Decisions. How do they affect your life? Guest Post by Sharon Johnson

Today, guys, I want to introduce you to Sharon Johnson.  A wonderful author that I've had the pleasure of meeting through the Christian Indie Novelists group we both belong to.  Today, she's sharing her story.  Leave some comments, make her feel welcome!  And if all goes well, she will be a contributing author to the blog! 

Thank you for having me today.  I am thrilled to be here. 

      

Life is all about decisions.  We make decisions all day long.  Some are good decisions.  Some are bad decisions.  Seems like all my life I have been making bad decisions.  I have always heard; listen to that voice deep inside.  You know that feeling you get, when you know you are making a terrible decision.  I always ignored that feeling.  Not sure why.  Maybe fear. 

     

I drank to make me feel better about the terrible decisions I made.  I starved myself because I didn’t think I was good enough.  If I wasn’t drinking, I was starving myself.  I was a mess.  I believed in GOD.  I prayed.  Why was my life such a mess? 

    

One time in my life, I found myself alone.  I was a divorced woman. Divorce is a sin.  I knew I was going to Hell, so it didn’t matter what I did.  I moved in with a man and I knew it was wrong. There was that feeling deep in my stomach, telling me I was making the wrong decision.  I couldn’t live on my own.  Who was going to take care of me? Three years in a abusive relationship.  I thought I deserved it.  I am a divorced woman going to Hell, so nothing really mattered.

I finally got out of the abusive relationship, thanks to GOD, though at the time I didn’t give GOD any credit.  I was alone.  I had nothing.  I was crying one night, till I could cry no more.  I looked up and screamed.  “Just tell me what to do!  I don’t know what you want from me.  Tell me what to do!”

I fell asleep on the floor, where I was crying.  I woke up and the answer was crystal clear.  GOD answered my prayer.  He didn’t yell the answer.  I had peace inside of me.  I knew what I had to do.  GOD told me to move and stand on my own.

Did GOD know who he was talking to?  I was 45 years old and never lived alone.  I needed someone to take care of me. 

The first time in my life I was going to listen to that voice/feeling deep inside of me.  Was I scared?  Yes.  Did I think I could do it? Nope.  For the first time I was trusting GOD.  I stopped drinking.  Best thing I ever did.  As the years past I discovered that GOD loves me, even when I ignored him.  I still make wrong decisions, but whenever I make a decision and get that feeling deep inside, I listen to that feeling.  Sometimes I don’t agree with that feeling.  In the end that feeling is guiding me in the right direction.

    

I do hope that no matter what is going on in your life, you will listen to that voice deep inside of you.  The voice will not be loud, it will be soft, loving and will nudge you in the right direction.  It is your decision; GOD gave us all free will.  I can tell you that my life is so much better since I am listening to GOD.

My Bible—My God is my testimony to GOD.  I let Satan throw me into a pit.  GOD pulled me out of the pit.  God was with me, even when I ignored him.  GOD is always with us.  We just have to listen and He will guide us into making the right decisions.

You are never alone.  GOD loves you. 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future. 

 My Bible—My God.

     

http://sharonleejohnson.com

Where is God?

Have you ever felt like you cannot be comforted from whatever it is that is bothering you?  Maybe you feel like nothing will ever be right in your life again, that whatever hurts you will forever hang over your head.

You cry out the words, "Where is my help?"  And the verse may come to mind, "My help comes from the Lord."

You think, where is God in this?  Don't fret.  You aren't the only one who has thought that.  Even in the Bible, say in Psalm 119:82, it says,

"My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, "When will You comfort me?"

Sure, there are answers to your problems in the Word of God.  There are times, though, that you can read through the Bible and not find anything to help you deal with your problems.  Or, you find them but they don't alleviate your worries and concerns.

So you keep praying, and you keep searching. Good.  Keep doing do that.  Because, you WILL find GOD the more you read the word and search for Him.

He hasn't moved.  The problem is us.  We aren't casting all of our worries on God.  We aren't letting go of our problems and giving it to Him.

I've done this.  I've prayed and prayed until I felt like my prayers were bouncing off of the ceiling.  I felt like God wasn't hearing my cries for help, and I felt like if He was hearing them, He wasn't answering them.

That of course wasn't the case.  The answers I wanted weren't in God's will.  He was hearing me, and He was answering my prayers.  He just wasn't answering them the way I wanted Him to, but after some thought, and a good read through Psalms, I knew that I had to "Let Go and Let God."

He wants to help us.  He wants to comfort us, but we won't let Him.  We, as humans, want to fix the problems ourselves.  We want God to take a lead from us and follow our directions, but we can't do that.  We have to follow God's directions for our lives - the Word.

When you feel like God isn't near, I beg you to reconsider your thoughts.  God is right there.  Waiting.  Waiting on you to come to Him and let Him be the Father that He wants to be.  He wants to comfort His child.  It isn't His will to make us suffer.  We make ourselves suffer by not giving into Him and falling into His loving arms that are waiting for us.

Psalm 121: 1, 2

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth."

I encourage you to read the rest of Psalm 121.  I encourage you to read through Psalms when you're hurting.  God wants to help you.  God IS your help.  Just call on Him, cast your burdens on Him, and He will deliver you.

Psalm 55:22

"Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved."

1 Peter 5:6, 7

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for He cares for you."

Cry out to the Lord

 

Guys, sometimes it's hard to remember that no matter the storm we're traveling through, there is a light amidst the storm.  God will calm the storm and will bring us out of the things that distress us the most.