What Are You Attracting in Love?

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Proverbs 4:23 NLT - Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.

Your heart is the center of what you believe. As a young child I did not even know this verse, let alone even think about “guarding my heart.” As a child, the Bible to me was just a cool book (I’ve always loved leather-bound books!) with a bunch of words that were hard to understand and absolutely made no sense at all with all the “thee’s” and “thou’s”, written upon its pages. Furthermore, we mustn’t forget all the “shalt not’s!” I knew what “thou shalt not kill” meant, but what the heck did “covet” mean to a 10-year old? You get my point!

One of the most frustrating, yet most factual things that I’ve known for years is – “You attract what you are, and what you are is a result of what you believe.” We act upon what we believe. Look at the areas of your life today that are not the way you want them to be.  I want to talk specifically about our beliefs about love. 

As far as relationships, I think I've actually been "in" love only once in my entire life!  My high school sweetheart was the love of my life from a human perspective.  When we were in a relationship, I was the unhealthy partner.  He, on the other hand, seemed to really have a grasp on what love was.  I had always dealt with abandonment and rejection issues so I was always creating some sort of drama in our lives to reinforce the belief system that was operating in my heart and so I always had the expectation of him leaving.  This led to a very emotionally draining relationship for both of us.  When the relationship did end, I was a mess!  I cannot even begin to tell you how incredibly broken I was.  I was broken enough to literally plan my own suicide.  Talk about unhealthy!  After our relationship was over, I began seeking out just sexual relationships.  I didn't have to engage my emotions and could "fix" myself for a few days if I could connect with someone sexually.  It was kind of strange because most women get all emotionally wrapped up in someone if they had sex, and me, well, I was opposite.  It really was just sex to me.  It meant nothing!  It was my drug and I got my fix and moved on!  Just keepin' it real peeps!  I had a string of men on my speed dial and never lacked the ability to reach out to any one of them if I needed  my fix. 

When I got pregnant with my daughter, I had to make some super difficult choices.  I chose to get my life together and do the work it would require to become a healthy individual.  It's been the hardest journey of my life, but also the most rewarding!!!  I did not want a relationship during the time I was raising my daughter because I didn't want a revolving door of men in my life.  I wanted her to know she was priority to me and wanted her to be solid in developing her belief system about love.  I purposed in my heart to surround "us" with strong families, incredible marriages, and incredible spiritual fathers, so we could learn together what love and relationships look like from a healthy perspective.  I became a student of marriage.  I spent time with couples and observed how they served each other, and did life together.  I seen them go through hard times and stay so connected to each other as one unit.  I decided then, that is exactly what I wanted and would do whatever it took to develop myself to have a relationship that was fulfilling!  

I dated someone about 3 years ago for about a month.  I can tell you this much, I did not develop myself for 15 years, at that time, to have a relationship like that.  He was very self-serving.  He had great qualities, but for me, not everything I was seeking out to have in a mate.  I remember the last time he and I spent time together we went for a motorcycle ride to Daytona and I cried the whole way there telling myself I could not do this anymore!  In fact, when we stopped for a bite to eat, he openly flirted with our waitress and I literally looked at him and said, "you just decided what you want!"  He passed it off as nothing and laughed.  He wasn't laughing when he realized I meant what I said and ended it!  Is he a bad person, not at all!!  Is he for me?  NO WAY!!!  I can tell you though, that this very short relationship had me questioning myself!  I couldn't understand that after all these years of developing myself I still had attracted the emotionally unavailable, player (for lack of a better word).  In fact it had me questioning myself so much that I went to a weekend workshop to try and discover what was really operating in my heart that kept me attracting what I had always attracted.

 

It was during this workshop that I was able to participate in an exercise that exposed what my beliefs were in the area of love. I was sitting opposite of a guy I had never met, until that weekend.  We had to sit face to face, look at each other in the eyes, and hold hands on top of that (talk about out of the box) and I had to answer the question – What is love?  He would keep asking me the same question.  My answers were things like, “the reason for living, God, the purpose of life”….and on and on I went. As I kept answering this question, I thought I had begun to run out of answers. As I came to the end of my “conscious” answers and began tapping into my subconscious, my real belief was exposed. “Love” to me represented things like abandonment, pain, rejection, instability and the list went on. Well, if I attract what I believe (and I will!), then I will attract someone who will cause or bring about those things. Then, my faulty belief will just be reinforced as my truth again. Well, I certainly don’t want to invite any more pain and rejection into my life (do you?), especially with a life partner, so I decided to change my truth in that area!!  Is that easy to do!  NOPE!!! 

