I truly can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t believe in God and Jesus. From a very young age I accepted and loved them both. But it wasn’t until I was 36 years old when so much of my life was not going well (including my marriage) that I realized that God wanted me to have a relationship with Him. That He could help me and I didn’t have to do this (often difficult) life without Him. I came to Him in surrender, and I literally felt Him break chains off of me that had been the cause of so much strife in my life.

Up until that point, so much of my life had been centered around church. Which is not a bad thing, unless it becomes a substitute for an actual relationship with Christ, which it had been for me. Before this change, I prayed, but more out of obligation then to connect. I used perfectionism to try to gain other’s approval. I constantly felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders vs. releasing my burdens. I thought I had to have all the answers. I didn’t know yet about healthy boundaries and helping others with burdens, but not their daily responsibilities.

God literally fixed my broken heart from the inside out. I didn’t have to earn His perfect love-it was simply there. I think it’s so neat that God wires us so uniquely and knows that in different seasons of our lives, we would need various ways to connect with Him. He provides many opportunities to do so…prayer, worship, journaling, sitting or walking in the quiet, serving others, and the list goes on and on.

Journal prompt: Are you prioritizing anything above God? In this current season, what would be most helpful for you to grow spiritually?