The last month or so I have been thinking about what will happen after I’m done with this program. It doesn’t bring me fear and anxiety but it’s more about where I would like to be after my year is up. Financially, I would like a little bit of money saved up so that I can get a head start on possibly getting my own place, school, or whatever is essential for me to do what God is calling me to do. Another thing that I am thinking about is where I need to be and not jumping the gun for where I want to be. The ideal place I want to be is Costa Rica, surfing and playing ukulele all day, every day, maybe even living with some friends and/or family down there, but that’s personal desire, not God’s desire. If it's God’s desire, then I’m all in, but I want to be obedient and content on where God needs me.
Listening to God is one thing that I struggled to do because there were things in my life that I was putting above Him. I came to a realization that since I was doing that, I was frustrated for allowing certain things to have the power to hold me back and prevent me from going to the next step in my faith. Just recently I went to a Jesus Night in Mt. Morris and after 2 hours of worship, the pastor spoke about how revival starts with repentance, so he turned the house lights on and said, “We’re going to repent in front of everyone else.” It definitely shocked me but I was able to go up in front of everyone saying that I was tired of being chained by lust and fear, and that I wanted God first above all. Intense prayer happened right after I stopped talking and there were people all around me just pouring into me. That moment changed my heart and my relationship with God forever. Those chains broke away and now I am ready to keep adding to the fire inside of me. With that in mind, God revealed something I didn’t know I had in me. I have discovered I really like songwriting. Not just playing random music until I find something that sounds good, but writing lyrics and working with the Creative team and writing songs for God and from God. There’s a lot of joy that I find in songwriting and I will keep improving at it to become the best I can be. God has brought me on such a good journey for the past 6 months and it’s just the start of creating child-like faith for the Lord. He will continue to flourish in my life and I will continue to have my heart just for Him. He is my everything. For those who are having a hard time with your faith, I encourage you to lay all your hurt and insecurities down at the Father’s feet and repent. Not just to God, but to people you can trust too. It’s so freeing to get those burdens lifted by the One who lifts them for you. Also, don’t just pray to God, listen to Him.
- Ian Blythe