A few months back, I began dating another person.  This one was different because I knew that ultimately God had me on a mission.  There was no doubt in my mind!  God had revealed some really incredible things to me about this person and for the most part, I just ministered to this individual by serving him, and pouring out the love of God to him.  We had some amazing God moments together.  There is absolutely nothing that can compare to those moments and as he goes about his life, God will remind him of those times because he has a call on his life that he's been running from forever!  My mission was fulfilled and it ended. Now, I don't recommend anyone to do what I just did unless God is specific, because I will tell you, it WILL rip your heart out!!!  What ripped my heart out is that I knew from day one he would run from God, but one always has hope that they'll just recklessly abandon themselves to Christ.  Well, he pulled a Jonah, like all of us have at some time!  LOL!  The night before the end came, God had me do a few things!  I got to pray over him in such a personal way and it was sooooo amazing!  I think that was probably the most powerful time of prayer ever because it was just so incredibly intimate and personal in regards to his heart.  I'll cherish that time of prayer for eternity!!  I also learned a lot about myself in the short time I was seeing him.  I learned even more so that I'm going to be an amazing partner to the right man!  He and I had our share of disagreements, but not one time did I dishonor or disrespect him.  In my past, I would have sliced and diced him with my words.  Growth!!!  This part makes me very happy!!  There are also areas of my belief system that still need changing and revamping so I'm embracing those areas!! 

So listen, I share all this with you because there are areas of your life that you are going to attract great things, but there will also be areas of your life that you will attract…well…not-so great things! You are always attracting something! Don’t get discouraged when you see the not-so good things! Let me remind you that you are a work in progress! Jesus is your partner! When you are experiencing the not-so good things that your beliefs have attracted, embrace them! Look at them, and examine them from the perspective of “responsibility.” By taking ownership for your part, you become a victor instead of a victim! Know why? It is because confronting faulty beliefs and taking responsibility for them “is” the catalyst for change if you choose for it to be! It really is your choice! When what you really believe is exposed, you can finally deal with it – effectively!!!

I choose not to allow my faulty beliefs to stay that way! With the help of Jesus, my mentors and close friends, I begin to focus my attention on the identity of Christ. I begin making an exchange – what I believe (my view and opinion) for what HE declares (His view and opinion)! I make a conscious decision to focus on His attributes, and not mine! As I persuade my heart by focusing on Him and not me, I begin to change the subconscious part of me. Whatever area that is not lining up with what God says my life should look like becomes exposed to His truth, and not my interpretation. Don’t you think we’ve given our faulty belief systems way too much of our lives? It’s time to embrace a new identity – you have been given one by the God of the universe, who loves you more than you know! Press in to find that new identity, and make the exchange!

In addition, I also want to add something very important!  Even once your belief system has changed, you still may have to deal with the “pattern” of what has been your reality in the past, so don’t get discouraged if you find you’ve attracted the not so good again. You know you’ve overcome when you recognize it, refuse to compromise your new belief system, and take the action necessary to maintain healthy boundaries - as well as guard yourself against that old pattern infiltrating your heart again!! If you find yourself compromising, then you need to develop your belief system further until you see a change manifest in your life! In fact, if you see the continued pattern of your past enter your life, then take a massive plan of action and surround yourself with individuals that have a great track record in that area, and make them your parameter to see through what you may not! And here’s a helpful tip when it comes to relationships, ask a friend who is of the same sex of the person you’re interested in dating, for their insight! Chances are they will call out things you either don’t want to see, or can’t see and they’ll nail it every time and then "choose" wisely for yourself! 

What are you attracting in love?  If you look at your significant other, I mean really look!  They are a mirror for you!  What is the reflection?  If the reflection is not what you've desired or prayed for then ask yourself what your belief system is about love.

Get someone to do that exercise that I mentioned above, with you!  Most importantly, do not get discouraged!!  Once you recognize an area, take responsibility for your part!  Acknowledge it, confront it, and you'll quickly realize you have the power inside of you, to change it!!! 

A Work in Progress and Learning Well,

TDahl

www.tammydahl.com

 

 

Did God Really Allow That!!??



