On July 7th 2018 I decided to close out my last few weeks of my 33rd year of life with a dextox. Not only did I decide to focus on detoxing my body but I also decided I was going to “unplug” from social media. I also did a spiritual fast with my church stepping out of my comfort zone expecting great things! Although this detoxification process was not easy as it had been before I am able to sit and write today, 7/31/208 about some “ah-ha” moments I had in doing so. I’ve had some major life awarenesses take place that I don’t think would have happened if I were still under the pressures of media which can take up time, lazy from the foods that aren’t healthy for my body and not going that extra mile to make an attempted effort to focus on God’s word daily.
Have you ever tried to lose weight and felt as if the results just weren’t coming quick enough?
Have you ever switched up on your normal route to work and found yourself stuck, lost or regretful because this way was worst than your normal route?
What about trying to fit into a pair of pants and wish you had just an extra inch or two to gone”?
Well, in my case my spirit needed all of these things; an adjustment, new results, direction, clarity, focus and re-routing!
My spiritual walk is just like excerise. When I first start working out consistently I eventually begin to see some results however, after months of doing the same everyday routine I begin to notice that my body will begin to slow down and I won’t see results like I did in the beginning. Perhaps I need to switch up my exercise routine and put more weights on the bar, go out on a hike which works different muscles than I’m use to, or maybe I need to work on eating differently as exercise and proper eating go hand in hand. I needed to conduct a self- check because I was noticing I was having feelings and emotions that were not healthy! I was still praying and reading my bible however, I was becoming resentful when my husband would tell me he had to meet with his study group or stay at school late ( he’s in a Doctoral program). I knew these feelings were not from God and I knew there was something growing in me that I didn’t want to manifest so I decided to switch it up a bit. As I write this right now I am having a moment of clarity, the enemy knew what was ahead and what this dextox phase was going to bring so he often set up traps that caused me to cheat by logging on to my media accounts thinking I was missing out, and I’m going to be honest there were days when I cheated with what I ate BUT let me tell you that God is bigger than all those traps! You see, the devil can care less about you simply just praying and reading Gods word his main concern is with your renewed life and obedience towards God because when your obedient and have a renewed mind you’ll want to carry out your purpose in God which is to tell it and live your life for God. Just like my pastor said “the devil knows when you know he’s got to go and he’ll flee, and he also knows when you don’t know he’s got to go, therefore we won’t leave! ” God has given us instructions and that is to go out and tell others about Christ so that they can accept him in their hearts and they can be saved and will have eternal life. Once the enemy knows you’ve got this fact down, he will try to continue to knock you off track because he doesn’t want you getting to the truth, God’s truth. God knew the change this new awareness was going to bring and so did Satan.
After crying out to God and reflecting on my negative emotions I felt an instant awakening in my spirit. I heard within myself “ you are co- dependant”. I immediately began to research the signs of co- dependency and wow let me tell you I definitely displayed some of the symptoms, not in its entirety but enough to know I needed to ask for Gods forgiveness and seek out ways to help myself with these issues. I also was able to connect the dots of my past hence
;always feeling like I needed a boyfriend or friend, someone or something to make me happy, it all began to make sense. After I had this moment I wanted to know what I needed to do next and let me tell you I was given specific instructions.
They say “ when you know better you do better”, and the first step to change is admitting there’s a problem and coming to terms with it, well I fully admitted mine and repented.
My instructions were as follows:
1. Ask for forgiveness now that you know
2. Pray and give your control, release my full dependency to God/ on God
3. Sit and talk about this with your husband
4. Continue to fast and pray and renew your mind in Gods word
5. Replace negative thoughts with the scriptures God placed in my heart
6. Take some time to be alone- quality time just me and God
7. Enjoy being in my own space knowing God is with me wherever I go
8. Share your journey with others
These action items literally dropped in my spirit, not in any particular order but randomly 🙏🏾 I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on YOU ask God to show you things about yourself that don’t align with his ways and watch the growing pains begin. I am striving for a perfection I’ll never attain however it’s my desire to live my life for him.
As I write to encourage you, I write to sustain and encourage myself.
Matthew 28:19
John 8:31-32