First things first, let me state the simple reason that led me to write this. I was at a dead end and God led me to more.
The dead end in your life could be very different from mine. It could be a drug, a negative friend, a toxic relationship, a traumatic experience, your parents broken marriage, an eating disorder and so on. Whatever dead end your experiencing, I pray I can bring light to your situation.
I believe in God. A God who "comes to give plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."(Jeremiah 29:11) I am aware there is an enemy. An enemy who "comes to steal, kill and destroy." (John 10:10) The differences are, God plans to give you more rather than less. I want to turn your attention from what is being taken from you to what can be given to you. I want you to begin to see more for your life, not less. I want you to begin to see more in yourself, not less. I want you to know that your perspective changes when you start a journey with Jesus Christ.
I am not sharing with you the old phrase "see the good in everything!" It's great to be positive but I am telling you to find the good. I am telling you to leave the dead end (your past or your present pain). Whether this be an insecurity you feel or a bad circumstance you're trying to escape from.
Let me tell you a little bit about my story that led me on an unknown but wonderful journey with Christ. Almost two years ago, I was at a point where I didn't even know who I was anymore. I had been in a relationship for a long time that I cared deeply about. So much so, I allowed a guy to take and take from me. But I didn't realize how much was taken until he left. My life felt compromised. My heart felt compromised. I was weak, insecure, and exhausted. I felt like I couldn't have anymore "less" in my life. And I definitely did not know how to find "more". I was lost. I was at a dead end, staring at my pain everyday.
Imagine being at a dead end. You're in your car and you're staring at a wall or the woods. There may be other things around you but basically you're stuck. The definition of a dead end is, "an end of a passage where no exit is possible." (good thing God can do the impossible). Picture God in the car with you. You're the driver and He is the passenger. You have a choice. You can put the car in park and get comfortable, looking at your dead end everyday, letting the enemy accomplish what he came to do. "To steal, kill, and destroy." Because at this point he has stolen your future, he has killed the unique person God has called you to be, and he has destroyed the way you see yourself. The enemy wants to turn your attention to a false reality that your present pain or your broken past is the vision of the rest of your life.
But it isn't. And God loves you so much that he is going to sit in that passenger seat right there with you. The Lord says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." He is with you when you decide to trust that He has better and throw the car in reverse. You begin doing a 3-point turn or a 10-point turn until the car is facing forward towards the road and in the rearview mirror is your dead end. The 10-point turn is frustrating and takes time. You have to go in reverse and forward over and over. Just like, shifting your vision of your life as well as yourself is hard and takes a few tries. The shift is believing in yourself again, going from broken to whole, letting the past go, and seeing no hope in your future to seeing an overflowing amount of it. The Lord says, "I came so that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance." God is there to take you to a life that you enjoy abundantly. It's one of His many promises. The definition of a promise is "the assurance that one will do a particular thing or a particular thing will happen." To read it is assured that God is with us to not only give life but give a life we will enjoy abundantly made me smile as I sit here writing this.
Even though your situation and the things you experience on your journey are changing, God is constant. He's always in the passenger seat, ready to guide you on what to do next or remind you who you come from or to give you peace, comfort, love, hope and much more when you need it. His promises for your life are right next to you, don't let the negative things in this world force you to put the car in park or turn around. Because it is simply a distraction to turn your attention from God's promises. Trust me, there have been many times on the road with God where an unfair situation happened or a negative comment brought me back to the pain of my past. And I have thrown the car in park and looked at God in the passenger seat saying, "seriously?" And he just smiles and says, "Keep going. Do not get distracted. I love you and I am with you." It wasn't easy to listen but it was worth it.
You may be thinking, "I've gotten too far off path." I am here to tell you I got in the car with The Lord as a young girl and then got distracted and got out. I was so far from the car I once was in with The Lord. But it didn't matter because when I decided to begin to walk back to the car, I found Him immediately. The Lord was in the car waiting patiently for me to come back. I just had to seek His presence. And no he didn't ask me where I had been or why I left and He won't ask you either. He is happy you're back and ready to continue on the road with you again.
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Starting the journey with God isn't perfect and is an everyday choice that lasts a lifetime. I have made many mistakes during mine. But, having a relationship with God will show you more good about yourself and your life than you ever dreamed. The enemy is not gone. Negative experiences or reminders from your past are still going to come to try to get you to turn the car around and go back to the comfortable, never changing dead end where you had control. But, I believe you will be so secure in God's love for you that you will not turn around. You will keep your foot on the accelerator and let God hold the GPS for your life. Pressing forward everyday because you know God is with you in the passenger seat. This journey with God will turn your attention from your pain to your purpose.
Psalm 143:8: Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Psalm 16:7-8: I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