"I believe consequence was designed for us to seek the restorer and to seek Him for the restorative path!"  TDahl

Affliction:

1. a state of pain, distress, or grief; misery: They sympathized with us in our affliction.

2. a cause of mental or bodily pain, as sickness, loss, calamity, or persecution.

Synonyms

mishap, trouble, tribulation, calamity, catastrophe, disaster. Affliction, adversity, misfortune, trial refer to an event or circumstance that is hard to bear. A misfortune is any adverse or unfavorable occurrence: He had the misfortune to break his leg. Affliction suggests not only a serious misfortune but the emotional effect of this: Blindness is an affliction. Adversity suggests a calamity or distress: Job remained patient despite all his adversities. Trial emphasizes the testing of one's character in undergoing misfortunes, trouble, etc.: His son's conduct was a great trial to him.

After posting my latest blog "Skillful Navigator" my best friend Sameer suggested that I flesh out the whole does or doesn't God allow terrible things like sexual abuse, etc. and the revelation that I have in regards to that, because people really struggle with that particular area. So, here goes....

First let me preface this by saying that I feel I'm one who can understand by personal experience, the struggle that others may have in this area when it comes to God. As one who has gone through a lot in life dealing with sexual abuse, a rape at the age of 13, painful rejection by family members and others, etc., and being taught that "God allowed" these horrible things to happen to me, made it incredibly difficult for me to trust God. I mean, seriously, I'm supposed to run to the supposedly safe arms of a God who "allowed" such incredible tragedy to touch my life. That was not possible for me and I don't think it would be possible for anyone else. Sure you can get all "religious" and be a "Christian" thinking God "allowed" horrible things to happen to you, but I can tell you that you will never have an unguarded relationship with Him if you believe that about His character. Your relationship with Him will always lack the incredible intimacy meant to be shared between you because you will always hold something back from Him thinking He'll hurt you!

Lets build a foundation here...lets first look at the authority God gave us. Let's go back to Genesis.

Genesis 1:26 The MSG - Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all

the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

The word I want to dissect is "dominion." Dictionary.com defines Dominion as follows:

1. the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority.

2. rule; control; domination.

3. a territory, usually of considerable size, in which a single ruler ship holds sway.

4. lands or domains subject to sovereignty or control.

5. Government . a territory constituting a self-governing commonwealth and being one of a number of such territories united in a community of nations, or empire.

This tells me that we are "in charge" of this earth! In Genesis 1, we see how God created things - by speaking them into existence, and then we see Him hand over the responsibility and authority to us!

We rule this earth by studying the Kingdom of Heaven and what that looks like (righteousness, peace, joy, health, wholeness, prosperity, and the list goes on), and then we are given the principle to use our creative authority to bring forth those things on this earth. Look up all the passages regarding the Kingdom of Heaven. It's crazy good!

Now because sin entered the earth in the garden, there was a huge disconnect! Man literally handed over his authority to Satan. Satan became the one in charge, however God had the perfect plan to not only redeem us, but also redeem our authority that had been handed over! God sent Jesus, and the Word of God declares that the price was paid and Jesus reconciled mankind back to the Father! Everyone was included!! Now I'm sure we can agree that earth is no Garden of Eden! We have man seeking their own agenda's rather than seeking God's. Our world is a broken, broken, broken, place and as you read the Word of God, you will soon find out that it will get worse! It's called birthing pangs that will usher the coming of Christ! However, it does not change our authority!

We have dominion! Not just one person, but mankind! Can we agree that mankind is imperfect? Can we agree that mankind has so many different ideologies and belief systems about how things should be? Can we agree that there are so many different theologies about who God is and His character? So we have mankind all over the board as far as that goes, as well as the fact, mankind is not perfect! We have some preachers teaching that God's going to get us if we sin. We have some that teach that anything that hurts us has to pass through God's hands first and He has to give permission for that pain to touch our lives. We have some that teach that God will get your attention in whatever way He can - He'll even take the life of your child to get you to turn to Him. I had a preacher tell me one time that God allowed all the physical and sexual abuse in my life because He needed to raise me up to minister to those who have been touched by the same things and they needed to be restored. I'm sorry, but that puts a freaking cramp in my brain and it actually makes me angry!

