Praise God for Your Path. He Designed it Just for You!!!

There is no other you and you were intentionally created by God. When God created each of us, we were created for a specific time with a set of characteristics, gifts, and talents needed for our purpose. Although many of us spend our lives trying to figure out what is our purpose, I’m convinced that this is not a wise use of our time unless we’re totally open to whatever it is God is going to tell us. If we look at others and ask “Am I supposed to be doing what so-n-so is doing?” The answer is a resounding “No!” You have a path that is uniquely yours just like your fingerprints and DNA. Even if your work is similar to "so-n-so" it's not the same. Whether it’s transforming the lives of the homeless in a soup kitchen, serving as a classroom volunteer hugging children who do not experience love in their homes, or standing before thousands singing songs of love and encouragement, we were uniquely created for what God intended. We must live each day intentionally by being our best!

So, how do we do this? Here are a few starters . . .

      1)  Wake up each morning and thank God for the day. Morning praise of gratitude will always set your day in a positive direction and you have to do it on purpose. You may not know a specific plan, but your attitude of gratitude will help you block the oncoming traffic of negative thoughts and people. If you don’t wake up with gratitude you will be an easy target for demonstrating a negative attitude all day.

      2)  Expect to be blessed and expect to be a blessing. Listen intentionally for ways to show love, favor, and honor to others—even those who don’t like you. Start by doing the little things that are whispered in your spirit and don’t argue with the Holy Spirit. When you give to others in ways that they need, expect God to give back to you in ways you need. Note: If you don’t receive what you thought you needed, then God has a different plan and it’s definitely a better one!!!

      3)  See “negative” experiences as blessings. This can be very difficult because we don’t like pain and disappointment, but since God is not wasteful and is very intentional, there is always a reason—regardless! God is powerful enough to make it work for your good. As Joel Osteen often says, “Setbacks are a setup for a comeback!”

Final Thoughts: As human beings we would much rather have a continuous stream of experiences that we consider “good experiences.” Challenges are often unwelcomed because they make us sad, are disappointing, or they just plain ole’ hurt. However, what I have come to learn is that this promised path that God has provided for me, and the one he has provided for you, is ALL GOOD. Regardless of what we experience, if we look at our path from God’s perspective rather than our own, we will see that a life in the hands of God is the greatest journey anyone could possible ask or think!!!

Challenge: Thank God for all things—every experience can become a testimony of God’s glory (I Thessalonians 5:17)