The Journey…

Tonight, I was reminded of those points along the journey of faith when God would cause me to “stop” and adjust course. I found some personal “contracts/covenants” between God and I which I had written and posted on my wall next to my bed. That may sound odd. But for me, I needed a “marker,” a point in time, where I could say I “made a decision” and wrote it down and signed and dated it. For me, this was serious. I took these contracts which were between God and myself, signed by me and witnessed and signed by my wife, very seriously!

You see, I have struggled with patterns of sin, and patterns of “unhelpful routines”, and things which distracted me from either God, or from my marriage and family. And when God would bring these problems to light, I would struggle to change… “until I made a decision.” Not until I really wanted to change, did I finally find freedom.

I found multiple contracts written on yellowish, worn, old paper with tape still stuck to the back of them beginning from 2011. And each of these issues which I was dealing with at one time or another, which I had written a contract about were issues which needed to be surrendered in order that God might be glorified more in either my own life, or in my marriage, or in my relationship with my children. At times these were things which I had to give up or forsake. And at other times they were things I needed to begin doing. One day, in 2012, I made a decision. I wrote a contract, signed, and dated. The decision was that every single day I would, before all things, begin my morning with worship music, prayer, and the Word of God. After that I could go on my phone, or computer, etc. Another was that I was limited on some personal entertainment in order to spend quality time with my wife and children daily.

All these contracts were written and posted in order that I would not forget that God’s will was always best. And in these contracts, it was spelled out that apart from God’s grace and the Holy Spirit, I would be unable to keep them. When I wrote these I wrote with faith. It was like God was signing these also. That He was on board and was going to supply all the power necessary for me to be faithful to these contracts. And guess what? Each one of these were marking points of transformation! They were points which changed my life and my relationship with my wife and kids. Each one was a decision, and a decision God put His stamp on. They changed the course of my walk with God. And more importantly, they opened the door for God to “have His way” in every area of my life.

Now every day I enjoy quality, intimate, worship and fellowship with God. And I have a quality, intimate, open, relationship with my wife. And a connected, quality relationship with my daughter. My life is incredibly blessed…and my greatest joy is that I have God’s heart, mind, and ear. And He has my heart, mind, and ear…every single day!