God did not design affliction, but He did create the principle of consequence! You see that in His instruction to Adam regarding the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! Affliction came as a consequence when man chose to disregard God's instruction for life! What is consequence designed to do? I believe consequence was designed for us to seek the restorer and to seek Him for the restorative path! If there was no consequence, then we wouldn't grow! We would stagnate and just live mediocre lives far below the lives we were created for and designed to live!!

If you get a chance, look up all the scriptures on affliction! It will blow your mind. Obviously God wanted to communicate something to us in regards to this! Here are a few....

Psalm 107:17 NIV - Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities

Psalm 119:92 - If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

God does discipline us, but never with evil things! God teaches us His ways through gentle correction only! He disciples us and calls those things that are not as though they were! He'll speak the perfection He sees in us! He'll give us words of worth and value! He'll mine the treasures deep within our hearts and through that, we fall in love with Him. There are those times we continually choose the wrong path. We continue trying to fill our lives up with the counterfeits the world offers designed to medicate our pain instead of eradicate our pain!! God eradicates pain, the world just medicates the pain! The world's way is designed to keep us on the hamster wheel going absolutely nowhere! However, God allows that freedom of choice and He just waits patiently until we come to the end of ourselves. And we always do! Unfortunately, many times after coming to the end of ourselves, we've completely destroyed ourselves emotionally, sometimes physically, and even financially, and in many cases, we've destroyed others as a result of our choices. BUT GOD....can and will restore that which we've broken if we give Him the chance! In fact, God says He will put you back to where you would have been had you never had a set back - even as a result of your own choices!! That my friends is GREAT news and I literally have watched God do this in my life for the last 20 years!!

I recently asked someone who is in a great deal of emotional pain because of doing things their own way for so long, and as a result left a wake of destruction in their own life as well as the lives of other people; if they wanted to "go back to the trough" or "experience God's love on a level they never have?" Their response was "I don't know what God's love is supposed to feel like! The trough is easy to go back to and its comfortable." My response to that is, the journey will not be easy at times but will be so rewarding because the past won't haunt you. When I talk about my past, it literally is like I'm talking about a girl who no longer exists. It doesn't hurt anymore. I had to get real over and over again. I had to confront myself when my actions didn't line up with my mouth. I referred to that in my life as the great disconnect. What I meant by that is when my mouth would be able to say all these things I desired, but my actions were not lining up, I knew my belief system was in serious need of God's perspective. I slowly persuaded my heart and through the years have exchanged my beliefs for His and thus experienced amazing restoration! The person returned to the trough which breaks my heart, because God has so much for that person. Until they find that God is a safe place to bring everything to and let God do the heart surgery needed, they will find themselves even more broken than they have been in the past!

Because this world is broken, pain is going to touch your life - period, end of story!! God gave man authority and mankind is imperfect and therefore will cause pain through their choices and actions. It is not God allowing it! I was sexually abused because a man made a choice and I happened to be the one that experienced the consequence of his choice. It ripped my world apart! It changed who I was! It broke my heart and it broke God's heart!! Every single time pain comes to our lives it is because someone, somewhere, at one time, even ourselves, misused the authority we've been given and made a choice that contradicts what God taught us. We still deal with the consequence of Adam and Eve's choice way back to the Garden! For example, people die! Families are broken to pieces when death touches their lives! There is huge loss when a loved one passes away! To redeem death, God gave us Christ and we now have the promise of being reunited with our loved ones when we accept Him as our Savior! God has never taken away our authority to choose! We can choose to take the brokenness that touches our lives, give it to God, the only one that can restore and redeem the hurt, and make an exchange with Him. Our brokenness for His wholeness! It's a process and if we are willing to go through the process it will strengthen us and in the redemptive process we can help others along the way! That's receiving double for your trouble!

God knows when we're dealing with the will of people - their freedom to choose - we are going to get hurt! So don't harden your heart. Don't close yourself off to opening your heart to God and others. Trust Him! You want to know the character of God - Read I Corinthians 13! God is LOVE, it's not just what He does, its who He is! Remember that the only thing God allows is our freedom to choose!

For those of you who are really struggling with trusting God and struggling with the concept of whether He allows things or not, please reach out to me - my email is below! You want to know the character of God - Read I Corinthians 13! God is LOVE, it's not just what He does, its who He is! Remember that the only thing God allows is our freedom to choose! So, if what's happening in your life doesn't look like who you read God is, then be confident it is not God doing it to you! You are just experiencing a consequence - even a consequence as a result of someone else's choice! Remember, God can and will redeem your life if you allow Him to!!

