Doing the Hard Thing

Tags

abstinence, Anger, anti-social, child abuse, Christian, christianity, church, compulsive overeating, God, Holy Spirit, Intimate relationship, Jesus, Mental health, sobriety

Do you want to really know your Father in Heaven?

Do you want to have an intimate relationship with Him?

Do you want to feel His Love, Wisdom and Power in your life?

Well, there’s one way I know of  that will give you this.

It’s called “Doing The Hard Thing.”

I have been sober since 1980. That’s 33 years now. That was a hard thing for me to do. It is not so hard now, but I still need my Father to do it… every day.

Just showing up to life is a hard thing for me to do. In fact, in order to keep my life together sober (plus do the other hard things), and to not blow up into a million pieces, I need to maintain a constant conscious contact with Him… from sunrise to sunset… so He can do this for me.

I have been obsessed with suicide since I was 5 years old. The hard thing was to put the suicide option down… for good. Today I am suicide obsession free. I’ve been free since 1997. That’s 15 years now. But what is on the other end of not committing suicide? It is living life here on this planet…. that is a hard thing for me to face. So I must rely on my Father also… to face this life with me.

I was a hider from people most of my life. While growing up I never made a single friend. Being sociable, having social interaction with people, was a hard thing for me to try. But, with Father’s Love and Power, I have been trying to  do this hard thing for a while now. Through Him, I’m finding myself able to be sociable in my Bible study at church. With my Father’s Power, I have been practicing learning everybody’s names. I very much need Him near me, remembering the names… for me… and giving me the courage to go up to them and say “Hello”. Then I must rely on Him to help me interact with them in a sane manner.

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Right now I am in the middle of letting go of junk food. I think this might be one of the hardest things I will tackle in my life. Yet as I’m writing this post I know at this moment that if I want to get even closer to my Father I must face it. Letting go of the junk food is a very hard thing for me to do. But I know that, through Him, I can do this too.

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But there’s more to this than just doing a hard thing. The trick is you have to keep doing it every day… day after day… week after week… year after year… without let up.

Doing it one moment at a time.

Doing the hard thing this way, for the long haul, can break a person in two. It can become earth shattering. But that’s the whole idea. Being broken, through pain, is absolutely necessary. You need to become broken in order to let God and Jesus fully into your life. Jesus said He wants us to be “broken”. Doing the hard thing… over the long haul… will break you.

“If your hand or foot causes you to sin,
cut it off and cast it from you.
It is better for you to enter into life lame
or maimed, rather than having
two hands or two feet,  to be cast into
the everlasting fire.

Matthew 18:8

It will be painful to do, there’s no doubt about that. We don’t do hard things precisely because they are painful. It can be, and hopefully will be a “buckling the knees” painful; a “fall on your face and beg Him for help” painful. This is a necessary step to becoming broken.

The pain will produce anger. For a little while, before you break, there may be lots of this. It can become a “I hate you God!” anger. That’s ok. But when you do get angry (and you probably will), don’t keep your anger from Him. Let Him have it with both barrels. He knows about the anger and He can easily handle it. Horribly angry or not, He loves you and His love is without conditions. He will never leave you just because you’re mad.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31: 6 & 8

Then, as you continue doing your hard thing, you will come to understand what this “breaking” is all about. I cannot explain it to you. You will have to experience it for yourself. Only then, will you be forced to develop a very strong, and honest, relationship with your Father in Heaven. And, as you slowly break, you will come to the realization that it is no longer you who are doing the hard thing, it is Father doing it… with Love… through you. And you will know how strong a Love your Father has for you.

So pick your hard thing.

If you want to know Him in the most intimate way possible….

Pick your hard thing.

I dare you.      I double dare you.

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Peace and Feloreaw to You, dear Father in Heaven

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