in the midst of it all…

This was it! This was the week I had prayed for. This was the week I had been believing God for...for months! I was beginning my new job as program manager. I was so eager to take on a new role with new responsibilities. So how is it that my week began with a summer cold: stuffy-runny nose, dry cough and body aches and me sitting on my front porch locked out of my house and car at 5:30 a.m. I was literally sitting in morning mist from the last night's rain on my porch.

I couldn't believe how forgetful I had been because just the day before I left my whole purse at home and two days before that traveled out of town without my drivers license. I thought to myself that surely this isn't what I had prayed for. But being the God that He is, he showed me the lesson in all of this...

preparation

How did you prepare for the week?

We can go before God and pray the heavens down all we want but without preparation will you be able to handle the blessing?

The Holy Spirit checked me in that moment and I realized I had not adequately prepared for my first full week of work. I needed to SLOW DOWN!

I WAS LITERALLY STANDING IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL!

I mean....I made sure my clothes were washed but that's not necessarily what He meant by "prepared". My grass is out here looking raggedy, my home looks like I am a mother to five children and my fridge is bare as a bone. Looking back, what I should have done was clear my schedule for the weekend, clean my house, light a candle and bask in His presence – after-all he was the reason for this major testimony in my life.

Sometimes you can be overcome with an overwhelming feeling of joy or it can be an overwhelming feeling of anxiety. Either way preparation will get you down one of those roads. Ideally of course, you'd want to be overwhelmed with joy rather than anxiety but Hey! We live and we learn!

SIDEBAR: It's important that we don't allow one moment of being ill-prepared to define our ability to get through a situation or season because the enemy will work hard to try and convince you that you aren't good enough. Trust me, I know. I had to go into prayer to fight off the enemy's infiltrating ways to get into my head and convince me otherwise. I knew that God got me here and I know He will keep me here. And that's FACTS!

challenge

This weekend I challenge you to slow down. Take a breather over the next two days and submerge yourself in the presence of God. Allow him to prepare you, equip you and strengthen you for the days and week to come. Go ahead, give it a try...if you can't clear your schedule, try it for an hour or two. Let God be God and allow Him to break up the fallow ground.

What are your thoughts? What will you do when you're in the midst of it all? Will you fall victim to the enemy's scheming ways or will you seek God's face for comfort and reassurance?

Let me know, drop it in the comment section.