Most People Don’t Know My Story…

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲…​
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For 30 years, I believed that Hard Work was a godly virtue – that I had to work hard to have good relationships, that I had to work hard to earn money, that I had to work hard to be a good Christian, that I had to work hard to be considered worthwhile.​
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𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. ​ 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦.​
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So, I spent 110% of my energy trying to increase the pain and suffering (and His love) in my life, always working hard to “do the right thing,” “make the wise choice,” “sacrifice myself,” and “deny myself” of anything I truly wanted.​
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𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹.​
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As you can imagine, this led to burn out multiple times in my personal, professional, and spiritual lives by always striving to do the right thing no matter the cost…​
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…and then I discovered…​
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𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡. ​ 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 “𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙.” ​
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Until one day, I gave up completely.​
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And God breathed a sigh of relief, “FINALLY!”​
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He then began teaching me how to truly believe that He paid the entire cost that allowed me to live and work from a place of Rest from inside Himself, provided for and protected by the Love and Goodness of HIS character and not by my behavior.​
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In short….​
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𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 – 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 – 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥.​
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“He makes His sun to rise on the good and the evil, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” Matt 5:45​
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“He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” Luke 6:35​
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𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧.​
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Now, I wake up to see Him smiling adoringly at me. ​ I make a decision in any area of my life, and see Him smiling adoringly at me. ​ I make a mistake, and I still see Him smiling adoringly at me. ​ It’s a new world. ​ A new existence. ​ A new way of living and working. ​ And I didn’t do anything to earn it. ​ I just believed Him. ​ And because I believed Him, He showed me who He was.​
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As one of my clients told me, “I didn’t know living a life like this with God was possible!”​
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𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙤𝙤. ​ 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡.​
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Like the father of the Prodigal Son told the older brother, “Everything I have has always been yours.” ​ And like the older brother, we have the opportunity that if we believe what He says and receive what the Father gives us access to, we get to enjoy the benefits of everything that belongs to Him, including Rest.​
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“For anyone who enters God’s Rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:10​
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Learn more about my story in the following clip in which I shared my testimony at the Enter His Rest Conference in March 2021.​
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𝙏𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙩, 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙩𝙩𝙥𝙨://𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙞𝙨.𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩/𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙩𝙩𝙥𝙨://𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙞𝙨.𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩/𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨.