Living a Spirit Led Life

From Kathy and Kathy:  As we’ve studied God’s Word and ways, sometimes there’s been an insight that has changed the trajectory of our thinking or expanded our hearts. It’s brought wonder at God’s wisdom and appreciation for His design laws.

We’re going to share some of these with you this year, followed by a listening prayer opportunity. If an idea is new to you and rings true, you’ll be able to ask God how it could make a difference for you. What if, moving forward, you let go of lies you’ve believed making room to embrace truth? Would it bring breakthrough, freedom, or peace? Would your heart become more like God’s? Give it a try and experience the possibilities!

This is Page 2 of the series called:

What if . . .

Mom, you seem to be anxious a lot of the time.

These were sobering words to hear from my teenage son. Yet, I knew they were true. Truer than I wanted to admit. Looking back, I realize this was a moment of revelation and an opportunity to address an unhealthy mindset. What if I didn’t have to live this way?

I took time to ask the Lord about the primary cause or trigger of my anxiety. In the quiet, the word responsibility came to mind and resonated in my spirit. I had picked up the habit of feeling responsible for other people, primarily my family—for the choices they made and their sense of well-being. I’d been living this way since childhood. It was time for change.

When I was a child, I talked like a child,
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
—I Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)

Since I can only control the choices I make, I repented of coming into agreement with the lie that I can control or need to control others. I repented of taking on responsibility in places that were not mine and asked God to teach me how to think differently.

My small group prayed with me. The Lord revealed that this feeling of responsibility was a learned behavior, and I had stepped into it out of fear. It was a place where I wasn’t trusting God to work good. A place where I was doubting God’s character. But it wasn’t up to me. Repentance followed, again. Then I was given a desire to do things differently. I began letting go of responsibility and choosing to believe and trust God. Within weeks I started changing, becoming more relaxed and less controlling.

My “What if I didn’t have to live this way?” became “I don’t have to live this way.” I learned that we were not created for one another, we were created for God, and He can be trusted.

Try it Out . . .

Do you ever find yourself anxious or feeling responsible for things over which you have no control? Have you accepted this as normal? If so, today are you willing to take your anxiety before the Lord and ask Him to set you free? What things are triggering these feelings? What if you could live differently?

Pray: Lord, I know I am formed in Your image. You live in peace and You tell me not to fear. So today I come to You admitting I struggle with feelings of anxiety or responsibility for circumstances or people I cannot control. I want to live differently and am willing to face the truth.

Lord, as I take time to listen, show me:

• What beliefs are at the root of these feelings? (Repent if you have believed lies.)
• What is the truth in this area?
• Is there an action step for me to take to live from a place of truth?
• What difference will it make to live out of the truth?

Respond to the Lord with gratefulness for His goodness, for the freedom that will be yours, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit—the one who will empower you to live differently.

From Kathy and Kathy:  As we’ve studied God’s Word and ways, sometimes there’s been an insight that has changed the trajectory of our thinking or expanded our hearts. It’s brought wonder at God’s wisdom and appreciation for His design laws.

We’re going to share some of these with you this year, followed by a listening prayer opportunity. If an idea is new to you and rings true, you’ll be able to ask God how it could make a difference for you. What if, moving forward, you planted these seeds of truth and watched them grow in your life? Would they bring breakthrough, freedom, or peace? Would your heart become more like God’s? Give them a try and experience the possibilities!

We’ll call this series:

What if . . .

My heart jumped as I heard the question from a participant at the marriage seminar. I was part of a panel on the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Battambang, Cambodia, and the audience was made up of young singles and married couples interested in learning more about God’s design for marriage.

“My husband wants to spend every Christmas celebration with his family, and I want to be with my family,” voiced a newly married woman. “They live in different cities, and we can’t figure this out.”

Conviction rose up in me, but I looked at my friends on the panel to be sure no one else wanted to speak. Then I said something like: “In God’s eyes, marriage is a covenant relationship. As Christians, once we are married, there is no more your family and my family. There is only our family.

“Marriage is based on the covenants men made in Old Testament times. They pledged themselves to one another: ‘Your family is now my family, your friends are my friends, and your enemies are my enemies. Your debts are my debts, your assets are my assets, and what I have I share with you.’

“When we marry, we receive our spouse’s family as our own. We give them the same honor and respect we want given to our family. We may need to stand up to parents who demand we be with them every holiday and explain that we now have two families and will take turns being with each. The question becomes how to honor both families as well as our new family.”

Looking back, I think my husband and I did a pretty good job of living this way, but when I understood the concept of his family being my family, my heart attitude shifted. Instead of your family and my family, it became your side of our family and my side of our family. It’s subtle, but powerful. 

Inner frustration, irritation, or divisiveness have no room to grow as I honor God’s design and heart for family and marriage. While my family of origin’s quirks are normal to me, I realize they can be challenging for someone who didn’t grow up with them! And I can accept the habits of another family.

When I think of my mother-in-law as my mother, I am more protective of her as well as glad to help. When I honor my father-in-law as my father, respect rises up for all that is good. I can say with all sincerity, “You are my family.”

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, 
and the two shall become one flesh; 
so they are no longer two, but one flesh.
–Matthew 10:7-8 (NASB)

Honor your father and your mother, 
so that your days may be prolonged 
on the land which the LORD your God gives you.
–Exodus 20:12

Try it out . . .

Pray: Lord, through the covenant of marriage, I see Your plan is for my spouse’s family to be my family. Whether I am married or single, I come into agreement with Your design for family and marriage. 

God, I give You access to this part of my heart and ask You to grow my love for my spouse’s entire family (or to prepare my heart to love my future spouse’s family). If I have not honored them in the way You had planned, I want to change. Show me, Lord, what happens with this new way of thinking. (Take a few minutes and sense God’s heart in this matter.)

Now, Lord, I pause and listen to anything else You want me to remember—about covenant relationships, honor, or marriage–or any attitude you ask me to change. Thank you that You are able to transform my thinking and actions when I ask.

(Then, take time to pray blessings over family members the Lord brings to mind.)