ADHD, PTSD, depression, anxiety, autism…. Have you dealt with any of these? I have. Before I began my walk with Christ I struggled with a few different things that made my life feel chaotic. Trauma from combat in Iraq left scars, alcoholism, drug addiction, witchcraft, and so many other things in my past made it difficult to function on a level that maintained healthy relationships with other people. It made seeing God almost impossible for me to do. As with any person we all have the same step one, follow Him. Christ is step one, you can not change yourself without Him. I do not care where you are in your life or what terrible things you have done. Christ is step one. Turn yourself over to the Holy Spirit and decide that He is your Lord and you will surrender and obey. Super simple right? When you feel like your life is in a spiral and there is a hole in you that you have tried to fill with drugs, alcohol, video games, social media, and other idols are the same. They lead to addiction, lower self worth, and they get in the way of having a relationship with your creator. But how do we begin to slow down, to calm the chaos, and to welcome God back into our lives? I have a simple 5 step program that will do wonders on your mental health and you spiritual health. Little victories. Step one, set an alarm to wake up. Don’t sleep in and just go with the flow. Wake up with a sense of purpose. You are a child of the one true God and he has a calling for you. You have a commission that He gave to all of us and He wants your help. Step two, make your bed. Such a small victory, but it will create a template for your space and life. When you leave your bed a mess you are setting the stage for the rest of your day. Making your bed is so powerful and we underestimate it so much. Some of us avoid making our bed because we are still in a mindset of rebellion. We resent that our parents, or military made us do it and we are still rebelling against that. Why would you start your day with an act of rebellion?

Yesterday I was preaching and the Holy Spirit was working on me, it was so good. I love Sunday mornings. I spend all week thinking about Sunday. I write about God, I talk about Him, all in preparation for Sunday morning. I once heard a pastor tell other pastors “you don’t have to give them 100% every Sunday.” That hurt my heart. I disagreed with that at a fundamental level, a cellular level, in my very being. That felt like he was telling pastors to bury the money and save it. I understand keeping the lamp trimmed so it lasts longer, but God refills me. We were going over some gifts of the Holy Spirit, and being sent on the Great Commission, on how we are told when we feed the hungry and produce good fruit they will know we are followers of Jesus. It’s not just the words we say, but the actions we display. That is why we get gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of prophesy, the gift of healing, the gift administration, and all of the others. To glorify God. Our life as a Christian is described as a “walk with God” or our “path”, and there was a very popular poem called “Footprints in the sand”. I actually disagree with poem, I think it has it backwards. I don’t think that Jesus carries us through the trying and troubling times. I think our path with Jesus and there is only one set of footprints is when Jesus is carrying us to give us rest. I think that time is when we must prepare to do some work. Man was created on the 6th day, and rested on the 7th, because he had to prepare to do some work. So I think Jesus carries us for a while to get rest, he shares our yoke, or we share His. Then I think He points out a troubling time, a time for us to produce good fruit and help someone, or a time to strengthen our faith, and grow as leaders. He then sets us down, gives us some gifts, and watches us complete the tasks we would not be able to do without Him. Upon completion of those tasks He lifts us back up to get some peace and rest. He carries us for a while, then He asks us to tell Him all of the wonderful things we did, all of the struggles we overcame, all of the people we spoke to, and all of it we couldn’t have done without Him. Because we are His children, His beloved and He wants to hear from all of us. So we pray and tell Him about it all. The tough things we wanted to quit, the wonderful things where we saw God’s hands, and when we were in the fire afraid to burn and we saw Him next to us and we knew no matter how far we ran from Him he was always with us.

There I was, driving to town. Traffic moving slower than molasses in the winter. The fast lane was traveling 5 miles under the speed limit. I had hit my fourth consecutive red light. I was already going to be late for my meeting and I had text the person I was supposed to see. They hadn’t read it yet. I had invited them to church so many times it felt more like begging. I arrived to my location and pulled into the parking lot on two wheels, grab my stuff and head in. I find a seat and order a drink while I wait. It appears that they are running ten minutes late as well. Fifteen minutes later my phone goes off, “I’m so sorry. I forgot we were meeting today”. Of course I extend some grace and tell them not to worry, we can reschedule. Then, I order some food to eat since I have time for my next appointment. Halfway through my meal my phone goes off again, “I need to cancel. Something came up”. I extend some more grace. I was given a wonderful thing by God, the gift of faith. Unshakable, undeniable faith. I know with more certainty that God exists than I do my own father. That is not a slight against my father, we look alike, sound alike and have the same mannerisms. I had an intense supernatural experience with God that changed me at a fundamental level. I became a Christian overnight, everything I had been taught and learned on my own was wrong. My whole world was shook up, and when I told my friends and family almost no one believed me. They left. Cut off communication. The ones that did remain disappeared when I was called to pastor. Poof! Calls went unanswered, texts unread, promises broken and all at the same time. For those of you who are still with me reading, the point of these stories is not to elicit a pity response, its to establish that I have some experience with what I am about to tell you. Time and again God reminds me that the only one I can count on is Him. I can only turn to Him for matters out of my control, and all matters are out of my control. I am a numbers guy, I watch my opened percentages on my newsletter. I check how many people watch my podcast. I will even check how many will read this article. None of these things are in my control. The red lights are not in my control. Other people’s schedules are not in my control. My church attendance rates are not in my control. That same thing applies to you my friend.