It's Your Life

I once heard this quote from a very influential man of whose name I can't remember for the life of me.  It goes as follows:

"No one has as much grace for your life as you."- Unknown Preacher-Man

Ever since I heard it, it has been stuck in my head forever.  I use it when I talk to anyone and everyone that will listen because of the validity it portrays.  If I was honest, it took me a while to process the full meaning of this line and have come to the conclusion that at the heart of it, it's stating that no one can live your life.  No one has the ability to live your life.  No one has enough patience to live your life.  In simple words:  It's Your Life.

One of the worst Worst WORST things that I believe any Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, Atheist, Agnostic, or human in general can do is start off a sentence with these six words: "If I were you I would..."  Here's the thing...You aren't me!  You absolutely do not live my life.  There is no way you can fully feel what I feel.  You don't deal with the intricacies of the daily seconds of my life.

Regardless of how much empathy you think you possess, there is no way empathy can enable you to live my life.  Empathy only allows you to feel what I feel for that moment (s) in life.

Let me be clear, this is not a response to what anyone has said or done to me; it's just a thought that's come over me my brothers and sisters.  The most well intentioned person can do irreparable damage just by uttering that phrase or like-minded phrases.

Whenever you are facing any decision in your life where the two roads seem equally muddy and none look like the less traveled one, the best thing I can give you is an over-flowing fountain of prayer.  I can give you advice in the form of the examples of what I've done in my life enduring a similar situation but I can not equate your life with mine.  You have to live your life and I have to live mine.

What you can do for yourself is ask God for help.  The book of Proverbs talks about Wisdom and gives wisdom of feminine personification.  Wisdom and discernment is attainable in any situation when you ask for it.  The Psalms remind us that God will give us the pleasures of our hearts. (Psalm 37:4)  If it's something that our heart earnestly yearns for and if it is to give God glory, God will give it to us.

For those of us that are dealing with tough decisions, I "advise" you to take it to God in prayer.  For those of us that are in the business of having to constantly give advice, I beseech you to refrain from uttering those consecutive words.  If you really want to help that person, pray for them, listen to them, be present for them, and above all else, love them.

Remember It's Your Life.  I can walk with you side-by-side but I can't live it for you or else I might have to pull out my hair..

Be safe out there.

--MJA

Losing My Promised Land

Ya know, I was interacting with my Bible earlier tonight as part of my normal routine and on the agenda was to read Exodus 3-4.  In my head (sorry God), I was thinking: greatttt I get to read the story of Moses again...yayyy.  I thought that I knew the story from head to toe, but once again the Lord opened my eyes to a small but rather important detail that I've always skimmed over.

Chapter 3 is when Moses is "called" to saved the Israelites from Pharaoh's captivity and as God was knighting my man Mo, he kept brining up excuses and excuses on why God must've picked the wrong person.  The largest excuse was that he couldn't lead because he had some sort of speech impediment ("slow in tongue").  Some biblical scholars suggest he had a stuttering problem.  But that's besides the point.

Here is Mo' telling God all the reasons that he, being God, selected the wrong person to lead Israel out of captivity.  Let me say this again with added embellishes.  Here is Mo' tellin GOD all the reasons he being the [all-knowing] GOD, selected the wrong person to lead Israel out of captivity.

Pause.

This sounds wayyyy to familiar to me...

UnPause.

Moses' fear of leadership stopped him from receiving one of the biggest blessings.  He let his fear of public speaking (which happens to be the greatest fear in American adults) stop him from doing his task.  Not only that, God essentially told him that everything was going to be alright; God promised to have his back!  WHAT!?  And Moses was still afraid.

Eventually God gave up.  He was tired of Moses' bickering and doubt so he told him that Aaron, Moses' brother, would be the speaker with Moses being the mouthpiece for God.  So, God spoke, Moses spoke to Aaron, and then Aaron spoke to the people.  All that nonsense all because Moses was afraid to speak in front of people.

That tidbit of information really got me thinking about how many great opportunities have passed my grips because I was afraid.  Or that I didn't trust that my God is greater that my minor disabilities of sorts.

Yes, Israel was saved and historically more people remember Moses than Aaron.  It did indeed work out.  But, how much different, maybe even better, would it have been if Moses didn't let his fear consume him.  Maybe he would've lived to see the Promised Land instead of dying right before it happened.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to let my fears, doubts, and lack of trust prevent me from seeing the promised land.

If I am to be honest, I'm still going to have fears.  And at times my fears will seemingly drive me away and I may lose a bit of my Promised Land.  But, I'm glad God revealed to me this tidbit of information because it has vastly changed the narrative for me.

Thanks for reading you guys/gals!  I hope this encourages you not to let all your fears conquer you and that you don't lose a slice of your Promised Land!

--MJA