Thinking outside of the box. What a phenomena. Some are not really sure why its necessary, yet others cannot understand how some can live life without it. Sometimes we can become confused with life  we just can’t figure it out. How do you hear from God unless God clearly unfolds all the  information  you need in order to walk it out? God’s perspective over situations don’t always match our own.  I used to move and live my life as if it were my own.  But the bible says:  For in Him, we live move and have our being.” ( Acts 17:28)  I would make major decisions like: getting married, what school to attend, what to do with my time, all without God.  Now…there are times when I won’t move until I hear God’s perspective. I call this kind of thinking: “The God Box.”

Some people think this is crazy. How do you hear from God, anyway?  Well, if definitely takes time and it definitely isn’t an easy feat. It took years of mistakes and wrong decisions to know how God speaks. I would say: begin with a willingness. God can work with your willingness. a wonderful book  by Charles Stanley taught me – called: How to Listen to God. Charles even says in  a passage in his own book, “we have Red Sea experiences when our backs are against the wall and we don’t  know which way to turn.” Listening to God can save our lives. And that’s where I was in that time and place in my life, trying to survive.

A few years ago, I experienced  a pretty challenging and emotionally  difficult, draining and depressing period in my life. I was in deep discussion and reflecting on a few thoughts with a friend. This friend seemed to be observing my life pattern and made a few conclusions and judgments, not really asking me why I had made those decisions the way I did. This friend pointed out that for ‘most of my adult life’ - the past nine or ten years –  I had  lived in what appeared to be “life in a box’.  My response to this friend after much contemplation was: “I had to live out that experience in my life, the best way I knew how - to know what I really didn’t want in my life.” In other words, although there were many  negative situations that I experienced,  they were not as bad, because they taught me very valuable lessons about how to ‘not settle’ for less.

One thing he didn’t know, was that I was being very reflective over this period in life and observing all the details and patterns very closely. One of my biggest mistakes was getting ahead of God. I made several decisions without seeking out godly counsel. The Bible says in  Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” In another version it says: “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” Proverbs 15:22

I began to translate my experience to him – not realizing that going forward  it would lead to a’ radical wa’y of approaching life that was pretty groundbreaking from that point on. I explained in defense of this “personal walk with God” that being “in a box” all that time wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, because I grew tremendously during this time I found it rather satisfying. I found out a lot about myself, literally ‘studied’ myself – in order that  I could fully determine the kind of  “emotionally healthy” reality I really wanted in  my life. In essence… my dream began to take shape and was birthed during one of the most entirely difficult times in my life.

This conversation with my friend revealed new knowledge to me. As a result, I begin to pattern my life with great intensity and intention. I recognized my patterns and mistakes, repented of them, (even generationally from my family of origin), asking God to remove the patterns that continually caused me to fail. I began to realize that anyone can develop a great propensity for finding courage in life struggle, if they have a dream they keep before them and I had lost sight of my dreams.

 The COURAGE we find to endure in the Lord is what makes the dream before us  a final realization. We have to move out of our conformed thoughts about who we think God is, and what we believe He will or won’t do. It wasn’t until I took God out of “the box”- outside of the little paradigm I had Him in- that I began to soar. God can sometimes package  and offer you the greatest gifts for you own out of the most challenging experiences in life.