When I opened my laptop today, I first felt as though some of us needed reminding of this truth:

God is kind.

Yes He is, He is, He is.

I next felt God walking me through a 3-step process that I’ve been through before. (I take no credit for this process, I have a brilliant mentor who has walked me through it over and over again!)

It’s a process for when you feel overwhelmed and lost. A process to draw you back to God and his goodness. I felt to write out this process for anyone out there that needs to read this and take hold of the kindness of God.

So, today, I’ve written 3 simple steps to help you let God’s kindness in.

Step 1: Observe your Honest Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviours.

Here’s a spiritual highlight reel of my life, lately:

• I’ve attended positive church meetings.
• I’ve prayed great-sounding prayers.
• I’ve felt God’s leadership.
• I’ve been reminded of things He’s promised me.

Sure, I have a faith. Sure, I love Jesus. Those things are intact and true.

But when I take a moment to note my true thoughts, feelings and behaviours, the last few weeks have been a bit messy:

• I’ve been stacking up a mental list in my head of all the things I’m not doing so well. I feel ashamed of these moments. So I avoid God.
• I’ve been really stressed about one particular area of my life and I’ve allowed comparison to subtly eek its way in. I feel like a failure. So I avoid God.
• I’ve put pressure on myself to perform brilliantly: In parenting, in work, in church leadership and in writing this blog. I feel anxious. So I try to fix things whilst avoiding God.

I look at the above and I realise that I am not living as though I am serving a kind God.

Doubting comes in all shapes and sizes and I realise that I have been doubting the nature of God, rather than the fact that God exists.

Maybe, on the surface you could show me a spiritual highlight reel from recent weeks passed.

But if you probed… What is really going on?

• What are the main on-your-mind themes?
• What are the feelings that keep cropping up lately?
• What are you doing as a reaction to those feelings?

God is not scolding us for our thoughts, feelings or behaviours.

Rather, He wants to heal me from the inside out. He wants to set us free from whatever is causing the doubt or distress. He is in the business of revealing what is true.

God is a kind God that cares about our full, whole internal and external freedom. He is not a God that is just wanting us to at obedient and behave well.

He wants us to draw close in those tricky moments, be honest and let Him lead us through those doubts at the root of our behaviours.

Step 1 to letting God’s kindness in is always to be honest about what is actually going on right now. Tell God about these things.

Step 2: Let the Light in.

The writer of Romans says:

[…] do you have no regard for the wealth of (God’)] kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?

Romans 2:4, NIV, my abbreviation and parentheses.

Once you have been honest before God about what is really going on in your life, it is time to let Gods truth in. Now is time to change your “old way of thinking” and “seek God’s purpose for your life.”

God’s purpose can always be found in His word.

Take each individual thought and feeling you have in step one and pause after each one, asking God to reveal His word to you:

For me:

• I’ve been stacking up a mental list in my head of all the things I’m not doing so well. I feel ashamed of these moments. So I avoid God.

God says: I forgive you.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9, NIV.

• I’ve been really stressed about one particular area of my life and I’ve allowed comparison to subtly eek its way in. I feel like a failure. So I avoid God.

God says: I have never failed you. You can do this with me.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13, NIV.

• I’ve put pressure on myself to perform brilliantly: In parenting, in work, in church leadership and in writing this blog. I feel anxious. So I try to fix things whilst avoiding God.

God says: Just trust me.

And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.”

Luke 1: 45, AMP.

Step 3: Receive God’s Kindness.

A friend sent me a message this week:

“You are doing great. Be kind to yourself.”

Yet, I could not be kind to myself without first receiving kindness from God.

So, going forward: Whenever I feel stressed out, anxious or ashamed, I need to grab the words God has given me after completing step 2 of this blog post.

I need to keep receiving His word, over and over again.

Keep speaking God’s truth out, over and over again.

My mentor always says: “Take it like medicine.”

And the amazing thing is: When we do this, we heal.

When we start to believe what God says those broken parts of us are healed by a God that loves us.

What is more: When we heal, people around us begin to notice.

When you’ve sought God for the truth and you’ve started to believe it, you reveal the truth to those around you.

Just as the bible reveals truth, we are called to reveal the true nature of God to people around us. The bible calls us “the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14, NIV.)

Yet, you and I don’t become the light of the world by doing stuff for God. Letting God heal us inside out is the true hard and holy work required of us.

God wants to have a relationship with you. He is so, so, so kind and wants to show you his beautiful, kind heart.

This week:

• Be honest about where you are. Give your honest thoughts, feelings and behaviours to God.
• Grab hold of God’s truth. If you feel like you can’t hear God or you don’t know how to do this, just grab verses from this blog post.
• Keep reading truth out loud. Believe what you read and let God’s kindness have its full effect.

Praying that you will also have a revelation of God’s kind-hearted nature, like I have.