Hi,
I'm Whitney,
And I pulled a few cards today from different decks,
And rather than looking at each one separately,
I like to notice what they seem to be saying together.
I'll share the card with you,
Then we'll explore the through line between them through a biblical lens and consider what they might be inviting you to carry into your own life.
From Gabrielle Bernstein's Super Attractor deck.
The card is when I merge my desire with faith.
I can take action from a place of peace rather than control.
The second card comes from the Divine Abundance deck.
By Tasha Silver.
And the card I pulled today was love.
Divine Source is the idea that no person,
Place,
Or thing is your salvation.
Only love itself.
For me,
This is where I want to make an important distinction through my own faith.
Scripture tells us that God is love.
Not simply that God demonstrates love,
But that God is love.
And 1 John tells us that perfect love drives out fear.
So from a Christian perspective,
My salvation is not found in a person,
An opportunity,
An accomplishment,
A relationship or circumstance or an outcome.
My salvation is found in God through Jesus Christ.
Then Louise Hayes powered thought.
Card deck.
Says I release.
All fears and doubts.
I accept myself and create peace in my mind and heart.
I now choose to free myself from all destructive fears and doubts.
I am low.
And I am safe.
And finally,
From Mindful Moments card deck,
It's a digital card deck from the Mindful 5.
The card is a guided stillness card.
It says from Flow.
And it asks,
How do I stay grounded as life shifts?
So when I put all four cards together,
One thing immediately stands out.
So much of our fear may not come from what is happening right now.
It comes from our attempt to control.
What happens next?
We want to know how this.
Thing is going to turn out,
We want reassurance that the opportunity will come.
That the relationship will work,
That the business will succeed,
That the decision will be right.
That the door will open.
And that what we desire will happen in the way we imagine it.
And sometimes,
Without even realizing it,
We make peace conditional upon receiving that assurance.
I'll be at peace when I know.
I'll relax when that is settled.
I'll trust.
Once I see how it works out.
But faith asks something different of us.
Right.
Faith invites us to experience peace before.
We know the outcome.
That first card says we can merge desire with faith and take action from a place of peace instead of control.
Notice that faith doesn't eliminate desire.
You can want something,
You can.
.
.
Pray for something.
You can work for something.
Toward something.
And you can make plans and take meaningful action.
The question is whether your peace requires God to give you the outcome you have already decided that you need.
Because control says,
I need this to happen this way in order to be okay.
Faith Sips!
This is what I desire.
This is what I believe I'm called to do.
I will take the next faithful step,
And I trust God with what comes after that.
I have a part.
I do my part.
And I let go.
Of that outcome.
And those are very different ways to move through life,
Right?
And control can be exhausting because we're trying to manage things that were never ours to manage.
We can't control other people's decisions,
The timing of things.
All the circumstances and variables.
Opportunities.
Definitely not the results.
We don't control the future.
But we can influence some of those things.
We can prepare.
We can act wisely.
We can respond,
But we can't control them.
And when we try.
Fear and doubt often move right in beside us.
What if this doesn't happen?
What if I make the wrong choice?
What if something changes?
Spoiler alert,
Things are gonna change.
What if I lose what I have?
What if this doesn't work?
But scripture gives us another foundation.
Second Timothy 1-7 reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear.
But of power,
Love,
And self-control.
And I find it interesting that scripture doesn't tell us we have been given control over everything around us.
It points us towards something much more useful.
The ability through God to govern ourselves.
Our responses,
Our choices,
Our next step.
Where we place our attention and what we choose to trust.
That may be the control we were actually meant to have.
Not control of the outcome.
Stewardship of ourselves within the unfolding.
And that brings me back to the love card.
If God is love.
And perfect love cast out.
Then perhaps the antidote to fear isn't figuring everything out.
Perhaps.
It's simply remembering who holds what I cannot.
And Roman 8 28 tells us that God works in all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
That doesn't promise that every circumstance will look good to us.
It doesn't mean every disappointment gets reversed exactly the way we want.
Instead,
It means our limited view is not the whole story.
We can see this moment.
God can see beyond it.
We can see the door we want opened.
God knows where that door leads.
And we can see the outcome we've decided would be best.
And God sees what we cannot yet see.
So maybe.
Faith is being willing to say,
God,
This is what I want.
This is what I'm working toward.
This is the action I believe I should take.
And I trust you enough.
Not to demand the ending.
And there's peace in that.
Not necessarily because the circumstances change,
Because your relationship.
To those circumstances changed.
And that's where today's mindful moments question becomes so powerful.
How do I stay grounded as life shifts?
Maybe staying grounded doesn't mean resisting the shift.
Maybe it means becoming so rooted in what does not change.
That we can move with what does.
Your plans may shift.
Your circumstances may shift.
People may shift.
Opportunities may come and go.
Actually,
I'm going to say all of those.
Are going to happen.
What you thought was a path may turn out to be only part of the path.
God has not shifted.
His presence has not disappeared because the plan changed.
So being in flow.
Does not mean drifting wherever life takes you.
It can mean remaining responsive.
Prayerful.
Present.
And willing to move when it is time to move and willing to release.
When it's time to release.
So you're still taking action.
You simply aren't requiring action to give you control.
Maybe today the invitation is to ask yourself.
Where am I trying to create certainty?
Because I'm afraid to trust.
And then,
What would I do differently today if I believed I could take the next step?
Without knowing how everything will turn out.
Maybe there's something you need to do.
Conversation you need to have,
A request.
You think of me?
A decision to move forward.
An opportunity to pursue or perhaps something you need to stop forcing.
Whatever it is.
You don't have to carry the responsibility of controlling what happens.
Happens after your faithful action.
Do what is yours.
Release what is time.
Let your desire inform.
Your prayer.
Let your faith inform your action.
Your action.
And like God.
Carry the outcome.
And because peace does not come from finally gaining control of life.
Comes from discovering.
That you were never required to.
