You Have To Accept Where You Are To Get Where You Want To Be

 You Have To Accept Where You Are To Get To Where You Want To Be 

     I was listening to a podcast last night and he was talking about anxiety and fear. He talked about accepting where you are and working on where you are right now. He was talking about how the bible has answers to anything we need to have answers for. We have to get to the root of our emotions to experience what we need from God. If we don't face our emotions head-on then what do we know that we need from God or the bible? We don't, I mean I'm not saying that emotions get in the way of everything but I'm saying emotions play a big part in our daily lives. We either live based on our emotions or we are/become stoic and apathetic. We have to face what we are feeling, we have to break down the roots of everything to remove the flesh and get to the spirit. 

      We have to be able to accept that we are feeling tired, anxious, depressed, angered, and any other emotions. We have to accept each emotion where we are at to break them down and build ourselves scripturally. We have to learn to accept that these are okay to feel, but God says to not let ourselves dwell upon our anxious thoughts. The things we worry about now most of the time we don't need to worry about because wherever God guides us He provides for us. I know what you're thinking easier said than done and I get that, believe me, my anxiety is one of my worst struggles. Emotions can break you down until you believe that you are a nobody. This is why we need to break down the roots of our emotions and worries and wonder why we are feeling these and what God says about our feels. We have to accept that we are human beings and we are not perfect and we struggle. God knows we struggle, He made us imperfect on purpose to build us and strengthen us. If we were perfect already then God's work wouldn't be needed in our lives. 

         Learning to accept where you're at can be really difficult because we judge and criticize ourselves more than God ever will. We feel like we have to always be okay to be with God. God actually prefers our authenticity when we say "I can't do this on my own Lord help me" he's waiting to hear those words. Accepting where you're at doesn't mean you have to stay there, it's just for the acknowledgment to yourself that you need help, that you are struggling. Accepting where you are doesn't mean you have to be judgmental towards yourself and downgrade what you are doing in these hard moments of life. It's an invitation to take it to God. It's an encouragement to grow, and pick yourself up to keep going. You can't get to the plans God has for you if you decide to hide that you are stuck and struggling. 

            A lot of people have trouble accepting where they are because of fear. Fear holds us back from everything. We have fear of what will people think, fear of failure, fear of not doing enough, fear of emotion, and fear of everything at once. It's like a consuming fire and we can't get enough water to get it out with. Why are we so afraid to be authentic and admit we are in a tough spot in life? Why do we care so much about what others think when God's opinion should be the only one that matters? We are so focused on being scared of the world's reaction to struggles and mental health that we don't express our needs. We hide it and pretend we are better than we are which is not accepting where you are at so you're not getting anywhere. Accepting where you're at means not giving in to the world's stereotypical concept of you gotta always show that you are doing good. God wants authenticity and vulnerability, not void painful emotions. 

           Accepting where you're at is also hard because we don't always want to face reality. Sometimes reality can be hard because it's a brutal reality. Some of us come from hard lives and barely able to get through. It can be understandable that you wouldn't want to live in the moment. Accepting where you are can be hard because you have to be honest with yourself and others. You have to be vulnerable with others and that can be difficult. There is always one person who will never stop listening to what you have to say, If you can't bring your brokenness to others bring it to God. God will not judge how the world judges, He will not hold your past mistakes over you either. If you feel you can't accept yourself because you've sinned. Well don't be because everyone who is a human being has sinned and fallen short of God's glory, He still welcomed them in and loved them where they were. Jesus loves you where you are because He knows what you will become. He knows where you're going and is there to pull you out of destruction when you need Him. If you let Him help get you to where you need to be. Also with accepting where you are if you wouldn't say hateful words to someone else don't say it about yourself. 

             Also what comes with accepting where you are at is accepting others where they are at too. I know sometimes we see sin and we want to change the person's habits before we even invited them for a conversation. We judge and condemn before we allow them to grow from their sins. There are better ways to help someone out of their sin, and they may not even know it's a sin, especially non-believers be kind to them. We have to understand that believers and not believers have different standpoints and different morals. Accepting them doesn't mean you agree with them but you love them first. Jesus would sit down and have a meal with sinners and just have a heartfelt conversation, never with condemnation but with love, he led them out of their sins. You can disagree with someone and still love them. Don't discard someone as a person because they have different opinions, because they are still valued by God. When you want to spread hate to someone for sinning just remember you are sinful and Christ still loves and forgives you. He holds that standard to all His children. Think what would Jesus do and the answer is He would love first. 

              I don't write these blogs to say I'm an expert in these areas because if I'm being honest I still struggle with everything I blog about. I still struggle but I know what's getting me through and I wanted to share with everyone. I want to share what God has done for me because it needs to be heard. I'm not perfect but my God is. I'm still struggling with where I'm at and it feels like I've hit a wall, I'm just learning that maybe I need to hit the wall to take a pause and ask God for help to climb it. I admit that right now I'm struggling with everything and life has felt a little crazy lately. I struggle with motivation right now which is why my blogs haven't been coming once a week. I struggle deeply with depression and PTSD and I understand that  I can't get through it without God. I accept that depression is there and it's demanding but my God is greater. I struggle with Fibromyalgia some days I just want to lay in bed because the pain kicks and It hurts too bad to move, but I know my God is able and that keeps me going. 

          Remember that we're all not perfect but when we acknowledge that our God is then we feel at peace with everything that's going on with ourselves. We know that God loves us anyway and that's enough for us. We know that he accepts us where we are and he's willing to work step by step to get us to where we want to be. He wants us to know that accepting yourself and loving yourself allows you to spread God's love to others. Also, we need to accept others where they are at in their journey, they are trying too. Accept that with God you can do great things and that you always need Him. Come as you are and leave what hurts you at the cross. Leave the broken pieces but accept that you have brokenness. Accept that you have emotions, accept that you sin, accept that you do the best you can do in the tough moments. Keep your heart open to Christ and His love.