19 Areas of Growth: Things I’ve Learned in 2019

Can you believe a new year is approaching us quickly?! This year has truly been a year of spiritual and personal growth for me. I’ve learned and grown so much in the span of 1 year than I have in all of the combined past years of my life and I have God to thank for that. The most amazing thing is, if He did it for me, He can do it for anyone else who is willing as well! God placed it on my heart to share 19 things I’ve taken away from this year so far.

1) Diligent and persistent in seeking God:

At the beginning of 2019, I made God the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY in my life. In the past, I felt I NEVER had enough time to spend with God. Sunday church service and Wednesday night bible study just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to develop a solid relationship with God. I worked toward completing my prayer room so that I’d have a specific and special place I’d spend time with God. In addition to that, I sacrificed extra sleep every morning for prayer, devotion, and meditation with Him. I listened to sermons and biblical lessons throughout the day and read faith based spiritual books at night. Over time, what was at once hard to do and what once felt like a chore became something, I couldn’t go a day without doing.

 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

2) Deeper connection and relationship with God:

It did not happen overnight. Matter fact, I don’t think it happened within the first few weeks. But slowly, I started to see the benefits of me diligently seeking God. Like any natural relationship, the more time you spend together, the stronger the bond becomes. Often, we think that in order for God to make his presence known, we must do some grand ritual or pray an elaborate prayer. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Talking to Him is as simple as having a conversation with a friend. I learned that God cares about even the small details of our lives. Understanding that fact had me coming to Him about EVERYTHING! I came to Him when I was happy, excited, sad, angry, etc. NOTHING was off limits!!! The ability to be transparent with Him allowed me to better understand what a great father He was. The more time I spent with Him, the more I grew to understand Him and became closer to Him.

 “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)

3) Hearing God’s voice:

Before this year, I can say that I’ve heard God speak on occasions. However, I NEVER had Him speak to me as much and as clear as He has this year. Truth is, God wants to speak to us but it’s hard for Him to speak when we aren’t willing to take out time to listen. A lot of times, listening entails spending time in His presence. Once he speaks, He expects to be obeyed and not ignored. Not because He’s controlling but because He wants the best for each and everyone of us and that can only happen through obedience to His instructions.

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

4) Identity freedom:

When you spend a good bit of time with God, He assures you of who you are. I know who and whose I am and I’m NOT willing to allow others to change that. I’ve fully accepted that I’m different. I’m a peculiar person and I’m now okay with that! I was called to be just that; peculiar!

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)

5) Renewed mindset:

I don’t think the way I used to. I’ve learned that my thoughts and words have power. I no longer just speak the word (scriptures from the bible) but I put those words into action. This has resulted in me looking at life in a more positive light. I learned how to take captive every thought and make them align with God’s word (2 Corinthians 10:5). I was also challenged in some areas that allowed me to develop stronger in the fruit of the spirit.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

6) God gave me the desires of my heart:

Now I used to think the scripture, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33, meant He’d give me EVERYTHING I wanted if I sought after Him but what it ACTUALLY means is as you seek after Him, you will be more inclined to do His will. So, it’s not Him giving me what I want but it’s me desiring to please Him. As I sought after God, He aligned my will with His. His will became my desire.

7) I’ve obtained peace:

In the past, I dealt with dissatisfaction and frustration from what I perceived as God not granting me the things I desired. Even though I still do not have what I’ve prayed hard for, I see where He’s granted me peace. I now know what it is to obtain peace when I keep my focus on Him (Isaiah 26:3).

8) Purpose was Revealed:

Back in high school, I became slightly aware of God calling me to do something, but I didn’t really know what that thing was. Throughout my high school and college years, I struggled with that knowledge and not knowing exactly what He was calling me to do. It became increasingly frustrating after I graduated from college. Upon graduating college, I’d say I spent about two or three solid years being absolutely positive that there was a specific thing He had in mind for me to do but it wasn’t until this year (after I constantly sought after Him) that He started revealing His plans for me. Always remember that God reveals things and rewards those who seek after His heart (building a relationship) and who do not seek after His hand (things that He can give).

9) Creativity:

I’ve always had a creative side to me but the older I became the more I suppressed it. Once I became open to God’s plans, so many creative ideas started flowing through my mind. I was gaining creativity from the creator Himself. I had gained the ability to picture things I didn’t physically or presently see.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

10) Confidence:

I did everything I felt led by God to do. Whether I felt adequate in a certain area or not. If He instructed me to do it, I stepped out on faith and did it; trusting that His strength would be shown through any of my weaknesses.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

11) Blog:

Never in a MILLION years did I ever see myself creating a blog or sharing any of my writings publicly but here we are. I guess it goes back to aligning my desires with God’s plan and purpose because this was definitely NOT what I had in mind to do myself.

12) Surrounded by community:

I have friends y’all!!! Popularity….what’s that?! I’ve never had many friends or acquaintances and I always longed for godly community. The saying, “We attract the type of people we are” is so true! The more I sought after God, the more opportunities for godly friendships and community presented itself. I attended various conferences, small group meetings, ministry trainings, etc. and met some AMAZING people. I also noticed how I took for granted the few good friendships I had already.

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV)

13) No longer merely believe faith but live by faith

I put into practice walking out a faith led journey confidently. I took God at His word when dealing with any and everything. I wanted/want nothing more than God to be glorified through my life.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

14) New Opportunities

When you allow God to work through you, He will blow your mind! I’ve come across many wonderful opportunities that I NEVER thought I’d ever have. I didn’t see or imagine myself in this position, this time last year.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

15) The rewards of obedience

I’ve learned the importance of obeying God’s instructions. Doing what He says, and WHEN He leads you to do it is sooooo important! Even in the small matters. Small matters open doors for big opportunities. So, don’t negate the small things God leads you to do. I pray EVERY morning for God to have me stay conscious in maximizing EVERY moment. You have 86,400 seconds in a day. How are you maximizing your moments?

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46 (NKJV)

16) Overflow of blessings awarded to those I’m connected to

When God is blessing your neighbor, start praising him because it means He is in your neighborhood. When I say God has showed up and out in my family and church family’s life this year, I mean He has showed out BIG TIME! The abundance of blessings were unfathomable. And, just to see in real time how God worked certain situations out by turning what the devil meant for evil into good was a testament to how great He is.

“Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” Psalm 77:13-14 (NIV)

17) Service to others

Volunteering has always been something I did every now and then out of what I felt sometimes was obligation but this year, I organized and participated in various volunteering opportunities and was excited about doing so. Instead of dwelling on what God hasn’t performed in your life, try being of service to others. I guarantee you will experience joy in doing so. From organizing a freedom bag drive for sex trafficked victims to organizing a harvest hope food drive etc; it was truly a blessing to be a blessing to someone else.

“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (NKJV)

18) Appreciative of where I am in life

I have become content with the portion God has given me. There are some things I am still currently believing God for but as I wait, I thank Him for all He has done and all that He is currently doing in my life to prepare me for my future blessings.

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1(NKJV)

19) The Meaning of Love

The last and most important thing I’ve learned (still learning) is how to love and how to be loved. It’s a process!!! Forgiving is not always easy, choosing to show kindness to the most nastiest people can be difficult, and patience is not for the faint in heart but remember love conquers ALL. If we do not have love, we have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). God is love (1 John 4:8).

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Whew!!! That was a long list but the thing I’d like for you to take from this is, when you make the choice to live for God wholeheartedly, He can honestly do so much in just a small amount of time. Just let go and trust Him and I PROMISE He won’t disappoint!