๐ก๐ผ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐.
from your stuckness
from your anxiousness
from your empty relationships
from your unsatisfying job
from your financial mess
from your addictions
That may not be what you want to hear starting out the new year, but it’s the truth.
I know what some of you would say. “Jesus is my rescuer!” Well, Jesus is your (and my) Savior, but sometimes we expect God to do the work that he left us to do. We can’t pawn our responsibility off on God just because we don’t want to deal with the pain of our reality.
We also can’t expect other people to pull us out of our mess. It’s not their job and it’s unfair of us to put the pressure of rescuing us on them.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
I have a friend who once owned a furniture store. His store wasn’t doing well and he was a couple hundred thousand dollars in the red. Things were so bad, he had to pay his employees using his personal credit card. He got so desperate that he sent a letter to Phil Mickelson (the pro golfer), asking him to send him money to pay off some of the debt. 
Seems ridiculous, but blink if you’ve thought about something like that before.
My friend today is a multi-millionaire with multiple thriving businesses. He and his wife fiercely follow God and they started an online Christian school where my younger son attends.
Phil Mickelson didn’t answer his letter. Nobody rescued him. He and his wife took radical responsibility for their lives, they shut down the furniture store, they kept paying their debts off, and they became very successful coaches.
See, God, in His wisdom, knows that in order for us to grow and mature, He won’t answer certain prayers in the way we want because it isn’t really for our benefit.
๐ฆ๐ผ, ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ? ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ.
You may not know what to do yet. That’s okay. I didn’t either. We sought out experts that could help us grow and get past our disfunction. We still do because we are still growing. Just take the initiative and reach out to people that can help you on the journey.
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐.
I’ve written about this before, but the Lord told Gideon in Judges 6:14, โ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ and save Israel out of Midianโs hand. Am I not sending you?โ
Even though Gideon was a nobody from the weakest tribe in Manasseh, God had already given him everything he needed to accomplish the goal set before him. The same is true for you. God has already given you everything you need to free yourself from your mess, you just have to find it buried inside of you.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ’๐ฌ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐.
So what will this year look like? Will you go in the strength that you and free yourself from the mess you created or will you take the path of least resistance again hoping that someone will rescue you?
It’s all up to you. You can grab the shovel, or you can choose to stay where you are.