HarvestInsider

A few days ago I shared a sarcastic post about “How To Make Yourself Miserable”. This post was designed to get a person to think about what actually leads to our personal feelings of misery and unhappiness, and to challenge us to get rid of those things. If you didn’t get a chance to read that post, you can do so here.

The truth is, we all fall victim to things that fight against our sense of joy and peace, but if we continue to give them space in our lives, then misery is the end result. For just a minute, I want to throw out a few ideas that can help us end the misery and replace it with LIFE… REAL LIFE.

1. Real Life Will Never Be Found In Yourself. – Jesus said “…I have come that you might have life, and life more abundantly.” (John 10:10) but he also said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:27) Do you know what that means? It means that to find your life, you have to lose it. To experience life, you have to let go of your efforts to live life your way. As long as you spend your time and energy trying to make your life what you want it to be, you will constantly find it slipping away. You have to lose you to find you.

2. You Have To Fight For Truth. – Everyday you will hear a myriad of voices that seek to influence your thoughts and actions, but only one voice will lead you to life… and that’s the voice of Truth. Jesus said that when you let Truth influence you, “the Truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). It is only when you make the tough determination to allow Truth to have the microphone and to speak over you, that you’ll find that the the winds of Life will begin to blow in your soul.

3. Learn From Mistakes But Don’t Get Caught By Them. – Everyone is going to miss the mark from time to time, but if you allow those mistakes to consume you, you’ll never experience the Real Life that God desires you to have. Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow, yet looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62).

Think of it this way, when you’re driving down the highway, you probably have had moments where you didn’t keep it perfectly between the lines. However, when this happened, I’m guessing you didn’t turn around and look behind you and then wallow in your driving failure. Rather, you probably corrected your course, got things back on track, and kept moving forward. This is exactly what Jesus is reminding us of… when mistakes happen, learn from them, correct them, and keep moving forward. Failure is only a failure if you stop pressing foward. Mistakes are simply part of growing as a person.

4. Don’t Give In To Feelings. – Your feelings can be powerful, but feelings don’t make great leaders. If you follow them, you will find constantly be blown back and forth by the fluxuating winds of circumstances and expectations. God gave you emotions to help you understand what is happening in your soul, not to define Truth for your life. If you feel it, find out why you’re feeling it, process it with the Truth and move forward. Don’t let the strength of your feelings keep you from stepping into God’s very best for your life.