Let your fruit be succulent

   Don't hold onto the negatives in
       your life and fly with them!

                             
Sometimes we are inclined to allow the negative things in our life to consume us. We hold on tightly and never let go.  Our minds are constantly thinking of problems and issues and our hearts are heavy with all the frustration, anxiety and despair that they bring. We keep holding on for dear life and take them with us wherever we go.  Eventually we begin to feel miserable and can see nothing positive in our life. The circumstances and issues may still be there but you need to let go at times and focus on other things too!  If you are totally consumed by all the problems and issues, you may not even see the positive in your life anymore or the opportunities that are right in front of you!  

  Why isn't God opening a door?

Is this the question you are asking? Perhaps you have a dream and you don’t understand why God is not coming through for you?

I want to encourage you not to feel despondent. God hears your prayers and he sees your heart, but He also knows what you need in order to fulfil your dream. You may not even realize it but with each life experience and situation you are faced with, God may be preparing and grooming you for what is to come. Through our struggles, He moulds, shapes, and refines us and teaches us powerful lessons that will sustain us in the future.

When you feel anxious about the future, try and seek to understand what the Lord is doing around you. God’s plan is always at work, even when you don’t see it. We only see the puzzle pieces but God sees the entire picture. Embrace each puzzle piece of your life and learn from it. Continue to seek the Lord and trust in Him, for He knows what’s best for you and His timing is perfect.

Thinking back on situations in my life, I see how God was busy equipping and preparing me for my writing aspirations. Through hardships I learnt empathy and compassion, and through the years I gained writing experience and confidence. My journey has also taught me patience and endurance.

Do you have a sense of how God is using your current circumstances to prepare you for your dream or calling?

Have you ever felt like your faith has been tested? On this specific day I certaintly did! Thought I would share my experience with you. :-)    -Margaret-

Ask me to do anything else, but please, please just not parallel parking!  If there is only parallel parking available in town, I will park a block away and rather walk to avoid the parking.

At the company where I worked, it was compulsory to have a driving test done every three years. Arrangements would be made for the driving instructor to come on site to test the employees and I would be frantic when it was almost my turn!

It’s the night before my appointment and I sit anxiously going through all the pictures that I downloaded from the internet on how to do parallel parking. The pictures alone make my heart race and my palms sweaty. ‘Maybe I should phone in sick,’ I ponder for a moment, but decide to rather pray instead.

‘Please Lord, will you PLEASE let it rain tomorrow so that I don’t have to do the parallel parking? Thank you for answering my prayer. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.’ I know that if it rains the instructor will leave the parallel parking and I will only need to do the driving test. Others have been lucky in this regard. 

I have woken up to the most beautiful sunny day and clear blue sky and I am devastated!  ‘But Lord, You know how nervous I am ...’ I cry out on my way to work. My heart is really beating fast and and I can feel a headache starting.

 I have to go for this test now and I am upset that the sun is still shining. I can't believe that I am upset about a beautiful day? I’m just so nervous!  I open the door and slide into the driver’s seat glancing at the instructor next to me, hoping that he doesn’t notice my foot shaking on the pedal.

As I drive off he turns to me and announces, ‘There is a large truck parked in the way at the testing ground so we will have to skip the parallel parking and only do the driving test.’ I can't believe it! Looking up at the clear blue sky, I smile sheepishly and say a silent prayer.