In His Grip, Grace, and Strength,

TDahl

info@tammydahl.com

Skillful Navigator

Mark 4:35-41 The MSG - Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side." They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along.  A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it.  And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?" Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.  Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"  They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"



Ahhhhhh the beautiful storms of life!!! I say beautiful because every time I'm hit with a storm, I have a choice to either succumb to what I see, or rise in faith and declare what the Master has already spoken! We see in our above scripture that Jesus made a declaration to his disciples by saying "let’s go across to the other side." After Jesus made his declaration/confession, He went to sleep! Let’s dissect that for a bit. When God gives us a promise opposition will rise. Depending upon the size of the promise, will depend on the opposition you encounter. Opposition is absolutely necessary in our lives because it is used to strengthen us, refine us, and perfect our faith. It's not God sending the opposition, I believe it’s simply a principle, like gravity, that is in place to grow us! I want to be very careful as I communicate this because there are at times, evil things that happen to us that God had nothing to do with, however God will heal us and as a benefit of that healing He will strengthen us, if we allow Him to. In this blog, I'm specifically referring to promises God has given us for our lives and opposition rises shortly after we receive those promises.


Many times the promises God gives you personally, come in the form of desires He has placed in your heart. For example, when I was a little girl, about 7 years old actually, God put a desire in my heart to travel from city to city via a bus, singing and talking about Jesus. Here I am, at 42 years old, and still desiring that same thing! So, what had to happen from 7 years old to whenever this takes place, because it will? It's called training and preparation! The opposition in my life for many years was my not choosing to be abandoned to Jesus Christ because the world looked like it had so much more to offer. Oh, I went my own way for soooooo long! I was an innocent 7 year old that basically lost my innocence at the age of 10 through sexual abuse, and later being raped at the age of 13. This led me to a life of sexual promiscuity, later landing me in the adult entertainment industry, into prostitution! Then, an unplanned pregnancy was my wake-up call! That was the catalyst for me to come back to Christ. When I came back to Christ, the relationship was different with Him. I basically was this cocky 23 year old that got in God's face and said "prove yourself!" Guess what? He did! He did so in a way that He not only won my respect (see I was taught that God allowed all those horrible things to happen to me - which later I discovered was NOT the case), but He won my heart completely!!!! And while there are times that I stray a bit, He doesn't let me go far because I'm so crazy in love with Him that I miss the connection with Him! I can't be without Him!!! I'm so incredibly interdependent upon Him that my life is meaningless when He is left out of any equation. It doesn't take me long to run back to His arms and His safety!

This leads me to share with you what God showed me through this latest whitewater rafting trip. I knew my heart needed an adventure with God. I needed to get away from pouring myself out to others, and get poured into by God. Many times you see how Jesus left the multitudes to get away with His Father. This is hugely important in our lives! You cannot minister to people out of your reserve for any length of time, because you need to minister to others out of your overflow, so your life doesn't get out of balance! I could tell I had gotten to the point of running on "empty" because I had been just pouring myself out with huge hope that healing would begin to take root in the people I was ministering to. God sent some super strong forces to hold me up because He and I were partnering together to plant some massive seeds, and then God pulled the plug and said "enough." God knows my heart and knows I will pour out until I'm exhausted because I just want so much for others to "get Him" and "get His heart" for them!! Oh, man if I could just let others into my heart and just be me for five minutes to just experience God's massive love that burns inside of me. I guess they would understand why I'm so radically and recklessly abandoned to Him! He took my broken life years ago and began creating something beautiful! He took the storms of my life that could have destroyed me and caused me to have supernatural strength because of them! He turned everything around and infused life into my heart!

So as I took to the water on the Ocoee River in Copperhill, TN., I knew God was going to show me some incredible truths and inject them like a shot of adrenaline into my heart! I had my daughter and her girlfriend with me which made it an even better experience for me, because I always try to teach my daughter the things of God using stories as Jesus did. I was able to share with her, Sara, and our 2 guides, what I'm about to share with you.

