It’s almost spring!... Unless you live in Florida – then you feel like it’s a never-ending summer – though we did just have a cold front and I miss it already. I love spring, I love blooming flowers, spring weddings, knowing I can walk outside and not need a jacket but also knowing I could wear one if I wanted. But most of all spring just comes with that fresh feeling. That idea is that everything is new. That’s why we do spring cleaning and clean out the winter months' clothes for warmer weather. Truthfully, spring equals fresh perspective.
I’m a winter/spring baby and whenever my birthday comes I know spring is a week or two away and I know it’s time to step back and reevaluate life for the past year. That means the highlights, the parts I had to learn from, mistakes I made and now can avoid every victory, things I want to focus on, and more. I know the New Year is when that’s most ideal but there’s just something about springtime and following up with what you’ve kept up with and what you’ve let slide. I mean depending on how much you wanted to focus on and accomplish in the new year might not be things you could’ve started off with all on the first. Personally, I think self-reflection is incredibly important. The time spent not reflecting can sometimes take you down a path where emotions can settle in that don’t belong, some memories become bitter reminders rather than learning experiences, and instead of letting go of some habits to replace them with new ones we end up holding on – especially if you don’t take the time to thank God for all that He’s done and the way He’s carried you.
Maintaining thankfulness...
So that’s the first place I would start in any situation and especially when taking a look back in life: Thankfulness. Staying thankful is an extremely important habit to maintain. Through the stories in Exodus-Deuteronomy and honestly in between so many other stories in the Bible. Countless times God brings Israel through countless situations and you consistently find them forgetting what the Lord had done, failing to reflect and be thankful, never looking back on how they got themselves into the last mess. It was a constant back and forth between the Lord and Moses pleading for the people. But how easy would this have all been avoided – I mean… there were snakes that came and bit them… – had they remembered the Lord and His faithfulness, avoided previous habits of ungratefulness. Moses addresses the Israelites in Deuteronomy and tells them to remember and explains all the different things they needed to remember the Lord brought them through, the attitudes they had that weren’t right, and the things they watched happen… like the ground opening up and swallowing some people for their rebellion. And if you don’t believe me just read Deuteronomy 8. One of the best habits you could ever cultivate in your life is thankfulness. So before anything be thankful to the Lord for everything that’s happened in life so far and NEVER forget it. It’s hard to be upset, hold on to things, and be complacent with life when you’re thanking God.
One of the best ways you can cultivate thankfulness in your life is by praising the Lord, because when you praise the Lord it brings you into His presence. Praise actually brings you into places of victory. As believers, we all should be living lives of daily victory—every day should be better than the day before. Paul & Silas got out of prison by praising the Lord; the army in 2 Chronicles won the battle because they sent worshippers out first who were praising & thanking the Lord. As believers, we should go out in every situation in life, from the moment we wake up to the moment we lie down, thanking & praising the Lord. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” When you begin to praise the Lord and maintain your victor mentality, it makes it easier to maintain your thoughts, because it brings your focus to who God is, what He has done in your life, and what He will do in your life. Colossians 4:2 NLT says, "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."
Maintaining your thoughts...
Managing your thought life in all of this is also incredibly important. That’s why I brought up thankfulness. When you clean things at home and are reorganizing everything we have to almost do the same thing. Sometimes as life continues on each day we have thoughts that aren’t even ours and they take root the more time we think about it all. Next thing you know you’re not thanking the Lord, you’re stressed out about the mess inside and in front of you. But good news, not every thought is your own and you have a choice to cast it down or hold on. I recommend you cast it down and never think about it again and if it even dares to try and come back you rebuke it.
2 Corinthians 10:5 TPT says “We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.”
So you can capture your thoughts that aren’t in line with the word and get rid of them. I know it’s easier said than done but when you catch yourself in a negative thought just pray and don’t dwell on it. That’s something I had to truly deal with last year. I’m a hardcore thinker. It’s not always a bad thing because with thinking comes ideas, motivation, inspiration, and so much more. It was more when something I didn’t like happen or if I misread someone or I just got to thinking too deep in a situation and next thing you know I’m not motivated, I’m easily agitated, my gratitude is not there, and the only person suffering was me because I decided to dwell on something that wasn’t necessary. However, managing my thoughts has been my favorite habit outside of reading the Bible daily. It keeps me effective and moving forward. No need to look back when you can continue to focus on what’s ahead. When starting this adventure I had to stop thinking negatively. If any of you know my best friend you could ask her – I had to tell her at the beginning of structuring everything that she couldn’t let me talk myself out of it and now I’m thankful that I didn’t let the negative thoughts take root and keep me from doing this because it’s actually a lot of fun. All this makes room for fresh perspective actually. When you start letting go of toxic thoughts you can step back in situations and in life to see a bigger picture and other factors. Also, just a heads up not everything is about you (take that as you will) so when you realize that it’s hard to be upset and it’s even harder not to see all the other things that come into play. Just try it, when something comes up don’t stress or worry - it does absolutely nothing for you.
Maintaining your plans...
If you’re going to reevaluate and refocus you need to make a plan to execute things. You don’t like a habit? Well, then you need to replace it with a good one and figure out what steps you need to take in order to replace it. Maybe the things you were focusing on have now changed and you want to do other things, or you tried to do it all in your own strength. Proverbs 16:9 NLT says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” So to really make any changes is to make a plan and tap into the grace, ask the Lord to enable and empower you to do it. That’s what I had to do with the blog actually. I am a planner but doing things like this wasn’t easy for me. I’m a planner. I have a planner, I have calendars, I like organizing life, I like doing things at certain times. But this blog was out of my comfort zone because I could plan how I would do it but I couldn’t determine the outcome. I had to sit and plan and ask the Lord for ideas and how to go about it. I made plans and the Lord gave me the steps to execute things. I also wanted to get better at reading my Bible daily so I set an alarm and started waking up earlier and earlier and made sure that I didn't hit snooze and now I’ve been able to do that for more than two months straight. I wanted to learn a new language even if it meant taking 5 minutes or a half-hour learning. I’ve been executing these things but truly because the Lord has enabled me to. Like many of us have sung in kids church “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4:13!”. Fun Fact: I still sing it to myself. It’s one of the ways I encourage myself in the Lord. Give the Lord room to make things possible. Let Him establish your steps. Let Him grace you to actually accomplish these things.
I also know that the end of a season and the start of the next one is a great time to focus on things that you care about. Clean your outside but you gotta clean your inside too. That means, be thankful, manage those thoughts, let the Lord open your eyes to a fresh perspective on situations and life, be open to new things you want to do and what the Lord has put on your heart, and execute the habits and goals you have! Nothing is more fulfilling than when your desires are in line with the word and what the Lord wants to do in and through you, making the plans to actually get there, and doing it. Just don’t let negative thoughts keep you from there and enjoy the adventure. It’s worth experiencing.
So in conclusion, if you’re looking to “spring clean” your life, these are the 3 steps you should take:
1. Stay Thankful (Psalm 100:4)
2. Take Control of Your Thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5)
3. Do What God Tells You to Do (Proverbs 16:9)
