Several months ago, God spoke clearly in my heart words that I didn’t want to hear: “Try less; trust more.” I’ve always been a person of great effort and persistence, so it is difficult to lay my energy down and to obey what I’ve been told.

It’s an oxymoron. I find myself trying more to try less when in reality I’m called to die to myself instead of using my own abilities to strive for self-improvement. If I were truly humble, I wouldn’t stress out and mumble and think that my growth is all up to me. Instead, in simple humility, I’d let go, believe, trust, rely on, focus on, and surrender to God’s presence and power in my life.

God wants me to let Him grow the fruit of the Spirit in me, not a spirit of self-reliance. Instead, my impatience choaks out the patience (and other eight dimensions of the fruit of the Spirit) that He wants to grow and develop in me. Lord, help me be Your spiritual garden, not my self-improvement factory.

Here are some more Pensées that are coming to me as I write (in the order that they come):

It’s not easy
To receive
Truth that you
Don’t want
To believe.

Heart-felt gratitude grows with the awareness that you receive more than you give — that you’re given more than you earn.

Humans evaluate each other’s choices, opinions, and actions. Instead of demanding that people stop judging us, perhaps we should develop the inner security to lean from and grow thru their judgment.

The thoughts that you receive, welcome, and allow to remain in your mind will eventually grow into feelings and desires.

Grace is the gift to be able to receive what you haven’t earned as your heart overflows with humility and gratitude.

Every single breath is a gift to be grateful for.

Something that grows your inner strength is a much greater gift than something that merely gives you short-term pleasure.

If we take time to look
God is as obvious
An architect for a skyscraper
And an author for a book.

When we ask for what we want with no regard for what we really need, we’re asking for trouble.

When we decide
To let our pride
Be our inside guide
It won’t let us reside
In security and peace.

If I continually feel compelled to tell myself that I’m okay, then I’m not.

Thoughts you receive
Can quickly deceive
Verify their validity
Before you believe.

Grace is the undeserved and priceless gift of God’s great mercy and lavish forgiveness that overwhelms and forever changes a human heart.

Learn to receive
Wisdom from your wounds
And you’ll soon
Begin to sing
Happy tunes.

If you think that you’re worthy of God’s grace, you’ve received a counterfeit version of it.