What I Learned in 2022

 

By Andrea Merrell

While many are making resolutions for this New Year, I’m busy reflecting on the events of 2022 and what God has done in, through, and for me.

This past year was a tough one for me, especially health-wise. But God—my always faithful, ever-present healer—brought me through every sickness, test, and procedure. After twenty-five years of chronic back pain, I am very close to being pain-free due to a simple injection—something only my heavenly Father could have arranged the way He did. My lesson? Keep praying, keep standing in faith, and never give up.

After attending the funeral of several friends, I’ve learned how fleeting life is and how we should show our love and appreciation to the people in our life while we have the chance.

Being hours away from my daughter and not seeing her for almost a year, made me realize the importance of family. Not being with her for Christmas showed me how families should always be together whenever possible, loving each other and making memories.

Watching a dear friend suffer a heart attack and then go through open-heart surgery showed me how precious our friendships are and how we should treasure them. We should pray for them and have their backs at all times.

Through every situation I faced in 2022, God proved time and again that when I can’t, He can. When I don’t have the answer, He does. When I don’t have strength, He gives me His. I know that I can experience His peace in the midst of any storm and His joy no matter what is going on around me. I can trust Him to take care of me and provide everything I need. I can count on Him because He is concerned about every little thing that concerns me and promises to perfect it in His way and in His time.

What I learned in 2022 is that God is good—all the time—and His goodness will pave the way for a blessed and prosperous 2023 as long as I keep my mind and heart focused on Him.

Happy New Year!

Photo courtesy of Canva.

 

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God is good—all the time—and His goodness will pave the way for a blessed and prosperous 2023 for those who trust in Him. Happy New Year! via @AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

Let God Be God

By Andrea Merrell

 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly 

above all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works in us.

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

The girl’s perception of God was disconcerting. “God doesn’t love me. He doesn’t heal. He doesn’t bless. He’s never done anything for me. I’m not even sure He exists.”

Too many times our perception of God is created by our own misguided thinking. As one pastor puts it, “I honestly believe in the Western church we have so created God in our own image we’ve lost sight of His true character.”

God’s character is to love. He is love. More attributes of His character are: healing, giving, compassion, faithfulness, joy, peace, wisdom, guidance, and every manner of blessing. He is a God of abundance—not a God of just barely enough to get by.

So, why don’t we experience His abundance? Because we don’t believe it or expect it. We have allowed the Enemy to convince us that a poverty mentality is “spiritual” … that God is withholding His goodness either to keep us humble or because we don’t deserve it.

In reality, when we stay intimately connected to the Father, blessings just naturally flow in every area of our life. When we don’t believe or expect that to happen—and we keep our eyes and heart elsewhere—we miss much of what God wants to do for us. When we try to keep God in the proverbial box, we limit what He can do, wants to do, and will do in our lives.

God is good—all the time. And He wants to pour out His blessings on me and on you. All we have to do is bring our thinking in line with His Word and let God be God.

(Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Miles.)

TWEETABLE

God is good—all the time. And He wants to pour out His blessings on me and on you. All we have to do is bring our thinking in line with His Word and let God be God. via @AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

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