THE TIME IS NOW
- Apr 4, 2016
- 6 min read
Hi everyone! Today is the official Lines of Faith launch day. This is so exciting for me and I cannot wait to start this faith-filled journey with you.Starting something for the first time can be a little intimidating. I am sitting here, writing this post, very intimidated and also a little bit scared. I am scared of what people’s thoughts and reactions are going to be like. Will they like it? Will they respond in a positive way? It’s hard because in the world we live in, we are surrounded by criticism. But, I have learned that I am my own critic. So, I have to stop those thoughts, and completely eliminate any negativity that is hiding out in my head, because it doesn’t matter what others think about my writing, it only matters what God thinks. He is not my critic. He is not here to intimidate me. He is only here to motivate me. He is my biggest supporter. He is reason for Lines of Faith. He is the drive, and the inspiration behind it all. When it comes to faith, it sometimes means stepping out of our own comfort zones. It means trusting what’s handed to you, even if what’s placed in your hands is blank. Lines of Faith was a blank piece of paper put in my hand by God. All I could do was stare at it, blankly. Okay Lord, you’ve placed something in my heart, but what exactly is it that you want to come of it? What’s the outcome? What do you need me to do? What is my next step? “Write.”
Write? Okay… Write. So I wrote. I wrote exactly what He put on my heart. Eventually, things added up, and here we are. I believe that each of us is called to something greater than we think. We don’t give ourselves enough credit. We don’t give God enough credit. God designed us specifically for His plan. We all play a part in it, we are all contributors, we just have to listen for His call. A knock on our hearts, a hand waving in our faces, a flashlight shining at us in the dark, whatever it might be, we have to choose to see it. Like a runner with his baton, we have to firmly grasp onto it and run. And we run until we see that finish line. Faith is doing whatever it takes until you reach that finish line. Now, notice how I said run. No walking, no jogging, no stopping to pick flowers. Run. No putting it off. I put it off. I took Lines of Faith, but I didn’t run with it. I doubted it. I dropped it. I hid it away because I didn’t quite see what the point was. This is where I went wrong. When the Lord hands you something, he is saying “the time is now”. Your time, your role, is now. “Use your writing now”. In the book of Ester, Haman was upset with the fact that Mordecai refused to bow down to him. He found out Mordecai’s nationality and became angry. He then requested to the king to have all Jews annihilated from the kingdom. Mordecai was very upset and went to Ester to ask her to speak to the king about this decree, but she did not have permission to enter to speak with the king and was hesitant to do so. Mordecai replied with this: “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created” (Ester 4:14), and with that Ester spoke out to the king and saved her people. That verse is one of my absolute favorites, and it happens to tie in with what this post is about. Although the Lord is not mentioned in this book of the bible (His name or title), He is clearly there. Mordecai and Ester realized that this was their “now”, their moment to follow through. They knew that they were placed in that position for a reason, and because they believed that, and because they acted at the right time, God used them. God used them to save His people. God is doing the same thing with us. He is using us in certain situations throughout our life to fulfill some part of His plan. So don’t wait. Don’t wallow around. Act. Ask for God’s direction and run that way because God may have just placed you or prepared you “for such a time as this”. We do not know why God places things on our hearts. We do not know how He is going to use us, but we have to trust in Him, regardless. Because with Faith, the time is always now. There is no “better time”. No more excuses. No more I will do it later, or next week. The time is now. We have to stop using our “tomorrows” as an excuse and just start living now in our “todays”. Stop waiting for Fridays. Stop waiting for summer. Stop waiting for someone else to do your work for you. Start living for now because THIS is your now. This is the time in which God has called you to. Move. Run. Sprint. Explore. Thrive. Do it for Him
Lines of Faith Launch is my first step in moving. I am stepping out in faith, running to do what I feel called to do. I have taken that baton and I have started my race. I cannot wait to see where this will take me. I may not know how this journey will end, or where it will take me along the way, but I am running until I see that finish line. We have begun our launch series by introducing this crucial fact: our time is now. Our time to act out our faith is now. I love beginning this way because it sets a clear path of where Lines of Faith is headed. Every idea or plan needs a clear direction, a clear place to begin. Lines of Faith’s direction is towards that finish line, and it is all about how to take your faith there with you. Of course, reaching that finish line is not as easy as it sounds. Running with your faith takes a lot of work, but let me just start by saying that you are not alone. I, too, have just started running. Like I said before, this is where my race begins, right here with Lines of Faith. So if you are ready, I encourage you to begin your race with me! Let’s run together. Remember, this is not a competition. There will be times where you fall back, or stop for rest. Others will rush past you and that is okay, as long as you still have that baton in your hand. We are all going to cross our finish lines at different times, so instead of worrying about someone else’s race, stay focused on your own and encourage one another along the way.
Regardless of how your race is going, He is using every moment of it. Good or bad days, He is shaping you and shaping your faith, so don’t stop running, and let’s see where this journey will take you, how it will shape you, and what it will bring you!
Dear God,
Today, I just want to lift up whoever took the time to read this post. I truly believe that they visited this page for a reason, and whatever that reason may be, I just pray that you show it to them. Help them listen for you Lord. Help them gain the courage to grab ahold of their faith and run. Their time is now. Walk with them on their faith-filled journey. Push them through the hard days, and celebrate with them through their victories, because there will be both. Choosing to live faithfully isn’t easy, but I know the outcome will be worth it. I pray that you will just use them for your plan. Encourage them daily and remind them how much you love them.
Amen
Thank you so much for visiting day one of our Lines of Faith launch series. This is just one out of a few launch posts and I am so so so excited to share more with you. The next few posts go into more detail about what Lines of Faith is all about and what inspired it all. I will dig deeper into what it means to run with your faith, or, as I like to call it, “filling your lines faithfully”. Lines of Faith is based around the idea of life being our own notebook. We fill its pages, but it is important that we fill them faithfully. So, with that being said… I am going to close out today’s post. You will hear a lot more about “filling your lines faithfully” later, I promise. Typically, I will end my posts with some sort of question, sometimes followed by a prayer and prayer requests. Please feel free to leave any comments below in the comment section. If you would like to send prayer requests privately, you may send them to my email: madi@linesoffaith.com You can subscribe to Lines Of Faith on the home page for blog updates as well as Lines of Faith newsletters. This is only the beginning for Lines of Faith. Many more additions and plans to come. Again, Thank you so much for visiting.
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Love you all!
MKG
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