Be totally devoted to Him. Be dedicated and walk wholeheartedly with Him. He should occupy your every thought and be everything you desire. Your heart should be soft and tender. It only hardens to protect it so do the best for your heart and let Him in.
Are you more aware of your feelings than His purposes for you? Are you more interested in your own needs than the needs of others. That may have been how you were brought up to do life but if you want to truly live, there is a better way. Do you shy away from helping people. Are you so into self-preservation that you hold yourself back?
What is your answer? The honest answer that comes from the heart. Do you love as you should? Do you go out of your way protect yourself from the possibility of being hurt or let down? Do you use the excuse that you might not be strong enough to do what He might want you to do? If so, there is a solution for you if you want it. Ask Him to help you to be free of your self-imposed limitations. This is so that you can do what is in the very core of your heart. He doesn’t see your limitations, He sees your possibilities.
He wants to nurture your heart carefully like an expert gardener. This will create a greater capacity for love. Don’t wait until you feel good enough, give your heart to Him as it is. He will accept it. It is the only sacrifice worthy of Him and in return He will give you everything including His heart.
You will find that you can encourage yourself even though you don’t feel like it. It is the simple every day acts of worship that brings you the intimacy your heart desires. It is spending time with Him. It will be your path to the life you desire so much. He is trying to release you from the heavy burden that is on you. He will train and equip you. He will also help you face up to yourself and deal with those issues that fester within you. Be encouraged as your relationship with Him grows. Don’t be alarmed as stuff comes to the surface. It all serves to deepen your love and understanding of Him.
Do not be discouraged because of any painful trial you might be facing. Instead rejoice that He has found you worthy to be part in His divine plan.There is a bigger picture here and you are part of it. Your world may seem very small at the moment but it is going to get much bigger. This is not just about you. You are on an expedition, a voyage of discovery, so expand your horizons. Shout and rejoice because your time has come. Enjoy His Lordship and sovereignty. Know that He is God and that He wants to fulfil His purposes and plans through you. You may be losing stuff but you are gaining life.
Don’t hold back but throw yourself on Him wholeheartedly, with wild abandon. Don’t get religious on Him. Above all don’t get proud or conceited because they will be stumbling blocks to you. Don’t be afraid that you might fail either. If you find yourself faltering or falling He will pick you up and strengthen you. Don’t spend your time looking inward and examining yourself to see if you have it in you to succeed because you won’t find it there. He is your solution and He creates possibilities out of nothing, it is only found in Him.
He is the one who is commissioning you. It will be Him who provides for you. Don’t forget that He knows exactly what you are like and what you need. He knows what you lack but He chooses to see what you can do not what you can’t. Nothing is impossible if you are willing to submit and yield to Him completely. There is no place for half measures it is total commitment. He has either got all of you or none of you. He will show you what He means by that and when He does you will be left in no doubt.
Part of the process is understanding how much He loves you and chooses to be with you. Just because you don’t feel it doesn’t make it untrue. Recognise where your emotions are gripping you and prize their grip off you. Allow His Spirit to interact with your spirit and learn to listen to the truth about you. How you feel and what you understand is built on a shaking foundation at best. Your understanding of the world around you is based on information accumulated over many years as you have tried to make sense of everything. The trouble is without the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit nothing will make sense.
So make it your priority to believe in Him and trust Him no matter what. I know that is easier said than done. He is extremely gentle yet powerful in a way that is beyond our comprehension. He is both all the time at the same time. He will not crush you and yet you will often feel devastated. He has built into to you a natural resilience to see the process through. That doesn’t mean it is painless or comfortable but it does mean you can see it through to the very end. It will not overwhelm you nor destroy you but it will destroy your unbelief and replace it with faith, hope and love. It will destroy the old foundation as a new one is laid. This, as you can imagine, is no small matter.