Hey beautiful + happy first Tuesday in April! 🪴
Spring has sprung. 🐝
The days are longer + the sun has been shining more. ☀️
The flowers are blooming, the trees are green again, and I cannot contain my excitement for all the new things God is bringing forth right now! 🌻
Have you ever noticed that nature is not the only thing that has seasons? Our lives go through seasons, too.
And with all of this new life coming forth comes new opportunities. And with new opportunities also comes the need for removing old, outdated, and dead things in our lives.
And sometimes that makes us uncomfortable. (I get it because I have been there – uncomfortable with any new changes but so excited for what may be coming forth!)
And sometimes this discomfort leads us to avoiding hard decisions or hard conversations about necessary endings. This could look like jumping into new seasons without closing all the “tabs” we had open during the previous season. Or maybe we just genuinely forget to put a pause on old projects leaving things dangling and without complete closure.
Either way, not taking time to connect with God and evaluate what should be left behind and what should go with us into this new season can quickly turn into becoming over-committed, discouraged, and/or burned out almost as soon as these new beginnings have started.
That is why during the month of April our topic of encouragement is going to be all about renewal and what it takes to get to that abundant life Jesus promised to give us (because many of us hate to admit it but we are just surviving instead of living the life of fulfillment we continually hope for).
So here are 3 steps you can walk through as you are hand-in-hand with God and looking ahead into this next season:
Step #1 : Evaluate – take some time to talk with God about alllllll the things on your plate right now. That includes the things such as your spiritual walk with Him, your marriage, children, your work, and all the other things you are spending time + energy on.
Step #2 : Eliminate – be honest with yourself + God about things you have been doing out of obligation, things that have become burdensome to you or feel like a weight, things you may have taken on in your own strength that God actually didn’t asked you to do, and let Him speak to you about what you have been doing that is out of season. (If you are like me, you may have a hard time eliminating things because you want to please the people in your life. But we learn in John 15:2 that dead things that bear no fruit AND the branches that bear fruit both get pruned to make even more fruit.)
Step #3 : Articulate – write out what God is saying to you and what He is placing on your heart to start, to stop, and what areas of your life He is wanting you to focus on + cultivate for this next season. Maybe He is asking you to do more or less of something instead of cutting something off completely, but no matter what He is asking the point here is to be obedient and submissive to Him.
So many times we have our own plans for our lives and we are so busy making our plans come to life that we miss out on what God is saying, where HE is leading us, and what HE is wanting us to focus on. Many times we are out of sync and/or out of season with God.
Moving from our plans to His plans, from our ways to His ways, and from our strength to His strength is a difficult process to go through, especially in the beginning. Dying to our flesh is not easy, BUT if we are truly wanting to have the abundant life Jesus promises us in John 10:10 we have to submit ourselves to Jesus, allow Him to be the Lord of our lives, and follow Him wherever He leads us.
Because our lives are not about us. Our lives are about Jesus. Our lives are about glorifying Him in all that we do, and ultimately pointing others to Him. The people around us that need hope don’t need another watered-down version of the truth. Nor do they need another shiny object that promises life + abundance but leaves us empty inside at the end of the day.
The world needs Jesus. Those around us need Jesus. You and I, beautiful friend, we need Jesus. (And there is absolutely no shame in admitting that!)
He is the only One who can help us overcome the weights that hinder us and the sin that so easily entangles us. But each of us have to make the choice for ourselves to accept the salvation of Jesus.
Each of us have to choose to grab hold of our faith and not let go.
Each of us have to choose to walk out our faith no matter what comes against us.
So in this new season, I hope you will take some time to seek God for what His plans are for you. I hope you will humble yourself under God’s hand so that He can protect you and lift you up at the proper time. And I hope you will seek His word for prayers + promises to overcome anything that is holding you back or coming against you right now. Because it is only Christ who can deliver us and truly fulfill us. And it is only in Christ we are able to be who God created us to be and do what God created us to do!
In Christ’s love,
~Sarah Murphy
PS: Are you feeling far from Christ today + longing to reconnect with Him? If so, here is your personal invitation to a virtual event I am hosting called “Becoming You” on Saturday April 13 @ 11:30 AM CT, where we will be chatting all about removing shame that is holding you back from being who God created you to be and walking confidently in your God-given purpose. If you are wanting to join me, >>> click this link <<< and you will be added to the list!