Jumping ahead of God

**Above: This photo of myself was taken a couple weeks ago by my friend Corinne who makes the lovely little sign that I am holding. Isn't it beautiful?! Click HERE to visit her etsy shop!

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Galatians 2:20

Hi friends! How are the each of you doing?! Boy, am I happy to be home for winter break. It's nice having a change of schedule where I can just relax. However, this morning I didn't come to here to share with you all how my life lately is white picket fences and daises. I came here to be brutally honest in admitting the fact that lately, I jumped a little too far ahead of God, causing me to become irritable and anxious.

It happened quicker than a blink of an eye. About a couple weeks ago, when I was really busy with graduate school, I became overwhelmed with everything going on around me. Suddenly my quiet time with the Lord got shoved to the back burner. Instead of my quiet time being an hour like I really needed it to be, it became a quick 15 minute session, where I basically just read a few short paragraphs and a verse. Boy, did I need so much more. Especially with the amount of pressure that I was under at the time. 

When I came home for winter break less than a week ago, and I noticed that I had this anxious feeling inside of me, and also that I felt very overwhelmed and very afraid, for no reason at all. "What the heck is wrong with me God?!" I prayed. What I didn't realize at the time was that God was using the anxious feelings that I was having as a warning sign for me to recognize that I needed some serious time spent alone with Him, reflecting on His love for me and also His truth written in the Bible.

So this morning, I woke up and I knew I that I had to get serious about getting my relationship with God back on track. I talked with God about everything, admitting to Him about all the ways that I had put Him second in my life lately and had forgotten how important my relationship with Him was. I asked Him to forgive me, and also for Him to set me free from all the anxiousness that I had been feeling for the past few days. 

"In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me whole-heartedly, you will be found by me."

Jeremiah 29:12-13

And how did I feel after my very long and much needed quiet time with God today you ask? AMAZING. I finally felt set free again. Friends, God's grace truly is new every morning. We are all just a bunch of broken people in need of a savior. Each day, we can bring our brokenness to the Lord, and He promises to set us free. My prayer today is that we each will approach God's throne of grace with boldness and confidence, trusting that He wants to meet us right where we are, no matter how many mistakes we have made. All we have to do is seek His forgiveness, and He promises to restore our lives completely. 

"So let us come boldy to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

Hebrews 4:16

Do you ever feel like you have failed God and there is no turning back? Do you realize that God isn't mad at you and is willing to meet you right where you are if you simply just ask Him to forgive you so He can shower you with His love? 

Also, do you have any suggestions for the each of us on how we can continue to put God first in our lives?  I'd love to hear!

I love you guys!

Love always, Jess