God provides Essay

SEEKING GUIDANCE The discipline of seeking guidance goes to the heart of walking with God. Guidance involves us hearing God’s voice and obeying Him. It is not only seeking His will in a specific matter, but it is a constant way of life. God provides guidance to His people in two ways. One is individual guidance, where God gives each of His children divine instruction through Scripture, reason, circumstances, and through prompting of the Spirit in the individual’s heart. In corporate guidance, God guides groups of people who gather in fellowship to seek the will of God. Both aspects are important to submit to as we seek to live in response to the voice of God. It is also a treatise on the nature of the perception of God and spiritual growth. One must believe in divine guidance. One must believe God will guide you. What God wants from each individual. Why each individual needs to seek God’s guidance. Most often, God sends divine guidance and wisdom through anointed people and not supernatural signs. You need wise counsel. Wisdom is usually gained by successful experience. Everyone has experience but only a few have successful experience. Many live in a continual cycle of action then regret but wisdom either successfully breaks bad cycles or never gets in bad cycles. It is usually far less painful to benefit from the experience of others than having to go through it ourselves. When you successfully go through something, you usually have wisdom. Everybody Knows: You can’t be all things to all people. You can’t do all things at once. You can’t do all things equally well. You can’t do all things better than everyone else. Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s. Therefore:You have to find out who you are, and be that. You have to decide what comes first, and do that. You have to discover your strengths, and use them. You have to learn not to compete with others, Because no one else is in the contest of being you. Then: You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness. You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions. You will have learned to live with your limitations. You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due. And you’ll be a most vital mortal. Dare To Believe: That you are a wonderful, unique person. That you are a once-in-all-history event. That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are. That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish. And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down. Loving ourselves being as compassionate, gentle & loving with ourselves as we would with a best friend can be pretty hard to do. This is especially true for women & survivors of abuse (including neglect). As women & survivors, we’ve been trained to deny our own feelings & needs & to take care of others. And we’re also frequently given messages that tell us not to accept or love ourselves. This is especially true for survivors; it’s so easy for us to take in the hating messages our abusers gave us & to turn that inwards on ourselves. But it is possible to love ourselves or at least to increase our self-love in increments, until we can know, deep to our cores, that we love ourselves & that we’re beautiful. Here are some of the things that have worked for me. I hope you’ll find they work for you, too. Carrying around some form of comfort & having it available right when you need it can help ease anxiety & stress & give you reassurance when you need it. I’ve found that just knowing I have a comfort bag with me is sometimes enough – and other times, I am grateful I have it with me to dip into. You might want to try carrying around some comfort & see if it makes a difference in your life. There are times when we are out in the world & need a little – or a lot – of extra comfort. Times when we are nervous or scared, feeling vulnerable or unsure of ourselves, or just not very confident. A new job, a speech we have to give, a new situation, a group where we don’t feel very welcome, or just when you’re feeling stressed out. Or, for survivors, facing something triggering, frightening, or painful. It’s times like those that portable comfort can come in handy. Portable comfort means bringing something with you on purpose that helps you to feel comforted & reminds you that you are safe & loved. There are many different ways of bringing comfort with you – and they don’t all have to be obvious. I take portable comfort with me whenever I leave the house. I have things already placed in my backpack, the pockets of my coat & sometimes even my jeans, so if I forget to bring something extra with me, I already have something with me. And I always wear the same necklace; it’s always with me. If you have time before you leave for the day, it’s a good idea to associate whatever good feeling you want to remind yourself of (comfort, safety, love) with the object. To do this, take a moment & remember when you felt comforted, safe, or loved. Hold that feeling to you. Now imagine that good feeling flowing into the object. Tell yourself that whenever you see or feel or notice that object in your day, you will be reminded of that good feeling & feel it again.