From Faith to Faith: Don't Give Up

 "That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

That Scripture above provides such a reality check. It's so easy to get caught up in the now, that we forget the later...

It feels like it's been forever since I last blogged and I honestly missed sharing this journey with you all. Can you believe that I have been here in Texas for a month? It still hasn't fully hit me yet that this is home! God has been so faithful! 2 weeks ago I got asked to speak on a panel in Atlanta, on February 13th. After praying about it and getting the okay from God I reached out to the woman in charge to discuss details. She told me that she would need a definite yes by the following Wednesday. I told her that if it was truly God's Will then He would make a way. I knew God wanted me to go, but I didn't know how I was going to pay for the plane ticket. As I sat there I felt Him leading me to check out Southwest Airlines, He gave me the travel dates and then reminded me that I have a friend who works for them.  So later that day I reached out to her, got a 20% discount code, put the travel dates in, and was about to purchase it with a credit card, when He told me to wait. I was sitting there like wait for what? Not even 10 minutes later I randomly checked my email and a lady had sent me $100 and the tickets were $108!!!! I cannot describe these supernatural moments of provision in my life. I happily called the lady back the next day and am excited to spend a few days in Atlanta next week.

Last Tuesday, I went to the Bethel Music concert here in Dallas and it was such an amazing time in The Lord. I cannot even describe what happened in that room. Just picture 6,000 people all worshiping God for 2.5 hours. The presence of God was so thick that I had to sit down and take it all in. I also got to meet the lady who bought my ticket for the concert and she was so sweet!!! 

 I strongly dislike having to say this, but despite all of the amazing things God has done I still at times struggle. There are times I want to give up and call this a lost cause. Sometimes I think I should be a lot further along in life than I currently am. If I can be honest the past 2 weeks have been difficult, because my expectations with how this journey would be mixed with the realities of what is actually happening, haven't quite matched up. I thought by now I would have a job, be plugged into community, and on my way to finding a place, but none of that has happened. I was cool at first with this whole "season of rest," but after the 3rd week, to be honest, I started driving myself crazy. I honestly felt like The Lord must be punishing me and was trying to rack my brain to figure out where I went wrong in this journey. There have definitely been a few days where I just sat in my room and totally did everything else but spend time with God. Now I'm not saying that it's right, I'm just letting you know the struggle is real some days. I wish I could say that I am always super disciplined and productive with my time, but the reality is that some days I'm not. Yet The Lord is always faithful, which blows my mind. He made a way out of no way for me last month and every single one of my bills was paid, even though I did not work one day. Who am I Lord that you are mindful of me? I will brag on His faithfulness every day of my life!!!! He is my Provider, even if that provision comes in ways I wasn't expecting. I don't know why, but I literally spent a few days last week looking at my account and looking at the bills I know that are due in February and began to panic. Even after all that God has done in my life, I still had doubt. So sad, right? The enemy jumped right on that bandwagon and tried to make me forget what The Lord did last month and make me think that it was just a coincidence; that surely God wouldn't do it again. I had to step back and remind myself that God doesn't change; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). If He did it last month, He will do it again this month. I realize now, in a much deeper way, why The Bible says that we have to renew our minds daily (Romans 12:2). Half of the battle is in our mind. We spend today worrying about tomorrow or next week and then we miss out on the beauty and blessings of today. We have to look to the hills from which cometh our help (Psalm 121:1), every single moment of every single day!!! God provides for our needs daily, not weekly, monthly, or yearly!!! When we need it, He is faithful to provide it, and I am learning to place my security in Him and not in a weekly paycheck. I have not lacked anything in the past month!!! Sometimes I have to remind myself of that multiple times a day, when worry or fear of the unknown tries to creep its way into my heart.

Thankfully this week I was able to have a breakthrough moment with The Lord. He showed me 3 things:

1.  I was being selfish, because a lot of people out there have it wayyyyy worse than I do.

2. I was making an idol out of finding a job, finding a church home,  finding a place to serve, and the idea of being found by a man.

3. I had lost sight of the original vision that The Lord had given me before I moved her, which caused me to feel as if I was just wandering. 

