as God gave me the solution, as my mind grew clear and my tears dried up, I was baffled to why I had never thought of this before. It seemed such a simple idea; a solution that was not so out of reach as I had thought.

 

I felt comforted by the Lord. I began to smile and I truly felt delivered out of a hopeless situation.

 

How many times do we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, when just allowing ourselves to be educated more about the situation would actually be a helpful solution than to remain in our frustration and misery.

 

This has not been the first time that the Lord directed me to do my own research about an issue. He has led me multiple times to do so, and each time I am amazed that all I was lacking was a little more understanding than I had.

 

I have yet to implement the new things I learned, but I plan to do so. And having a plan to pull myself out of a stuck and miserable situation has lightened my heart. I am fully confident that the Lord provided this solution for me, and even more confident that He will help me follow through with what He has told me to do.

 

If this solution had come to me only a month prior, I would not have agreed with it to be honest with you. My heart was working out of a place of fear within this situation, and moving forward with the answer God had for me would have been met with a negative response because of that fear.

 

But God was patient with me. He first had me deal with the fear. Once that was dealt with in my heart, then providing me steps of obedience would be received much more warmly and gratefully.

 

How many of us are crying out for help in our different situations, not receiving a solution or a deliverance out of it, because the Lord wants us to respond His way rather than our way?

 

In my multiple laments before the Lord about this situation, I was asking Him to intervene and just change it. But He would not intervene in the way that I was thinking or hoping. In fact, I wanted Him to intervene because it was the easiest way out and most comfortable for me.

 

Yet, because He knows what is best, He answered me with His plan to help deliver me.

 

His plan requires more faith and trust out of me, and it requires courage. I have to have a hard conversation with someone I love dearly, a conversation that I have been avoiding because I just wanted God to fix it. But He gently showed me that the conversation needs to be had and my research on the situation gave me confidence and understanding of not only what to do, but how to communicate in a loving way to this individual.

 

While crying out to God for our situations to be resolved or changed, let us be open minded and open hearted towards Him for His response.

 

We might want something our way so much, that when He does tell us what He wants us to do, or tells us how He wants us to respond, we could miss out on what He told us because it was not what we were wanting to hear.

 

Let us choose to not have selective hearing with God, only listening for what we want to hear and what we feel is the solution to our problems. Let us sit still before the Lord and hear Him for what He is truly saying to our hearts.

 

Often times the Lord is trying to get our attention, but we have allowed distractions, which dangerously have the potential to become idols to us, if not already, to keep us from hearing His voice.

 

For us to hear the voice of God, we must learn it and be able to recognize it. Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

 

 

Listening to His voice every single day is an activity, that over time, years even, will sharpen your discernment to recognize Him when He speaks to you. If you, however, are not familiar with His voice, then when other voices come at you it will be difficult for you to quickly shut them off and you can be easily deceived.

 

Knowing His voice in this season is so extremely important, because the enemy is working hard tickling the ears of men. Many are waking up to this tickling and growing a healthy distaste for it, but be wise and practice hearing God’s voice so other things out there parading themselves as truth does not get the attention it craves from you.

 

Knowing God’s voice will be your protection, and practicing daily listening to His voice will build a confidence in you to trust when He is speaking to you. God is calling us to know His voice.

A huge lesson that the Lord continues to have me learn is being aware that I always have a choice in every situation I find myself in.

 

I struggled to take ownership of my own free will in specific areas of my life where I felt I had no control, while others or something else did. 

 

I would find myself, for example, in a job feeling disillusioned and stuck. I would be miserable and downright depressed because of my situation and still I would not take ownership of the choice I was making to stay in that job. 

 

It took me a long time, longer than I liked to admit, to learn that I always had control to stay in such life challenging situations or make decisions that resulted in their change.

 

And when I did find myself feeling “stuck” it was often motivated by a deep rooted fear within me.

 

I feared the consequences of my decision to try and get “unstuck”. I feared the opinions of others and the possible rebuke from a non understanding friend or acquaintance. 

 

And recently, I have learned how feeling stuck within a relationship can be resolved with setting healthy boundaries. 

 

To get out of a job you dislike and that is tormenting you can involve a few steps. Work on your resume, seek out another job that hires you, and put in your two weeks notice with the current horrible job.  

