Giving up going through the motions.

Wow! It has been longer than I thought since my last post. Here is my reason for my absence; I hit an emotional wall. I've still been managing to work my way through the 40 Things to Give up devotional, just very slowly; I just finished number 18 this morning. My reading for today was about giving up going through the motions. I think the best think Pastor Phil Ressler said was; "It's time to move beyond going through the motions and live the great adventure!"

I am not a stranger of going through the motions. Most of our lives are very routine. We wake up and do pretty much the same things almost every day with work, school and family schedules. They become so familiar that we can eventually find ourselves doing these things on autopilot. Have you ever driven to work or someplace that you go frequently, and when you get there you realize that you don't remember a thing about the drive there, or your driving down a road you travel often with a different destination in mind but you automatically take a turn you would normally take without even thinking about. Then you think to yourself, "What am I doing, I didn't want to go this way." I know I have, and it is kind of a scary thing when you really think about it. We can do this in so many areas in our lives; function on autopilot and then when we get to the end of our day or even our lives we wonder how we got here and we realize all the things we missed along the way.

I had an "Ah Ha" moment this week about going through the motions. I have been doing it for years. I have been going through the motions of my emotions. I have been living the comfortably uncomfortable life just because it is familiar; the road I have traveled for years. I have know this for a long time. I have talked about it many times. I have had other destinations in mind but I haven't made the effort to turn off the autopilot switch. There is one, you know. Sometimes it can be just out of our reach. That is when we need to ask someone to help us reach it. It may seem like a silly thing to need help with. I mean, how hard can it be to make your way to a device that is as simple to use as a switch is. People would think that I am pathetic or stupid. And those very autopilot-thoughts can make it very hard to ask for help or to even believe that you need help. Whether you believe it or not, there are other people out there who need help with the exact same issue of turning off their autopilot. I know that I am one of them and I am finally believing that needing that help does not make me pathetic or stupid and I am not unworthy of help.

I have finally started to believe what God has been trying to tell me for years. That it is ok to own who I am and what I need, and that it is ok to tell someone what I need. I don't need to keep trying to be someone that I am not. I am not pathetic or worthless; someone who can only receive love through pity. And I am not someone who needs to be perfect, or who has it all together. I am a person just like everyone else, with issues and needs. I can't be afraid to tell someone my needs because it might hurt their feelings. It is not my responsibility. It is my job to have an open, honest, healthy relationship with people and to give them the same love and understanding I expect from them.

So, I am learning to muster up the courage to tell people what I really need and ask them to help because I know that is what I really need right now; accountability and encouragement. It is ok to need help and encouragement from the people around us, after all, God designed us to do life together, not on our own. And don't forget that God is there to help you, too, because he loves you and wants the best for your life. "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13.

I encourage you to do what is necessary to turn off your autopilot so you can "...live the great adventure." God is by your side and has given you all the tools you need. It is up to you to make that decision and to take that first step. I promise you the help is there. God desires the unique you that he created, not the autopilot you that you have created. God desires the true you, not the you that you think he wants or what you think others want to see in you.

"When you believe in God's power, "He can"...but when you believe in His love, "God will." -Benny Hinn

As far as the 40 things devotional, I still plan to finish what I started, but I am sorry to say that I am not going to continue to try post each one on here everyday. It started to become one of those things that that I needed to check off of my list of things to do and I found that I was just going through the motions of getting it done not really spending the time with it that I needed. These are really good devotions and I will still share them with you, just at a much slower pace, a pace that I can handle because that is what I need to do right now.

With all my love and blessings.