DRIVE, DISCIPLINE AND CONSISTENCY.
Did you cringe? LOL. I know, I know. Thinking about those words can be A LOT, but it's amazing to me how they work together and I'm seeing how they work together for me during this season of my life.
Over the past 3 years, I've seen the Lord increase my awareness about what it means and looks like to be disciplined and consistent. Prior to 2021, I've always been the type of person to stick to doing what I said I would do, even if it meant I had to work later, or wake up and get to work earlier. I've always been able to get what I needed to get done, but in 2021 when I decided to resign from my full-time job of 7 years, I experienced a decline in discipline and consistency.
In the months following my resignation when I thought I didn't have a reason to get up and go anywhere, see anyone, or meet anyone's needs and demands I quickly realized that my drive was attached to other people. The drive I had to be disciplined and consistent with getting up in the morning was tied to knowing that there were people counting on me. My drive was rooted in knowing that I had emails to respond to, phone calls to make, and people to serve.
After I resigned it also dawned on me that there were no more emails. No more demands. No more people who needed me. So the drive to be disciplined and consistent fizzled away.
Or so I thought. Shortly after this dawning, the Lord began stirring up the ideas and desires in me regarding Like Oil and Good Spirit and I literally could not sleep. Every day I would wake up knowing that there was something I needed to do, but not what it was just yet. Over the past 3 years, God has been showing me the website, the products, the workshops, and the plans and it's increased my drive. My drive to be disciplined to get up and consistently work on the plans to make reality the visions He has shown me.
A hard truth during that season I had to learn was that there are a lot of things we simply have to seek and trust God for. Things we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to sustain us. People can’t give you drive, discipline, or consistency. They can inspire you with and by their level of drive, discipline, and consistency but they can’t make you get up in the morning. They can’t make you get dressed for work. They can’t make you be consistent in pushing and marketing your business. They can’t make you exercise.
They can call you every day with encouragement and motivation but at the end of the day, it’s up to YOU to be driven by what God has shown you. For a short period of time after my resignation, I realized that is where I was... waiting on my husband to give me the drive. I was waiting for the magic words from him that would make me want to jump out of bed and get to work, but that wasn't his job. He supported me fully and encouraged me when I needed but it wasn't enough. I consistently felt discouraged, disappointed, and drained and I realized I could not be dependent upon him to try and give me something that only the Lord could provide. The Lord gave me the vision, and the vision encouraged me to put my feet to the floor, my hands to it, and start making it happen.
That is where I am now. I am using the vision God gave me to drive my mornings. To get me up and putting my feet to the floor, my hands to it and making it happen.
If you're in a season of:
1. The Lord showing you a vision and you don't know how it'll come to pass
2. Being stuck and not feeling the drive
3. Not knowing what the drive is
4. Knowing you want to do more but you don't really know what the more is
5. You've seen the vision and are putting your feet to the floor and your hands to it
MY PRAYER FOR YOU IS THAT you would seek God and rely on Holy Spirit to lead you. I pray that you will be able to seek the Kingdom of God FIRST and know that all things flow after you have spent quality time with God. I pray you will see the ways, pockets, and spaces He is creating so that you will be able to connect with Him in a deeper way. In such a deeper way that shows you what the next steps are. In a way that pushes you to the next level. In a way that drives you to get what you need done. I pray God reveals a vision to you so strongly that it drives you to rise early in the morning to spend more time with Him. A vision that increases your drive to be more disciplined and consistent because you know that He has created you with a purpose and a plan in mind. I pray you are encouraged to live your life as the treasured vessel God sees you as. I pray you are encouraged to live a life poured out, like oil.
In Jesus Name,
Amen