STUCK

Hi Family!

I find myself up extremely early this Sunday morning. I couldn't sleep. There is so much to pray for and so many to pray for that sleep doesn't seem to be a luxury that I have anymore.

I watched a report this week that indicated, after polling a thousand people to see if they were hurting, 73% said that they were hurting in one way or another while the other 37% said that they were fine. The 73% had things that happen to them that had them stuck. They didn't necessarily want to be stuck but they didn't know how to get pass the painful experience that they had encountered. After all no one in their right mind wants to be stuck. We all want to be free!

Imagine if you will, a mouse caught on glue trap. The poor little mouse was running around free unaware of the trap set for him. In his haste to get from one destination to another he inadvertently steps onto the trap and now finds himself stuck. The more he tries to free himself the more stuck he becomes. The mouse cannot free himself. He struggles, then he stops struggling. He gives up and relaxes in his stuck position until finally he along with the trap are thrown away.

It saddens me to say that so many of us are stuck just like that mouse. Something has happened to us, someone has done something to us, someone has hurt us and the pain that we feel from the situation has left us stuck. We don't want to be stuck but the more we fight to become free the more entangled we become. We fight until we are tired of fighting and then something really horrible happens to us...we become comfortable with being stuck. Can you believe it, we actually become comfortable with not being free? Being stuck becomes our new normal and we abort any hope of ever being free.

Now I know you are probably thinking, "Lisa, you don't know me and you don't know what you are talking about." Well, let's see if I know what I am talking about. Let's see if you are stuck. If you answer yes to any of these questions, honey you are stuck:

1. If you are in a relationship that doesn't fulfill you. If you are miserable and can't be your authentic self; you can't share your dreams, goals or true feelings...then you are stuck.

2. If you are on a job that doesn't value you, a job where you can't grow. If you wake up every morning hating to go to work...then you are stuck.

3. If your finances are constantly low and you are robbing Peter to pay Paul...you are stuck.

4. If every day looks the same to you...you go to work, come home, eat, sleep...go to work, come home, eat, sleep...you are stuck.

5. If you never do anything to expand your mind...you are stuck.

6. If you don't have anyone in your life that you can learn from and you are in fact the smartest person in your circle...you are stuck.

7. If you do not have an active, every day relationship with God (not just on Sundays)...you are stuck.

8. If you are always worried about what people might think or say about you...you are stuck.

9. If you constantly relive in the mind past hurts and experiences, refusing to forgive and let them go...you are stuck.

10. If you don't believe that you deserve the very best that God has for you...you are stuck.

Now that I've proven that you are stuck, let's find a way for us to become free. Please know with all assurance, it is the will of God that we be free! I don't care how much the devil whispers in your ear things concerning your situation like, "It is what it is", "God doesn't care about you", "You made this bed so you have to lie in it", "You'll never be happy", "You deserve what you get", etc. Ignore the devil and fight for your freedom. Fight for your freedom!

Lisa, how do I stop being stuck? How do I become free? I am so glad you asked. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom)." So the answer to your questions are simple...you get your freedom by becoming closer to God. The more you seek Him, the more you pray, the more you fast, the more you read your bible...the closer you will become to him. God will begin to lead and direct you. He will move people out of your life who are holding you back and will send people into your life who will help take you to the next level. He will bless you with a career that you love instead of a job that you hate. He will change the way that you see yourself and your destiny. He will move the things that have your stuck so that the light of freedom can shine brightly on you.

Say this prayer with me...God, I am not sure how I became stuck or even how long I've been stuck, but I do know this, I no longer want to be stuck. I forgive those who hurt me, I forgive myself for the mistakes that I've made, and I declare and decree my freedom now in Jesus' name. Lord, I need for you to make me over, to mend my broken heart, to heal my wounded spirit, to calm my busy mind, to help me to focus on you. God it is not your will that I be stuck. I now submit my mind, my body, my soul and my will over to you. Use me God according to your glory as I walk in freedom. Amen!

John 8:36 - "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

I love you family! Live on purpose!