Over the last year God has been teaching me a lot about how to move forward and build momentum in my life.
Stuck in a rut
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a rut? I have felt like this at different times in my life. Sometimes it seems like I am constantly held back and pushed back by life circumstances. It seems like there is a barrier of perpetual frustration between where my life currently is and where I want it to be.
But is it God's will that we regularly find ourselves feeling like we are stuck in a rut? I don't think so. I believe that He came that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10) and He wants us to fulfil the purpose and destiny He has for our lives.
So how do we participate with God in the art of building momentum in our lives?
The role of resistance
The path of momentum towards breakthrough and empowerment begins with embracing the challenge of spiritual growth and maturity. God wants to partner with us so that we may grow up in to maturity in Christ and walk out and fulfil the destiny that He has for us.
An important factor in this is recognising the place that trials have in our lives. Resistance trains and prepares us for our calling and destiny. If we have the right attitude about resistance in our lives we can learn how to harness this towards greater and greater momentum. Trials are not something to be feared but rather they have the potential to catapult us forward in faith and accelerate us into our calling.
But if we are immature about the way in which God works in our lives to bring about His desired outcomes then it can be easy to continually find ourselves in a rut.
Yielding to the Holy Spirit
Sometimes we can interfere with God's process that He is working out in our lives if we haven't learnt how to submit to the process He is taking us through in humble trust and faith.
When there is deep stuff in our lives that has been holding us back sometimes the process of dealing with that stuff can be painful. And because we have a tendency to avoid pain we resist the discomfort of going through what God is trying to take us through to get us free.
He knows we need to go through some really uncomfortable stuff in order that He can get us ready to bless us in different areas of our lives. Sometimes His blessings aren't flowing into our lives because there is stuff that is getting in the way. There are areas of immaturity and God knows we are not ready to carry the favour, blessing or anointing that He wants to pour out in our lives.
So a very important lesson for me over the last year has been to simply yield to the presence of the Holy Spirit and what He is doing in me, even when it is really hard. I am learning to yield to Him moment by moment.
Here is a good example. Sometimes there are moments where I am feeling horrible and Holy Spirit says put on a worship song. It is so easy to ignore this and think 'that is just an annoying irrelevant thought in my head' or 'not right now God, that is the last thing I feel like doing'. But because I am learning to have a reverence for yielding to His voice, especially when I don't feel like it I am learning to just yield to the discipline and do it. Often those moments where I obey when I feel nothing are moments of breakthrough. Simple yieldness, obedience and repentance unlocks faith, power and clarity.
Aceleration
There may be cycles, patterns and structures in our lives that have kept us stagnant for a long time and kept us going round and round in circles and never quite stepping into the things we know deep in our heart we were born for. If this is the case God may need to get us up to speed. God is a supernatural God who can accelerate our lives beyond what is normally possible or expected when the time is right.
As we learn to come into alignment with His timing and work in our lives He can move us forward very quickly if we are ready for it.
Conor is from Adelaide, South Australia. He has a history degree from Tabor College and has a gardening business. Conor has played in Christian heavy metal band Synnove. He is involved in Operation Canaan, a ministry that prays and intercedes for the music scene. He loves God, music, reading, traveling and thinking deeply about philosophy and current events in the world.
Conor Ryan’s previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/conor-ryan.html