Unable to join us yesterday? “Princess or Stray? Part 1″ can be read here.
If you come from a difficult background, my guess (though there may be exceptions) is that you operate from a stray heart; a heart that is afraid to trust and is full of worry and fear. The anxiety of never having enough (food, love, whatever) produces deep roots that are buried deep down into the crevices of one’s heart.
Even if you did have enough or had a pleasant childhood, you may still dwell in the “Land of Never Enough.” Remember the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31)? He was never in want; the very best of everything was at his disposal. Although places of honor, lavish parties, servants, and the like were there for his taking, jealousy over the reunion his father gave his younger brother ate away at his soul. Part of a never enough mentality or stray heart is a wariness about others getting something they don’t deserve (or you think they don’t deserve). Is your first thought, what about me?
I confess that over the years I have been a stray at heart. I’ve been vigilant about things being equal or fair. Even though I try, at times it is hard to be happy for another’s good fortune. I too often think, “What about me?”
How do can you and I turn a stray heart into a princess heart? How can we set aside the idea of never having enough to solely and completely relying upon God for all things? How can we rejoice with others over what they’ve been blessed with instead of desiring more for ourselves? Any ideas?
God has always intended for me to be a princess – the beloved child of the King of the universe. Life has made me a stray.
First and foremost, I need to believe that God is in the business of fixing broken hearts, broken containers. He can hammer out the dents and fix the holes the world has inflicted upon my heart. It’s not always the easiest or quickest of processes, but God is all about making me whole. What I need to do is believe Him and in Him. I need to believe that He CAN work on all those hard areas.
I need to understand who God is. I need to know Him intimately and the only way to know Him intimately is to stay in His Word. To daily inundate my mind and life with the Truths of His Word.
I need to trust God. It is only in knowing Him that I can fully trust Him with all the dark places in my life that keep me in the “Land of Never Enough.”
I need to live in a community of consistency. Granted, I will never find full consistency in the human realm, but a community striving to be consistent goes a long way. It’s through a relationship with a changeless heavenly Father that I learn to trust.
Today, I choose to believe a dearly loved child of the King. In spite of my stray heart, I am more princess than stray for God has laid claim to my heart. One day my heart will fully be the heart of a princess; a heart that fully trusts her God and King. One day I will reside, not just in Plenty, but in the land of Abundantly More Than Enough. Just as in the Old Testament God was the Levites’ inheritance; God is my strength and portion. Who could ask for anything more?
Awesome.
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Thank you!
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Beautiful, Amy. Such needed advice. Trusting Him doesn’t always come easy when there is brokenness in the background. But He will never give up. That’s what I know. He pursues until we realize that healing can only be found in HIm.
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Great job, Amy…..I always enjoy reading your stuff!!
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