Love and be loved

• By candidasullivan
• March 8, 2023
• No Comments

We are not alone. God connected us through love. 

Have you ever been introduced to someone by God? We can meet someone for the first time and instantly feel connected to them. It is a special gift when God connects our hearts and lets us share our stories. 

If we were to sit at my kitchen table, I would take you by the hand and ask you to tell me your story. Regardless of what you told me, we would be connected by what you felt, and you would transfer your emotions to me. We share love, kindness, compassion, understanding, and joy all through our feelings. It is how God connected us.

So often, however, we are afraid of those emotions. Instead of sharing them with others, we stuff them down inside of us and pretend they don’t exist. We claim we are fine at every opportunity because we want to be okay. No one wants to have problems.

But we all do.

We all have times when we feel shame, guilt, anger, fear, discouragement, depression, anxiety, doubt, and hopelessness. Our emotions are what make us human. Instead of trying to get rid of it as soon as possible, we need to learn to sit with the feeling and allow it to transform us. We can’t overcome something that we ignore.

One of the bravest things we can do is live each day. However, we prolong our hardships by the unwillingness to feel sadness or some uncomfortable emotion. We need to be willing to feel each emotion and learn from it. It will disappear when we understand the lesson the struggle was meant to teach us.

Yes, it is hard. But the pain is a warning that something is wrong. If we continuously numb the pain, we will stay stuck in the pain cycle—while it loops over and over. The only way to overcome hardship is to take it to the Lord and ask Him to help us.

When I can ask Him what He wants me to learn from the hardship, I open myself up to the answer and the transformation that needs to happen within me. It all starts with us. If we want to change our outer life, we must be willing to change our inner world.

As long as we drift along and pretend everything is fine when it feels like everything is falling apart, we only hurt ourselves. So often, we pretend to be someone we are not because we are afraid to go within ourselves for the answers. We are so scared that we won’t like ourselves when we peel back the layers. Therefore, it is just easier to pretend to be someone else. But trying to be someone that we are not is exhausting. It steals our joy and our life.

Sweet friend, God created you. You have a beautiful gift that the world needs. There is a need for you in this world. So often, when we close our eyes at night, and everything becomes quiet, we feel anxious. We are restless and have trouble sleeping. When our body becomes calm, we can hear the pain of our soul.

God connects to the honesty of our souls. If we listen to it, we can bring it all to the Lord in prayer. God can help us to overcome each hardship. But we have to be honest with Him and ourselves. When I sit with God, like a trusted friend, and pour my heart out to Him, He feels me. And sometimes, when I open my eyes to Him and His love, I can see it all around me. 

Have a beautiful day!