Have you ever wondered, “if I am free, how come I can’t move forward”? Moving forward in freedom means that you have to remember you are free! After the Israelites left Egypt, they started complaining that they had it so good when they were slaves. When they were slaves they had food to eat and were taken care of. As entrepreneurs or women or mamas or just humans in Christ, you have to remember you are free. You are no longer a slave. God took care of that for you by dying on the cross. Thank you, Jesus! So often, so many of us go back to a slave mentality. A slave mentality tells you that you are to be fearful, hoard, think we never have enough, and live in a posture of lack. So, if you are free, why can’t you move forward?
Believe and Achieve: Belief vs. Knowledge
You are free, but do you believe you are free? Believing and knowing are two different things. When you know something, it is an understanding of knowledge. For instance, you can know God, but having a relationship with him is different. So do you believe God; do you take him at his word and stand on his promises? When things get hard, will He will pull you through? Your belief needs to be stronger than your disbelieve.
Your Past Will Set you Free
To move forward in freedom, you have to break the strongholds of past trauma. If you have experienced trauma, which most of us have. You have to revisit the trauma to move forward. Revisiting the past might be painful. Up until now, maybe you have been masking it, pretending that everything is fine when it isn’t, or even following behavior that doesn’t align with what God wants for you. The gift in all this is that he is waiting for you to lead, broken, humble and raw. Because sis, when you get to that point where you just can’t put on the mask anymore, God comes in, picks up all your broken pieces, and puts them back together for his glory. He uses every experience, every struggle, and triumph to teach others through your brokenness. God has already given you freedom, broke every bond to a former life you had, so stop holding yourself captive from the abundance that is waiting for you. Start doing the things he called you to do, so he can give you the life he already created you for.
Learn how to Move toward your Godly Purpose
Go through it to grow through it
You are free, but you will go through trials. The first few verses of James demonstrate, being joyful when your faith is being tested. He wants us to know you can grow in endurance and build a strong character that can withstand anything. So, sis, trials are part of being human. If you never suffered, you would never know how to endure, how to be patient, how to withstand the things that are to come, and ultimately how to lead others back to Jesus.
As Christians, you have to go through some stuff to follow the path the creator has set for you. No one said following Jesus would be easy. You are set apart. You are the minority trying to lead the unpopular idea to the ones who will listen.
Give up to Get
In Galatians 2:19-20, Paul says, “for when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never keep God’s approval, so I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ”. The idea of dying to something to be made new is Jesus’ upside-down approach doesn’t make sense in the world, but it does for the Kingdom. A life with Christ is dying to yourself over and over. The hard part is figuring out what you need to die to, then letting go of all the ways the world taught you and following His teachings. It sounds so simple, but to actually walk with Jesus for the sake of the journey is hard.
Giving up the control you think you have will take courage and strength. I pray for God’s supernatural strength and his hedge of protection for your journey. The way to be lead by Christ is to continually die to yourself. What do you need to die to today?
Conclusion
You are already free in Christ, so let go of any insecurities or past trauma in order to move forward into the life God planned for you. Let God dwell inside you so that you may know the direction you are supposed to go. Let community, prayers, and your foundation in the Bible build you up as you pursue your Godly purpose.
