When God takes you the long way

I’ve walked with God since I was around 11 years old. I have failed in my faithfulness to Him time and time again. But he has always remained steadfast. I love the Lord, and I love His word, even if I haven’t always understood it. I’ve always believed God to be powerful and capable of miracles and changing peoples lives. I have seen it. But I held a belief in my mind. I thought I wasn’t special enough for Him. I felt I wasn’t seen enough by Him for Him to work miracles in my life. And I settled for that, I wasn’t angry about it, it’s just the way it was (I thought). 

I also thought that If I prayed enough, God would change me. Like in the sense that I would wake up one day completely transformed and not struggling with my struggles anymore. I was super interested in self-development but had a lot of trouble putting the two together. I was either struggling on my own, or I was praying and waiting for God to change me.

It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom that I learned God wanted me to pursue change. He showed me that life is a partnership—we work together, I do my part, and He does the rest.

I was in the trenches. It was a minute by minute battle. I was suffering through panic attack after panic attack. It was a struggle to get out of bed.

But through each panic attack, I began to learn to cry out to God. I learned to go through it with the Lord. Yes, they were still happening but I wasn’t just letting it happen anymore. I was fighting back. 

Each day, I got a tiny bit better. I fought a tiny bit harder. But I was fighting, and leaning into the Lord for strength. The panic attacks started to get less frequent. 

It was a long, long process. But as I think of those long months of recovery. I think of this passage in Exodus 13:17-18. 

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.” So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. 

God took them the long way, because what they would face on the shorter way would cause them to turn back to Egypt. If you’re interested you can see the route they took here.

I took the long hard road through my struggle. But my life completely changed in the process. God completely changed how I viewed living this life. 

That doesn’t mean life has been smooth sailing since, but in every difficulty, I have hope. I know I can get through. He taught me what it means to actually life live with the Lord. In His strength. 

I know what it’s like to struggle with a mind that won’t cooperate in helping you achieve your goals.

Today, witnessing others achieve victory in their lives and walk with God makes all my struggles worthwhile.

That’s what Overcomers is. I believe that God can help us Overcome anything. It is a beautiful partnership with dependence on the Lord. We make our flesh and our minds yield to His word over our lives. His Word brings hope. His Word brings life. His Word brings victory. Now imagine if we were able make ourselves to surrender to His word. What would our lives look like?

What would your life look like?

Peace be with you.

Natalia.