 

Now if the job you feel stuck in involved a ton of investment and years of faithfulness on your part, the choosing to seek another job is a much more difficult and gut wrenching choice, but a choice that is still yours to freely make.

 

Relationships are a bit trickier and I am sure you will agree with me on this one.

 

Some relationships we can put an end to if the situation has become unhealthy and toxic, while other relationships, such as a marital one or a family member, we have to find our way out of the “stuck” situation in a more wiser way.

 

And as I mentioned above, using healthy boundaries within those challenging relationships will be your best solution to begin feeling “unstuck” again. 

 

If the other party is being disrespectful or hurtful to you, you have the choice to not receive their behavior. You can walk away until they respect you within a conversation. You can inform them that you will not be treated the way they are treating you and, thus, you are setting a boundary line. If they cross that line, the relationship cannot be as they would like. 

 

A lie that likes to find its way into my head is believing that I do not have a choice in a situation. 

 

When I recognize that I am holding onto this lie, I know it is time to rethink what is running through my mind. 

 

We always have a choice. God has given us the gift of free will. When we use our free will to pull ourselves out of unwanted and harmful situations, we are honoring what God has given us. 

 

There are plenty of well written books on this subject of setting healthy boundaries within relationships. I encourage you to research one for yourself to read and then to apply boundary setting in your life if needed. 

 

Do not allow yourself to believe the lie that you are “stuck” and you cannot get out. This is not true. It most likely will take great courage to set boundaries in a difficult or even abusive relationship, but find that courage and strength in the Lord and use your right to choose. 

 

The winds are blowing, the season is changing, hope will be renewed and joy will spring forth in the hearts of man once again. Freedom is coming, great freedom like never experienced before. The future is bright, incredibly bright. Burdens will no longer be so heavy and God’s rest will envelope His people.

 

He promises it is all coming. Let the winds blow till they have completed their part. Let life shift and shift some more until everything is put in the right place, as they should be.

 

Doom and gloom is not the next season, it is quite the opposite. Those that have called the next season and current season wrong will repent and will be amazed at what God is really doing and has been doing. If they had just trusted His voice, not been easily swayed, they would now have room to rejoice, instead being in sorrow of their own making.

 

But God is full of love and compassion and He will lift their heads again, and they will be changed. Then all will be ready for things to come, things planned before time, things that are great and wonderful. Praise the Lord!

One powerful thing that I am learning in my life right now, is that in order for us to move forward with our lives, with our relationships and with our relationship with the Lord even, we must revisit the moments of pain and brokenness that have not had the chance to heal.

 

Asking the Lord to reveal to you where those wounds are within you will not only give Him permission to continually bring you the healing you need, but it will give Him permission to show you a wound you thought was nonexistent.

 

This happens to me a lot , and yet, each time I am terribly surprised when God does reveal to me a wound He wants to heal.

 

Healing from wounds and trauma is a journey for each of us that will take on their own paths. 

 

It is not uncommon for people to live their lives with unattended wounds that perhaps they are completely unaware of. 

 

Remaining in a place of humility before the Lord helps when wounds are revealed to us. Our pride, however, works against what God is wanting to do in us. It says there is nothing wrong with us and we are fine. Pride puts up an invisible barrier that keeps the hand of the Lord from working in areas of woundedness.

 

There are behaviors that people have when they have unattended wounds in their souls. These behaviors vary from person to person, but always the behavior is definitely not a reflection of a whole and healed soul. A wound reveals itself in wrong behaviors, and for some even alarming behaviors.

 

Be observant of yourself. In stressful situations see how you respond. Are you being triggered in anyway? Are you perhaps overreacting to something because you are experiencing it through a wound that is already within you? Are you easily irritable and take things out on those closest to you?

 

These are just a few signs of unattended wounds that need to be cared for and healed. 

 

Since life hands each of us a lot of hurt and pain, it is never a waste to have a time of self-reflection, asking the Lord to show you any area of your life and heart that He wants from you. Holding anything  back from Him is a sign of mistrust and fear. But you can trust the Lord with your soul wounds and you can trust that He will be gentle and kind.

 

Praying the Lord will bring you full healing in the right timing and when you are ready to yield to Him your wounds.