Hey friends! I know it has been a while sent I wrote a blog post. I have been pretty busy with my weekly emails that I send out on Sunday’s along with a project that I’ve been working on for my Gracefully Kellen followers that I am super excited to get finished up and out to you all ASAP!
All of the apologies aside, I wanted to let you all in on some things that have been pressing on my heart a lot lately. If I’m being honest, I am currently walking through one of the hardest seasons I’ve ever walked through if not THE hardest season so far. I have been doing so many things to try and help myself to remember my worth in life and there has been lots of moments of me talking to God and asking Him why things are happening the way that they are. I have found out that I put so much of my worth, reputation and self-value in what others think of me and my status in society. I am in a transition period of life for me right now that has been so stinking hard for me to walk through. God has brought me to many different obstacles and made me work through why I respond the way that I do to certain situations and He has caused me to work out a lot of really uncomfortable thoughts/feelings/emotions.
With all of these trials, I have been digging into the Word much deeper than I would have otherwise. I read the Word slowly and try to digest everything that is in it while trying to get little “nuggets” of scripture that I can apply to my life every day. While I was reading a few days ago, God brought to my attention a completely separate scripture passage than what I was reading and whispered that He had a word for me about that scripture.
16 ““Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”
2 Kings 6:16-17 NLT
My friend, did you catch that?! We are all SURROUNDED by heavenly armies when we go through challenging times or hardships. If you remember to bring God into your obstacles with you and remember to allow Him to have a say in where you are taken, He will always make sure that you are protected in the journey. Since you woke up this morning, there is a purpose that you have in this world that is not yet completed. God is not done using you and if you’ve had obstacles in trying to get to the place you know you’re supposed to be, be glad!! That means that you are worth enough to the devil that he is doing everything in his power to throw curveballs at you. He wants to slow you down in hopes that you give up and walk away… DON’T LET HIM WIN!
Trust me, I personally know how stinking hard it is to keep going. I feel resistance on every side of my life right now and there’s been so many days that I wanted to just throw in the towel. I’ve been so tired of fighting the fight and if I’m being totally honest, I’m exhausted from getting back up after being knocked down. My spirits have been bruised and my self-talk was not the greatest for a while. There’s been a quite a few times that I’ve had to get up, turn on music, and work out all of my negative doubts and emotions. I’ve danced when I didn’t want to move. I’ve reached out to friends and encouraged them when I didn’t feel an ounce of encouragement in my body for myself. Looking at the positive sides of things isn’t always the easy thing to do, some of the time it’s the absolute hardest thing to do. But doing it is so stinking important, keeping your head in a positive space is so stinking important, and protecting your mental health along the way is absolutely so stinking important.
God never promised an easy life. Actually, think about how hard Jesus’ life must have been… He was tempted and tried and he experienced every emotion we all have experienced, the only difference is he did life without ever sinning one single time. Jesus, I would imagine, felt very lonely in his life because quite literally no one on Earth could relate to the things he was experiencing. No one was able to understand his thought processes and I have a feeling that Jesus felt like the most misunderstood man at times… because he was. Easy wasn’t even in the playing field of Jesus’ life because in order to take on the sins of the world, he had to do everything right. Especially when what he was teaching went over the tops of everyone else’s heads.
Sometimes, I wonder if Jesus could see the heavenly armies around him, helping him walk through life and encouraging him to keep going. I wonder what it felt like to be both human and God. I also walk throughout my day with the thought of “would this moment in time be so difficult to walk through if I could see the armies surrounding me and protecting me while I walk through this”? I grew up knowing that I had my grandparents praying protection over me every single day. I had the amazing privilege of being raised and reminded just how much Jesus loved me every single I spoke with my grandparents. I never, for one second, doubted the fact that God was right next to me, walking through my struggles with me. I was raised with all of that and I still have a really difficult time feeling worthy of that type of protection. It still takes me remembering that we don’t deserve Gods love and favor but He gives it to us anyways to understand that I am surrounded by angels of protection throughout my day. When I remember my protection, I stop and immediately pray for my family and friends (you included). I pray angels of protection over them and I pray that God walks through their journey both ahead of them to make their paths straight and besides them to make sure they aren’t alone.
YOU have that kind of prayer being poured over you. YOU are worthy of armies of protection. If you are walking out the callings that God put on your heart and in your life, you. will. not. fail!! Nothing on Earth or beyond it can get in the way of God’s will being completed in this Earth. LET THAT EXCITE YOU!! When you wake up in the morning, before your eyes open for the day, thank God for allowing you to have another day to walk out your purpose in life. If you have anxiety (like I have a lot of the time), pray for Gods peace that surpasses all understanding. If you rest in Jesus and lay everything at the cross, the peace that He brings will sustain you to complete another day.
So, the next time you are going through a difficult time, remember that you are never alone. Pray for protection over the situation, listen to where you are being called, and walk out your purpose like only you can do. This world needs you and your calling. This world needs everything that you have to offer. Heaven needs more people and your journey could very well be what gets the next person to accept Jesus into their lives and sets their path towards heaven. Keep going my friend, you will always have a friend in me- rooting you on, one step at a time!
~Gracefully,
Kellen~
(PS: The picture associated with this blog post is what I imagine the clouds looking like when Heavens armies are surrounding you…. ENJOY and IMAGINE with me!!)
Gracefully Kellen 