As I sit on my porch and watch the sky reflect the warm sunset, I am filled with so much joy. I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on my life and it is crazy how far God has brought me in so little time. Here we are in July. I have been anticipating this new month. I usually anticipate a new month to hit new goals and to take an opportunity to be a better version of myself. However, there is something extraordinary about this July. For me, it signifies new beginnings. All of the spiritual warfare was for a reason. I am not sure what will happen, but I am filled with an abundance of peace.

Through all the ups and downs in life, I am happy to say that I have never lost my joy. What kept me going is God’s continuance presence in my life. My joy is linked to my peace. The older I get the more I appreciate my peace. A lesson I learned is my peace is way too valuable to sacrifice. It has held me this long. It is the reason for my happiness, my focus, and my security. Despite things not working out the way I may have intended, I am okay because I know God’s plans are better than mine.

It is quite simple to be happy when God is present in your life. Misery loves company and I never wanted a seat at that table. The thieves of joy are comparison, unforgiveness, pride, jealousy and envy. When you possess these negative qualities, you are robbing yourself from living a happy and prosperous life. As Christians, we should be filled with joy for having Christ at the center of our lives. Even if we lose every Earthly possession today, we should be content because we find our joy in Yahuah (read the book of Job).

How many of us check the tracking number directly after placing an online order? I am so guilty of this. I get so eager to receive the package that waiting for it seems like forever. It is such a tease to get the tracking number with the location of the package. It can become a bad habit that can be hard to break. This habit also carried over to my prayer life.

I was so eager for the outcome of my prayers that I found it difficult to enjoy the present moment. It felt like punishment to have to wait for an answer and the overall outcome. Sometimes being too outcome focused can lead us to weariness. I think we get so caught up on the outcome because we really do not want to submit to the process. The process of waiting is not for our punishment. It is for preparation. Waiting on God does not always mean waiting forever. In fact, God might respond very quickly. If the promises are according to His Will, God might be working in acceleration mode on our behalf. This is why it is important for us to be focused on the process as much as the outcome. Sometimes, it is not even about waiting on God as much as it is about God waiting on us to act on faith.

If you have been on a plane, you already know how scary turbulence can feel. It feels like the sky and the plane are at war. Recently, I had an experience with turbulence. For once, I was not shook by it. Instead, I heard “Be still and stay grounded.” As most passengers panicked, I stayed still in the midst of turbulence. It was as if I was in my own world of peace and nothing could break my peace.

This reminded me of my relationship with God. Our relationship with God should reflect peace, joy and hope. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7. In a time of crisis, there is no reason to panic because we should put our trust in Yahuwah. In the midst of spiritual warfare, God is asking us to be still and grounded in His word. “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” Deuteronomy 31:6. Yahuah’s peace is enough confirmation that He is working things out for your good.

The Word of God is applicable to all of our daily issues. If we stay rooted in His word, it would solve a lot of our issues. It is not always about having strength. In times of trouble, our strength needs to come from Yeshua. “It is better to be wise than strong; intelligence outranks muscle any day. Strategic planning is the key to warfare; to win, you need a lot of good counsel” Proverbs 21: 5-6 MSG. It is more important for us to be obedient by feeding ourselves with spiritual food.

I strongly believe that dreams are one of God’s ways of communicating with his children. It is God’s unique way of speaking to our spirit. It is important for us to pay attention to our dreams because there is always a divine message within them. This is why it is crucial to cover yourself in prayer prior to going to sleep.

There is a war going on in the spiritual realm. It is not a coincidence that these past few weeks have been tough or your dreams have been intense. It seems like you are working hard and being consistent, yet there is always something going wrong. In the physical, it might seem like everything is falling apart. In this past week alone, I have felt extremely exhausted. I felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually tired. I was almost confused as to why all of this was happening.

“For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”- Ephesians 6:12 MEV. Spiritual warfare is real. While everything seems to be rough in the physical, it makes us ask “Why is all this happening right now?” I was quickly reminded that the promise is near. There is a blessing on the other side of all this. You are one step closer to your promise and the enemy is trying everything in his power to distract you. Think about this “Why would the enemy be trying so hard if there was no blessing on the other side?” There is a reason for this fight. This is confirmation that this is your season. In this time, God is fighting the battle on our behalf and the battle is already won.

A lot of the times, we find ourselves trying to fill voids from early childhood trauma in our adult years. Maybe it is from the absence of a parent’s love, being bullied in school, being abused or neglected, or coming from a broken home. As adults, we may find ourselves trying to heal by forming unhealthy soul ties. We find ourselves hopping into one platonic relationship or one romantic relationship after the other. At some point, you might be wondering “why do I keep doing this?” It is important that we ask ourselves “what void am I trying to fill?” What are we trying to avoid?

Yeshua loves the broken hearted. He calls on us to cast all our worries and burdens onto him (Psalm 55:22). Why is it so difficult for us to submit to Yeshua, but so easy for us to chase after relationships that bring about disappointments? Why is it so hard for us to choose healing?

It is a lot harder to go through any process because it takes dedication and faith. In this generation, we want things to happen instantaneously. We want a quick fix for everything from losing weight to being successful. This can be due to social media being a driving force in our day to day lives. We can access almost any piece information just from one google search. God does not work like that. Suffering proceeds liberation (1 Peter 5:10). Sometimes, we need to endure suffering until Jesus delivers us. It makes us realize that we cannot do it alone without His help.

When I originally set out to step into my calling, I was nervous and excited. My nervousness won the battle. I cared more about what people would think rather than what I know is true about myself. I cared more about people potentially unfollowing me because I would boldly speak about the gospel and the truth. I allowed my apprehensiveness to dictate my every move and I stopped blogging.

Despite feeling disappointed in myself, I began to reevaluate my situation. There was a lesson in this. When God calls us to live in our purpose, it is not solely for us as much as it is to serve Him. When I came to this revelation, it became clearer to me why I need to relaunch my blog. We were all created on purpose for a purpose. For a while, I wrestled with the thought of living in my purpose because I was comfortable with my life. However, I began to feel convicted and I got uncomfortable with being comfortable. My conviction led me to step out on faith.

“Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Is it impossible to step out on faith? No. Is it difficult? Absolutely. Faith is simply doing the work and trusting that God will do the rest. When I began to do the work and discipline myself in God’s word daily, I began to step out on faith. When I began to focus on God, I started noticing results. I have been on my faith journey for almost 10 years and it just all started to make sense. We tend to over complicate what God is asking of us. He is simply asking us to just do the work, while he does the rest. Faith is an action because faith without works is dead (James 2:26).