I have had a major personal breakthrough that I feel God wants very much for me to share with you. Hopefully, you will have the same. The sooner the better.

It is stating the obvious. But yet, it has taken me years to do it.

I set aside two consecutive days for prayer and meditation. During that time, I couldn’t help but reflect on many ways that God has intervened in my life to help me grow and mature spiritually, bringing me closer to God.

During this time of reflection, I also listened to a teaching by Joyce Meyer. After all was said and done, I couldn’t help but recognize that I was “past due” in placing my trust in God. So I finally made the active decision to do it.

Trusting God means many things including, but not limited to:

+ Recognizing that God is fully under control. That does not mean that God is doing everything. God lets people make bad decisions as well as good ones.

+ Humbling myself to realize that I am not responsible for all of the horrible things that are going on in the world. The scope of my power is VERY limited. I can’t change the world. So I might as well accept that fact. But I can make positive contributions.

+ God knows why people do what we do. No one makes a fool out of God. Sometimes people do terrible things and make serious mistakes. God knows our motivations and our intentions. Obviously, I don’t. Therefore, judging people must be left to God. It is not my role to do that. I can’t do that with any accuracy. I have to realize that only God has the ability to accurately judge people. Feeling self-righteous and judging others are not Christian choices.

+ “Vengeance is mine” says God. If someone deserves correction or punishment, no one knows better how or when to do it than God. So I can relieve myself of being angry with someone else. I’ll let God take care of that. My role is to forgive and leave the rest to God. God knows the light or darkness in people’s hearts. I don’t.

+ My role is to do what God tells me to do or not to do what God tells me not to do. It is important to leave all of the rest to God. Does God “talk” to you, too? Of course. The question is are you listening and are you willing to hear what God is telling you, even if it is not what you want to hear? But many times God also tells us what we want or expect to hear. It is important to be an active listener as well as a passive listener.

+ God is just and God’s promises are ALWAYS kept. People sometimes make mistakes and do things that disappoint us. But God is always faithful to us and always fulfills the promises made. “Banking” on God may at times seem risky. But in fact, it is the safest route to take. (I have taken many “risks” requested by God. In the end, they always proved to be the right choices of action.)

+ God has a plan for each of our lives. Are we going to be loving (and smart!) and seek to follow God’s plan, or are we going to go our own ways, ignoring what God is telling us? The result of ignoring God’s plan is a lot of unhappiness.

By actively making the decisions that I will trust God, do my best to stop judging others, and focus on doing my best to fulfill my responsibilities to God, my life noticeably changed all at once.

I am far more productive with my use of time. I don’t procrastinate nearly as much. The dark cloud of depression is gone. That does not mean that I am bright, bubbly, and perky. But it does mean that the weight of depression, its sadness, and its ability to sap all of the energy out of me are for the most part, gone.

Anger, judging others, and hate require a lot of energy — and it is dark energy! What a relief to get rid of so much of that!

It is much easier to try to change your own outlook and attitudes than to try to change the entire world around you. Trusting God makes such a difference!