Our two guides were "Matt & Matt." The one Matt was incredibly skilled on the river and the other Matt was "in training" (isn't God cool to set this particular adventure up that way!) Matt was guiding Matt by giving him navigational instructions. Matt knew the riverbed, and the other Matt was learning the riverbed. We all know that rocks cause rapids. There are many points on the river where you have to navigate between certain rock beds so you don't get hung up in the shallow water. We hit a few rocks that got our raft stuck, but Matt was doing an amazing job!! Can I ask you a question, what rocks are getting you stuck in life? I know I discovered a few in my own life. One of them is trying to do God's job! LOL - I'm a High D personality, so many times God has to remind me that He's the one leading this thing! I laugh at God's humor! In our above scripture, Jesus shows us how it’s done. He went to sleep in the storm because He had full confidence and trust in His Father to get them to the other side. I was reminded that I didn't want to be like the disciples in our scripture by "freaking" out and questioning where the heck God was in the storms of my life. He's there and fully aware! Even more so than I!

There were points on the river where we got to relax. We even got to stop at a huge rock and they turned a raft over on this huge rock and made it a slide! We all got to slide down the raft into the water and just have a blast!! Only those who have been schooled on the river knew that this point was safe to stop and play! Again, skillful navigation! As we continued on our journey, the rapids were increasing in difficulty, but our guides were instructing us when to sink those oars deep or when to get down in the center rather than sitting on the side of the raft. They were instructing us when to back paddle and what way we needed to turn in order to hit the rapids just right so as not to be tossed out or get stuck in a hydraulic. We needed to listen carefully and do exactly what our skilled navigators instructed to have the best adventure!

The first big rapid we hit was "Double Trouble!" My daughter said she wanted to "Ride the Bull!" My motherly "protector" engaged and God quickly told me to relax because He wanted to give her an amazing adventure with Him. See, when you "Ride the Bull" (picture above) you sit on the front of the raft and hit the rapid hard. You can easily be bounced out of the raft if you don't balance your body weight just right. You have to literally work with the rapid and not against it. I was so scared she was going to get bounced out. God said, relax, I got this! LOL! Mikayla did amazing!! She loved it and had the time of her life. As we entered other rapids, God was showing me that the bigger our calling, the longer the training. Each rapid gets more difficult and every rapid we face requires us to use the training we've received up until that point to navigate through the difficulty. When we continually engage our training, we become skilled navigators in this life!

The last rapid was called "Powerhouse" and guess who got to "Ride the Bull?" Yours truly! This rapid was huge and few stay in the raft. I was going for it!! I listened intently to my instruction. I climbed on the front of the raft knowing I didn't have my oar to keep me in, I was depending on getting through this by using my body weight and using the water as my ally rather than my enemy. See, the storms of your life are not the enemy; they are actually your ally! We must encounter obstacles to gain strength, which in turn gives us the tenacity to continue, the perseverance to rise above, and the ability to overcome! God designed us to overcome! Are you letting the storms of life toss you out of the raft? Or, are you looking at the storms to train you to become a skillful navigator? When I went through "Powerhouse," I rocked it!! I took the bull by the horns I guess you could say and I went through that rapid flawlessly! My guides were super impressed. As I shared this story with my team on this raft, they all listened intently and I was able to speak of God in a parable by using what they knew best! As I shared, God downloaded this to my spirit, He said, "I've prepared you to be a "Powerhouse" for Me, and set the captives free! I've trained you to be a "Skilled Navigator!"

How is God training you? What obstacles in your life can actually bring greatness to your life?

Skillfully Trained,


TDahl



 
  

       


I'm Sufficient for You

This was my journal entry, from my first whitewater rafting trip in Colorado about 6 years ago, which later became part of my Thirty-One Day Devotional for Women - "What Did He Say About Me?"  I wanted to share this because I'm going to follow it up with a new entry and tell you what God showed me on my most recent whitewater trip just a few days ago. 

What Did He Say About Me?


Day 10 – “I’m Sufficient for You”



Daily Scripture

II Corinthians 12:9 AMP

But He said to me, My grace [My favor and loving-kindness and mercy] is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect [fulfilled and completed] and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ [the Messiah] may rest [yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell] upon me!



Daily Devotion



This is going to be a long devotional, but I feel compelled to be extremely detailed. Recently, I had an incredible adventure! I went to Colorado Springs, CO for the first time. I was able to go horseback riding in the mountains for 2 hours and then immediately after, was able to go whitewater rafting for the first time. The horseback ride was challenging, but I knew how to handle the horse aspect, especially growing up riding! However, the whitewater rafting was a whole other world that I had no knowledge of in the least.

