It's almost New Years, it's the time for change. The time for looking at our lives- and evaluating. Are we happy? What have we built or invested in this year? But most important- where are we heading? Is the ship we are taking, drawing us nearer to God?
Because friends, today we are making choices that affect where we spend eternity. Today, we have to choose whether our thoughts, actions, habits, the ways we spend our time are taking us closer to God or further away. And today whatever ships we have boarded, that are taking us further away from God and our loved ones-- we need to burn and abort immediately.
Because Jesus is coming soon.
Because the end of the world is soon.
Because this is an invisible warfare between good and evil. And we have to be awake and fighting, we have to get serious about our faith.
I love this new song by King and Country "Burn the ships" which says "we can step into a new day, rise up from the dust and walk away, dance upon our heartache"
Whatever you have suffered through, or struggled with this past year, whatever fears have shackled you, whatever the enemy has thrown your way...
You can overcome with the power of God.
But to experience God's power of renewal we have to do this, we have to burn the ships. We have to burn the old ships down, the old sins down, the selfish idols have to be destroyed so that we can start again.
For me, this past year has been challenging. Working nights in the hospital has not been easy for me. Night shifts have caused me to be much more emotional, struggle with depression and anxiety more, and have a hard time with working out and spending time with friends. There was a time when it seemed almost every morning- after finishing my hospital shift- I would cry out to God to let Him quit. I would cry out to mom "I want to quit" "I want to quit so badly." But God has helped and sustained me and I'm happy that I have finished one year of hospital nursing.
I don't want to work in the hospital doing night shifts again because I believe it is very unhealthy. But I am thankful for God for the many lessons He has taught me working in the hospital. He has definitely grown my compassion, awareness, and love for the beautiful children and their families I have taken care of. And I am so much of a more confident nurse and person then when I first started.
This year I have learned so much and made many new friendships. But this year working night shifts in the hospital, has also made me quite content with the American lifestyle of privilege. It seems that my walk with God has become something very comfortable, something quite mediocre, and that scares me. It seems that I'm beginning to give in and compromise, that I'm struggling to make authentic sacrifices for Jesus. This is something I want to break this year. I want to put myself in a location and atmosphere, where I can grow and learn to trust Him more, where I can have the opportunity to use my passions and strengths, and to serve God more sacrificially.
This next year will have many changes ahead -- I can't share everything yet. And I don't even know how everything will work out or happen. But one thing I want more than anything else, to prioritize my relationship with God and break down any ships that are not taking me closer to Him. I pray that you like me, would take some time to think about how you have been living this past year, and what would happen if Christ would return tomorrow. Are we ready and are we on the ship we need to be on to await His soon return?
Happy New Years friends! May God bless you abundantly! And if you've never heard the song "Burn the ships" please watch below.