I was shocked, because He was completely right. Instead of being fully content with my current circumstances, I was allowing what I didn't have to ruin what I do have. No, I don't have a job, but I still have provisions. No, I haven't found my church home yet, but I have a solid place to attend in the meantime. No, I'm not serving right now in a church setting, but God has given me other ways to reach out and help others. This is hard for me to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. I have a desire to be married and do ministry with my future husband and I was letting that get in the way as well. You can only imagine the type of repentance and prayer session that I had after that. I can honestly say that I look at my life here in Texas through a totally different lense now. I'm glad that God revealed that stuff to me, because I had been spending so much time focusing on myself that my prayer life was starting to be less purposeful. I started off right, but somewhere over the past 2 weeks I had begun to be a lot more passive. Thank The Lord, that is over!!! I had thought God was punishing me, but He showed me that I was exactly where He wants and needs me to be. The enemy was trying to make me doubt God's love for me, but I AM A CHILD OF GOD!!!! The righteous shall never be forsaken. The Lord is our Good Good Father who is perfect in ALL of His ways. This week I have felt a renewed sense of direction and drive to keep pushing!! What has really helped me is to focus on praying for other people and not so much for myself. God has me and I need to be using all this free time to battle in the spiritual realm. Also I went back to my old journals and reminded myself of what God had showed me, things that people spoke over me, and the confirmation that I had received before I even moved here. I can honestly see now that without a vision, you will perish. Once I realigned myself with the greater purpose and mission, it made a complete difference!!!! I feel a new boldness developing. I feel free and there's a new joy in my heart!!! I feel my ideas of success falling away, as I embrace The Lord's. I believe that true success is obedience to God, but our society has brainwashed us into thinking that if we don't have a job, our own place, our own car, etc. then something is wrong with us. But I decided this week that:

 I just want to be successful in The Lord's eyes, that's it. Man may laugh, criticize, and/or be confused by my lifestyle & choices, but I'm not living for right now; I'm living for eternity. When I'm standing before Christ at the judgement seat and He says "Well done thy good and faithful servant," the last thing I'll be thinking about is what man thought of me on this earth. This life is temporary and how we live now, effects how we live eternally.

My life doesn't make sense to me, but I cannot give up. The Lord is Sovereign and it isn't new to this. You cannot give up!!! We cannot give up!!! We must continue to endure. People are counting on our obedience and it's totally not about us. Even the quiet or dry seasons serve purpose. It's often in those quiet seasons that the foundation is laid for a greater level of service for the Father. The enemy knows that and will try to knock us off course. He doesn't want to see more people coming into the knowledge of Christ; the very thought causes him to cringe. We have to remember that though he tries to use tactics to make it seem like he has power, He has nothing on our Daddy, who is greater than all!!! I can honestly say that I am excited for what God has in store and am thankful for the lessons that I am learning now.  Is this season easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes!!!!

I have some more great news to share with you all!!!

My YouTube channel will officially launch next Friday, February 12th!!!! *insert happy dance* I will be doing a series called "Christian Basics," vlogging, sharing my testimony, and whatever else The Lord places on my heart. I will also be posting any future videos from the "Bibles Over Lunch" Periscope series on there. You can catch the replay of 4 of the 5 studies on there now.

You can find my channel by either searching for Cierra Cotton or clicking on this link: www.youtube.com/cierracotton

It will not be officially up and running until the 12th, but if you want to go ahead and subscribe now, so that you can get all the latest updates, feel free to do so!! I will still be blogging on here as well, as The Lord leads, even with the addition of YouTube. The Lord has challenged me to be real in all that do and that's what I plan to do.

If you didn't read my last blog then I want re-announce Bibles Over Lunch!!  

1-2x a week I will be talking on Periscope for 30 min or so, during the lunchtime hour, about various topics that God lays on my heart. Instead of people using their lunch to engage in gossip, aimlessly browsing the Internet or social media, etc. they can be encouraged or hear God's Word and engage in good conversation. It's like a mid-day Bible study and you don't even have to leave your job! I know that not everyone lives in the same time zone so maybe you will be eating dinner or on your way to work, but still free to join us. 

 

As I mentioned above, I will be in Atlanta next weekend, February 13th, to speak on a panel at a singles conference called The One Conference!!! It's an all-weekend event so if you are single and don't have any plans consider attending!!! I believe it's  going to be an awesome time of refocusing on The Lord. Oh and I can't forget the best part: IT'S FREE, although you are free to donate as you choose. To find out more information and register go to oneatl.org

I cannot wait to spend a few days in Atlanta with my friends and to speak at this event!!! I've never done anything like this before, but I know that God will be with me as always!!!  

Sidenote: I LOVE WORSHIP!!!! I can't go a day without it and wanted to share this song that I heard at the Bethel Concert last week called "One Thing." I've been playing it non-stop all week!!

                                         

Until next time,

Cierra

xoxo

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                                                         Email: cierracotton@gmail.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/cierracotton