I’ve been poorly for three days and my wise mamma said to me that instead of worrying about all of the Christmas presents I haven’t bought, I should simply use this time to reconnect with God.

Very wise indeed.

So I ran myself a very cold bath – please pray for our boiler! – And I headed over to Youtube to listen to Holly Furtick preach.

Instantly, I started hearing God again. He gave me words of encouragement for other people.

I also heard Him say that I need to leave some things behind before I head into 2023.

What things?

• Complaining.
• Control.
• Compromise.

1. Complaining

This one was really clear to me.

I know I’ve been complaining about one area of my life, in particular.

Here’s the thing about complaining: It grows.

You start with one complaint and think “God will forgive me.” Sometimes you don’t even bring God into the complaint; you act like it went unseen. It was only a little bug-bear, after all.

But the truth is complaints are never innocent. They are never one-off’s, unless true repentance follows the first grievance.

The bible talks about complaining.

Within the Old Testament we find a story of God’s chosen people, complaining.

They were known as the Israelites and they were led out of slavery and sent to a promised land. Only problem is, they started complaining on route to their promised land. Here’s how it goes:

The people fell to grumbling over their hard life. God heard. When he heard his anger flared; then fire blazed up and burned the outer boundaries of the camp. The people cried out for help to Moses; Moses prayed to God and the fire died down. They named the place Taberah (Blaze) because fire from God had blazed up against them.

Numbers 11:1 – 3, MSG.

What fascinates me about this passage is that they “fell” to complaining. They just kind of let it happen. It grew and trapped them.

The other thing is: God heard.

Nowadays, we can ask God for forgiveness and because of Jesus’ painful death on a cross, we will receive it. He took all of the consequences for sin that we deserves.

But, this story occurred years before Jesus. So God’s wrath can be seen. It is quite amazing that God’s mercy can also be seen here: Moses prays and God relents. That has always been his heart: To extend mercy to all of His people.

I wonder, have you fallen to complaining in 2022?

Is there one area in your life that started to get a little tricky?

Maybe instead of prayer, you moved to little complaints?

These things grow.

Most Israelites never saw the Promised Land that God had for them, because their complaining grew.

This really speaks to me: I am hoping for a Promised Land and I believe it is where God is taking me. But the only thing that will stop me from walking into all that He has for me is my grumbling.

If you’ve heard from God and that thing you heard requires faith, my advice to you would be to constantly take that promise back to the Lord. Surrender it, again and again.

I heard God speak to me in January 2022 and I told so many people. I kind of feel like the more people I have told, the more doubtful and grumbly I have become. My language revolves around “If God comes through,” as if He’s not going to. As if His faithfulness is in question.

Whatever dream God has given to you: Treasure it. Give it back to Him. Tell only a few, close believers.

Sometimes you might not feel like God is going to do that thing that he promised you. But don’t be ruled by those feelings: Tell God that you are doubting. Give it back to Him. Be real, be honest and be quick to repent when you grumble.

I will not be taking complaining into 2023. I will stay close to my God and step out of this growing grumbling I have fallen into.

Sure, I might mess up. But we serve a God of mercy: Strong to save and quick to forgive.

2. Control

I was reminded by Joyce Meyer that we can control what we sew.

That means, we can choose to sew generosity into our lives, we can choose to sew friendliness into our lives, we can choose to sew love for our families and spouses.

Or, we can choose to sew deception, we can choose to sew criticism and we can choose to sew slander or gossip.

The bible makes it clear that we will get back what we sew.

It reads:

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Galatians 6: 8, NIV.

This got me thinking: What am I sewing into my life?

What am I being intentional about?

The truth is, I am in search of the wrong kind of control. I want to control my circumstances, I want to control the uncontrollable – But the reality is that I am ignoring the one thing I can control.

I think that, as disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to live life intentionally – not reactionary. When I try to control my circumstances, I do so from a place of reaction. But God’s word tells us to sew before we’ve even seen the result of our sewing. It promises us we will reap. In the middle of tricky circumstances, we will reap what we sew.

• If we choose joy, we reap joy.
• If we choose to love other people, despite of how they treat us, we reap love.
• If we choose to give generously, we reap generously.

I hope this makes some kind of sense! What I am trying to say is that, in 2022, I have longed for control rather than surrender. My giving of love and money and my choosing joy has depleted, a little.

I wonder, what are you trying to control? Is it something God has given you control of, or is it a circumstance that is completely out of your control?

Are you reacting or being intentional?

3. Compromise.

I never thought I would be a compromising Christian. I thought that I would be all in for Jesus, always. I changed so much about my life, when I first chose to follow Jesus.

Yet, here I am, with a confession: I have compromised.

Compromise is when God tells you to do one thing and you don’t do it to your fullest.

You hold back, even a little bit.

A tiny bit of compromise can lead to a big, fat mess. I know, I am living it!

I have been living a tiny, weeny bit worldly, in one area of my life.

This is what Jesus said to God, before He went to heaven:

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

John 17: 13 – 14, NIV.

He was talking about us.

We should have His full measure of joy. We should expect to be hated, because we believe God’s word. We are not of the world: Our home is heaven.

We are meant to stick out like a sore thumb, while we are here. We don’t live as we want, but as the word of God tells us to.

• And I am sat here, recognising, that I have been living as I want to, not as God’s word tells me to.
• And I realise I have been trying to people please, not please God.
• And I realise that I have been trying to get God to do it my way, rather than trusting His way.

Are you sticking out like a sore thumb?

Are you reading your bible?

Are you doing what the bible tells you, or are you compromising, like I have been doing? Just ignoring one or two verses. Like it doesn’t really matter.

Don’t get me wrong: God will love you unconditionally, regardless of how much compromise you build into your life. His love is all-encompassing, for each one of us.

But let’s be real: If you are struggling in one area of your life, it could be because you are compromising.

I plan to leave the compromise in 2022. I need God, desperately. But I believe He can redeem any situation. I step into 2023 will confidence that He is faithful to forgive and a good shepherd who leads me on His true path.

Final Thoughts

Quite a lot of my blog posts are for the benefit of me! If I write out what God is saying to me, I am able to look back and see progress.

But, as I write, I wonder if some of you have unintentionally built things into your life, which are not serving you.

I know it is tough to commit to change, but it is worth it.

Maybe you feel convicted that complaining and grumbling has become a habit?

Maybe you realise that you have tried to control the uncontrollable?

Or, maybe, you have compromised on a Godly way of living?

God does not condemn you, rather He wants you to experience true freedom. He wants you to prosper and to live with fullness of joy and love and hope. He doesn’t want you to pick up a few worldly traits, not because He is mean, but because He knows that they will hinder you in the long run.

Our God is love. He is merciful and wonderful and I pray that you will step into 2023 with your heart set on following Him, in every area of your life.

I pray you would learn to live as He asks you to, because He gives true freedom. And He gives it abundantly.

Let me know what you are leaving behind, ahead of 2023? I love to pray for you.