Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day! A fresh new start. A new day to rise and run to Jesus for your daily fill.

He has all you need. When you choose to sit at His feet, you’ll soon find out that you lack nothing..

As you sit with your Savior, peace floods your soul, stillness washes over you, comfort wraps you up, clarity erases the fog in your mind, racing hearts slow to a steady beat, and Jesus ministers to each and every need of yours.

All things of true value, eternal value will be added to you as you learn to just be still with Him.

But as humans we struggle with the flesh of human nature that chooses to hyper focus on prayers that seem to go unanswered while not realizing all the various ways God has been at work in our lives.

Sometimes, we basically have blinders to all the spiritual blessings and all the physical blessings we have right now as we cry out for Him to move in “just this one way.”

Lord, if You just give me this one answered prayer, I’ll finally be at peace.

The problem is that when that breakthrough comes, we look to the next thing.

What God has for us is peace and fulfillment right where we are. We can sit at His feet and be totally filled with peace, joy, and the overflow of Holy Spirit even while some prayers remain unanswered. That is the picture of a satisfied child. And doesn’t it bring us so much joy when we pour into our kids and they are satisfied!

Yesterday, we celebrated the 4th of July at Busch Gardens with our three youngest kids. The two older ones are in Wisconsin for a few weeks.

And before our visit, Chuck and I had decided that this day we would splurge a little more than usual. We would eat all of our meals in the park and just enjoy the day. We no longer carry diaper bags overflowing with snacks or strollers packed with items, so with our new freedom of all of our kids being old enough to walk the whole park, we only brought our refillable souvenir cups and a a dry change of clothes for each kiddo.

This meant all snacks and meals would be purchased in the park. We also didn’t have the big kids, so the littles got to direct the whole day. They picked where we went, what attractions we visited, and what rides we rode. And even with all of those “yesses” one of our boys got something in his mind that he wanted and nothing else seemed to bring him solace.

He found a souvenir fan in the gift shop. It was $30 and he made his case of all the reasons why he must have this item. We weren’t persuaded and when we left the gift shop without it, he couldn’t let it go. As he walked the park, with his slushee and popcorn and rides everywhere, he couldn’t see the blessings literally in his hands and at every turn. He could only see people walking by with fans. He began to notice every fan. Fans buckled on strollers, fans kids were carrying, fans everywhere.

We offered the splash pad, nope.

We offered rides, nope.

We offered another souvenir, nope.

We offered lunch, nope.

Only the fan would do. And so Chuck gently explained to him that he was choosing to miss the blessings of the day as he only looked at what he didn’t have. One thing. And that one thing was taking over his thoughts so much that he could no longer find any fun in what was before him.

This got me thinking about how satan and the spiritual realm works! Friends, everything we experience in the natural, physical world originates in the spiritual realm.

Satan, having NO new tricks still attacks us with the same suggestion that he had for EVE. He suggested that she take her eyes off ALL that she had been given which was practically everything, and instead he invited her to feast her eyes onto the fruit of the tree she had been warned to not eat.

Satan still attacks to kill, steal, and destroy today and he does it by suggesting to us that what we have isn’t enough. That someone else has a larger portion. That there’s something better that we lack. He gets us to partner with his tricks to steal our joy and tempts us to sin when we start to make agreements in our mind that what we lack deserves more attention than what we have.

As we either lust for blessings that don’t belong to us OR simply focus on that ONE THING. That one deep desire of our hearts that hasn’t met breakthrough yet… As we focus on those things, we lose precious sight of both blessings and assignments that are for THIS season.

Not every unanswered prayer is a NO from God. Sometimes, it’s simply God saying, “Not yet my child.”

You see He is still strengthening you in THIS season so when He does answer that long awaited cry of your heart, you are strong enough to actually carry that blessing and steward it well for the kingdom!

God is so so so goooood. He is faithful. He is a lavish Father who desires to give us abundant life!

But to fully receive the abundant life, we have to learn to be filled and satisfied with what we’ve been given. My kids really got lavished yesterday with attention, treats, experiences, and even souvenirs at the end of the day in the gift shop. But, each in their own way struggled with the moments when we had to say no or not right now.

It didn’t really matter how many other yesses had been spoken before the no, the nos stung and were met with resistance. And they missed the joy of certain moments because their eyes were blinded temporarily by grief over the one thing.

Let’s return to our secret place with God. That precious alone space where it’s just you and Jesus and thank Him for all of the CURRENT blessings and special heavenly assignments in this very season. Thank Him for everything and anything that come to mind. Ask Him to reveal things that He has given you and to remind you of answered prayers that you are living in today that you once cried out for. Ask Him to give you a heart of gratitude and thankfulness for every spiritual blessing. Thank Him for family, start to name your friends one by one, your children, your job that He uses to provide for your needs, thank Him for ministry opportunities, and everything else He lays on your heart.

And then ask Him for peace and patience while you wait for the ONE thing that has been your heart cry. Ask Him to remove spiritual blindspots that have kept you focused only on unanswered prayers and instead give you eyes for this season while also keeping hope and faith alive that He has not forgotten the cries of your heart. That even though the one thing has not happened yet, it doesn’t mean He has forgotten and it doesn’t mean that there’s not a plan for it in the future. Just ask Him for the gift of faith to be still and fulfilled in the place you are in Christ right now. Trust His yes. Trust His no. And trust His not now, but later. He knows exactly what you need today and exactly what you need tomorrow.

And friends, this post stirs up something deep in my spirit. I have a “one thing”, and I desire it so deeply that it hurts to even think about. I often times find it hard to pray for it because the longing is so deep that it’s hard to allow myself to actually hope for it. Once the hope sets in, the fire ignites, and I think about it all the time. Then, I think about how hard it will be to grieve this prayer if it goes unanswered. I don’t believe God is asking us to shelve our desires like that. I believe He desires for us to be totally content in each season with giddy excitement for the current bkessinsg in life while continuing in faith and prayer that breakthrough is just up ahead! And that is something He is working on in me right now. He is teaching me to continue in faithful prayer AND also be totally satiated and fulfilled in Him now.

Do you have a “one thing” prayer?

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are soooo soo goooooood! I can’t say it enough how great of a Daddy you are! You lavish us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. You left Your seat on High and came to earth in human form to die so that we could have all authority over darkness and also every spiritual blessing including an eternal inheritance! Man, you are gooood! Lord, help us with this lesson. Help us to walk in total gratitude for every blessing now while continuing in faith for what we are believing for ahead. Let us also trust You completely when You say no to us. There is love in Your yes, love in Your no, and love in your later on my child.

In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Blessings and Gratitude,

Vanessa Lynn

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And if you came across this post and you haven’t yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, may I encourage you that by choosing Him you receive eternal life in heaven, BUT ALSO abundant life NOW. Following Him is the most precious adventure you have ever taken!! All you have to do to get started is to pray and receive Him as Lord. The Bible says to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe with your heart the precious gospel message that Jesus taught. Repent of your sins which means simply to ask Jesus to forgive you and then choose to walk away from them and go in the New Direction that God is calling you to. Confess or speak that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for you, that He was resurrected from the dead, and ascended to heaven. And that you recieve Him as your Lord and Savior. That you are sorry for your sins and you recieve His FULL and complete forgiveness for every wrong you’ve ever committed. And that you are choosing to follow Him now and leave the ways of the world behind for the things of Jesus!!! And if you mean that with your heart, you are saved and set free to live a new life free of sin! The Bible says you are now a brand new creation! Old things have passed away and new things have come!!! The Bible also says that all of heaven rejoices whenever a person is saved!!!! Just imagine the party being held in heaven on your behalf right now!!!