A few years back I went kayaking with my Aunt Rosemary, but it was a rubber kayak and the water was in no way as rough as what I was about to take on. Upon my arrival, I was given a wet suit and boots and fitted for a life jacket. I could barely breathe in Colorado, let alone have a life jacket that was squeezing the life right out of me. I had to adjust! I was praying for the Lord to just help me breathe.

We loaded up in the bus that would take us to the river entrance to embark on my 4 hour rafting trip. Yes, I signed up for 4 hours on the river! I just thought we were going to put our raft in the river and go. Well, that is not what happened in the least.

We all got a detailed talk on the way to the river and then when we arrived, we did as we were instructed – we unloaded the rafts! They were so heavy! Being oxygen depleted made it even more difficult! Yet, I was part of a team and every one of us had to contribute! We unloaded the rafts and set them on land. We began to practice, on land!!! I thought to myself…how weird.

We would have to get in the boat and fake paddle and then our guide would yell out something like high right or right side and those of us sitting on the left would have to move quickly to the right. Then he’d say center and quickly we’d move to the center. No sooner as we got settled in center…he’d yell “left.” Quickly everyone was moving to the left!

We then got the chat about how we were all a team and needed to move when we were told to move. He then said this, “when we go through the rapids and you are in position to paddle, keep your paddled connected with the current. Sink it deep he said!” He said, “The paddle connected with the current will keep you in the raft!”

First of all, by this time I was scared out of my mind! I thought this was going to be a fun adventure. I didn’t realize the danger! Second of all, I thought you sat in the raft, not on the side of the raft. Something was wrong I thought. How in the world am I going to be able to stay in the raft if I’m sitting on the side of the raft, and not get bounced out of it when we hit the rapids? All these questions were flying in my head like a tornado.

As we finished our land practice, we began to load our raft in the water. As we got in the water and set our positions I was actually able to catch my breath and relax for a few minutes taking in the beautiful scenery. Our guide then began to instruct us to practice while the water was calm. So we began the once again tedious task of finding positions when our guide yelled out the various instructions.

I was actually really terrified now that we were in the water, knowing there was no way I was getting out of this one! I was going through this, and was at the point of no return. We got to relax a bit more after our guide thought we would be able to handle these rapids.

Then, our practice was over, we were ready to actually experience this as our guide called out “rapids ahead.” I tensed up in fear! I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them. My limitation of sight caused this fear in my heart that I couldn’t describe. Finally, the rapid came into view, our paddles were down deep in the current and there we went.

What do you know, the guide was right!!! The paddle, when kept in the current really does keep you in the raft! All of a sudden through that experience, I began to not fear, and lighten up so I could really enjoy this trip. God’s strength was made perfect in my weakness.

What was my weakness? Lack of experience! Many individuals have knowledge. After all, I “heard” what I was supposed to do and I could have reiterated that to someone else easily, yet I had no experience to back it up. In the spiritual sense, experience with God gives us wisdom. Knowledge is not wisdom!

As I continued on this rafting trip, God showed me something so amazing. He showed me that even when we encounter trials and hardships that life bring us, we must keep our paddles (our lives) connected with the current (Jesus) in those storms. Some storms are small, some storms are huge.

The rapids started out small, but the experience of getting through the smaller ones, gave us “experience” enough to handle “The Widow Maker.”

The Widow Maker was our final rapid on this course and let me tell you, I have the pictures to prove that this rapid was tough! Yet, I knew that God’s grace would be sufficient – even in danger, just like our daily scripture says. His grace is His ability.

I was so trusting in God through this rafting trip because of my lack of both knowledge and experience in this area. God showed me that the problem with most people that follow Him is that they don’t stay connected to Him in the storms of life, instead they remove their paddle from the current and then they are just tossed into the blender of life, and then to make it worse, they actually blame Him.

It’s not God making your life miserable or causing bad things to happen to you. How could we trust Him if He was the cause of our pain and hurt? It doesn’t make sense. Life happens! If we would have removed our paddles from the current while going through any of those rapids, we would have all fallen out of the raft! We need to stay connected to the current (God) so that we can go through the rapids of life. Let the power of Christ rise up in you by staying connected. Through staying connected with Him, you will experience; not just have knowledge, but experience, that He really is sufficient!