More Than : Joelle Allen

The process births consistent progress… as we remain under cover.

It seems that even with every joy life has to offer, true and lasting joy comes with a cost. The Bible says, “They that WAIT upon the Lord will renew their strength.” It also says, “you have need endurance…”

It’s like this: there’s a cost in taking a vacation. We plan for vacation. The wait is long. Every week that goes by keeps ticking away, until finally, it’s on the horizon. As you get closer, the days edging near begin to seem like entire weeks in and of themselves…until vacation time is finally here! The rest, the sun, the laughter, the good times are finally happening! If you can even turn off responsibility mentally, then you’ve really pushed into “vacay mode!” Then…it’s over. Back to work. Back to the routine. Back to the schedule and consistency of everyday life, ministry and work. We go back to pushing ourselves to do the same thing, week in and week out. And usually, there’s even work to catch up on just from taking time off.

Once the fun is over and it’s “back to work,” our lives HAVE TO be more than just routine! There has to be more than just living each day for the things we have to do. And there is more… MORE is found in the Lord! There is more…once we’ve gone through the process and really experienced the Lord, He brings us to a place of consistent progress. This is a progress that comes from surrendering to and honoring the biblical covering that He’s placed in our lives. A progress that comes from taking the time to actually transform and change, and refusing to have to get things quickly.

How was Abraham was able to offer his son, even unto the point of death? It was because He had a personal promise from the Lord about his descendants. He knew what the Lord was going to do, because God told him personally. What promises has the Lord given you? Are you seeking Him to find out?

Without a vision from the Lord, will we even be able to remain consistent in our covering? Will we be able to remain strong through the process? The answer is no. Without a vision, we will always return to the patterns of the flesh and the things we’ve always done.

To the Faith Home students and Graduates, there is so much more to this walk than just being clean. And to everyone else who didn’t come through the Faith Home, if you’ve never used drugs or alcohol, then there must be something that pulls you in the wrong direction. We are all just finding out what “pulls” us. Maybe it’s overspending and shopping; maybe it’s pleasure or relationships; maybe it’s the fear of man… whatever it is, we must know that Jesus is the answer. He is the ONLY Truth, Life, and Way.

He is the ONE who will push us to remain IN THE PROCESS. He is the One who will keep us CONSISTENT. And if we remain obedient to Him and His COVERING, then we will being to see LASTING PROGRESS! We become more than we ever thought we could be!

Remember…

You are more than what you’ve been through.

You are all that Jesus died for you to be!