By Esih Efuru
I’ve had a lot of colorful adventures on my journey. Some were cartoon strips, like the humor I had to find within the pain of trauma, and others were Oscar winning sagas, like surviving a dysfunctional childhood, and watching cancer take out a third of my family in a five-year-period. Life for me truly has not been anything close to a crystal stair. One thing that you learn, though, as you become older and wiser, is how to gain perspective. It helps you assess and appreciate what you have and turn it into confetti. In April, on my 43rd birthday, I took a moment to do just that. When I realized what was sitting within me, I leaped for joy.
Considering all that I’ve gone through, the best of my life is yet to come. That’s exciting. Some of my toughest lessons are behind me, and they made me the woman that I am now. They shaped and formed my character, my faith and my confidence. That’s amazing to see! Now I can inhale my present life and all of the things I currently possess. The realization of favor is so powerful that I’m driven to tears. God is just that good, and my natural mind just can’t make sense of it.
When I realize how blessed I am, even in the midst of a challenge, my praise is activated, and I become addicted to worship. I can’t help it. I actually become humbled at how much God loves me, and what he does for me when I’m not paying attention. It took losing what I thought I wanted for me to see what I really needed and how it sustains me.
There is a way to discover how God has stacked our “favor cards.” I call it the “AAA” theory, inspired by a powerful article I read years ago. Each day, awake expecting favor. Be aware of the miracles around you. Stay alert so that you can spot the gifts that God places all around you as you navigate through life on a daily basis. You’ll find yourself so busy being grateful that you don’t have time for negative energy or people. Though your challenging moments are still present, they’ll take a back seat to your blessings. They just won’t seem as life threatening in the big scheme of things that God is blending together on your behalf.
God has so much in store for you than your natural eyes can see, which is why searching for favor in every part of your life walk is worth it. It’s there, beside you, behind you and in front of you. I always wake up thirsting for new mercies. I believe that my latter will be greater, because it always is when I trust God. I leap for joy with a spirit of expectancy, especially when things are rough, because I know that God’s preparing me for an all access granted walk into abundance. I won’t, however, be able to leap for you. You’ll have to awake, become aware, and stay alert on your own to recognize how good you have it in life. You have to review your own life story, and leap for yourself.
Leap for Yourself To Find Your Blessings was originally published on praisecharlotte.com
