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My name is Kyla and I am a young adult at NSAC.  Coming into the New Year I think it is typical to think of ways to “start off the year right” and so I decided that for the month of January I would go through “My Utmost For His Highest” devotional. It’s just 30 excerpts selected from Oswald Chambers book My Utmost For His Highest, a simple plan that the bible app provides. Now I have a lot of devotional plans that I have started but not quite finished but for this one I decided I’d commit to get to the end -- I even set a reminder on my phone for it. That’s has to help, right? Well I can proudly say that after a little over 2 short weeks I’m still on track. A small feat I know but I count it as a victory.

While going through these devotionals everyday I have definitely been challenged and it is impacting my walk with Christ. There have been two main concepts that I have felt challenged on. The first thing that has been tugging at my heart is being obedient.

Obedience can take many shapes or forms but ultimately as believers we should desire to be obedient to what Christ is calling us to. As I’ve been going through these devotionals, and in my own personal life, I have been thinking about how one of the main things that gets in the way of me being obedient to Christ is my feelings. Don’t get me wrong, feelings are a gift from God and help us discern and navigate our way through life. But we must be aware of how they can affect us and dictate our decision-making in our life of faith. Sometimes they can get in the way of the work the Lord wants to do. By choosing Him every time over our feelings of desire, worry, or even anger, we open up space for Him to pull us closer. This allows us to have fellowship with our Creator!

The second idea is patience. The concept of patience has always been a struggle for me. I think the reason that patience is so hard is because I lack control when I am being patient. Not knowing when something is going to happen or if it will happen at all can drive some of us crazy. But patience is so important because the underlying question is do we trust the Lord and his timing? Or do we want to take control and do it our own way and in our own time? When we choose to do things when we want to we are essentially communicating to the Lord that we know better than He does instead of patiently waiting on His timing. When He is telling us to be patient it isn’t because He wants to see us suffer and stumble around in the dark for a while, but it is because He knows what’s best for us. And of course I’m the first to admit that being obedient and patient are not easy by any means but, as I’ve become more aware and prayerful about changing my perspective, I have seen a transformation in my life and a deeper relationship with the Lord beginning to form.

 

Kyla is a young adult who calls Lynn Valley home and has pretty much grown up at North Shore Alliance Church.  A member of multiple teams, she's pretty much the best left-defense in the game of soccer.