Time Issues..

Time is a crazy thing. It has been two weeks since my past post. I would like to say that the time has gone by fast, but the truth is it's been painfully slow. Every day I have been debating on what my new post would say and I keep changing it. Do I want to talk about my life in the past month? ummm...NO Do I want to talk about some random dude on the metro hitting on me? ummm..NO..maybe next time. You see I just haven't felt like talking. I've been thinking..and thinking alot. Not only have I been thinking, but watching. Watching the relationships around me. I've always been someone who tries to learn from my mistakes and from the mistakes of others. So...I've been watching things around me and my heart is sick.

In the last few months I have really started to notice the broken relationships around me, probably because they reminded me of something I was going through. But I really feel God revealed some truths to me. It's funny because the one thing that has been so frustrating for me in watching these broken relationships has been the issue of time. The reason it's funny is because at Frontline they're doing a dating series and the last point he made in his message was regarding taking the TIME to grow a Christ centered relationship. These broken relationships around me ALL could of been diverted if they had taken the time to grow together in Christ. It's so easy for us to let our emotions run away with us, isn't it?! It's so easy for us to assume God has given us these feelings. BTW: God doesn't give us feelings that's another subject for another time. Anywho, just think with me for a second, what if it isn't God?! What if we're being deceived by our own loneliness or the enemy? What if we're so wrapped up in our own emotions that we can't hear God's truth?

Our Father is amazing and He gives us all Free Will. One thing that has stuck out to me upon hearing these stories of broken relationships has been this question being asked...Why has God allowed this to happen to me? The truth is, which of course nobody wants to hear is He gives us Free Will and it's up to us to listen to Him or ourselves. The deceiver sometimes confuses us in that regard. God won't always stand in our way of making a HUGE mistake..as any good Father He'll allow us to make our OWN decisions and fall, so HE can teach us how to pick ourselves up. You know Todd at Frontline has said multiple times to be careful in our understanding of God, because sometimes we know JUST ENOUGH to make ourselves dangerous. We get proud and arrogant in our understanding. That's the moment the great deceiver can come in and destroy everything you've been working for. In these relationships I've seen..some have been married couples, others have been dating, but ALL were deceived. They allowed their emotions to rush them into unhealthy attachments which fogged the red flags until it was too late and now we're dealing with broken individuals desperate to understand how it happened. It happened because they didn't allow the emotions to calm down before they made life altering decisions. The heart is deceitful, which is why it's so important to hold God's truth in our actions. Love is patient. You know you never hear of people regretting going slow in a relationship, but you always hear of the regrets for going too fast. Love IS NOT an emotion, Love IS an ACTION. The act of giving yourself 100% for someone else without receiving anything in return. Christ on the cross, THAT is LOVE! Warm feelings, good intentions and butterflies in the stomach are not..

So, my advice to my girl friends who are thinking of settling on a guy because you're tired of waiting..Love is Patient. To my guy friends who are so wrapped up in their physical needs they're fogged from the red flags...Love is Patient. To my broken friends who feel like their falling into a bottomless pit desperate for a miracle...Love is Patient. Until we look outside of our wants and learn how to love unselfishly like Christ we're going to continue to be deceived. Our whole world revolves around Time. Every second of every day is scheduled for us. We are a generation of micro managers who want to plan everything out, so we can check it off the list. But if we focus on God's word instead of the craziness around us, He will bring things together in His own time and He's all about His children being patient for His Will. He wants us to stop listening to our emotions and start listening to Him..maybe they'll be the same or maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear a wake up call before it's too late. My emotions have lied, deceived, and hurt me, but my Father is teaching me how to get back up. Just as Peter took his eyes off the Lord and started sinking in the Galilee, it only took a cry for help before our Lord picked him up again. It's a burden on my heart today that my generation refocuses on Him...

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield it's valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." James 5:7-8