We often get so comfortable being uncomfortable that we stay in the safety of discomfort even if we are miserable due to the safety of what we know. I know we have talked about fear plenty but so much of this stems from fear: fear of failure, fear of unknown, fear of changes, fear of "difficult"...
Often we find ourselves sitting stagnant. Nothing is moving or changing and we feel the impact of that. Our minds and feelings become a cesspool of muck and mire that we want to desperately get out of but we are just stuck. We have become comfortable with the misery just because it is at least a misery we know and we would rather face that than what we don't know.
Just like that stagnant water, there is a dam or blockage often in our minds or life that keeps us stuck. Sometimes there are more than one. Today, we are going to break the dam and we are going to seek the living water. We are going to start with three steps.
Seeking -
Seeking needs to start with prayer. Ask God to show you what is holding you back and to work with you to defeat it for good. Then, just start opening the bible and let God work.
The Bible promises Matthew 7:7-11.
Fear
This is not facing it alone, this is praying on it, memorizing scripture, or having scripture in hand and
then walking with Jesus right beside you into that Lion's Den.
2 Timothy 1:7
Forgiveness
It can be forgiving yourself, it can be forgiving others but the power that forgiveness has is tremendous. Also, don't underestimate the power the lack of forgiveness has to keep you in place. Forgiveness isn't always reconciliation and it doesn't dismiss actions someone does. It is a process of letting go and sometimes it has to be continually let go, but again, this isn't a path you have to walk alone, you go to battle with Jesus and the only offensive weapon in the armor of God, the word.
Ephesians 4:31-32 & Hebrews 12:11
Step 2 Trusting -
Some of you have been stagnant for so long that it's more of a boulder that you have to removed but if God gave Moses the power to strike a rock and have the water flow from it to relieve the thirst of all the Jewish people, he has the power for you to flow freely again too.
Exodus 36
When they started gathering materials to build exactly to his instructions, they are stirred to give and they realize they have more than enough to do the work and they are lacking nothing.
John 4
God had a bigger plan for that well and he needed it to be just in the right place. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says everything has a season and a purpose. Proverb 19:21 Many plans in a person's heart but Lord's purpose prevails. Sometimes when you are being forced to move physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. when you do not want to, it's because God needs you in a different place to fit the plans he has for you. Jeremiah 29:11 didn't just apply to Jeremiah. They are plans to prosper, not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Psalm 33:11, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 2:10
Step 3 Giving
Sometimes the quickest way to get over your own blocks are to focus a little on someone else. Get off the selfish treadmill and look for those that need love or something else. Keep reading the bible and praying over the rest, but take time to focus elsewhere. This doesn't mean giving up so much of yourself that your cup isn't filled. You can't pour from an empty cup, but if you are only focused on yourself, you will likely miss at least some of your purpose.
Here is the thing about God's plans, it is never without him but it rarely is all by yourself.
Ephesians 4:11-16 talks about how each person is like a part of the body (Christ is the head) when we are working for the Kingdom.
1 Peter 4:10-11
John 6:1-14
God comes with abundance and he always comes with that living water. We can be like the Sea of Galilee which is far better than the dead sea.
