In Deuteronomy 34:1-4, Moses climbs Mt. Nebo. At the top, God shows him the promise land but says, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

We all have a Mt.​ NEBO ​​in our lives: a ​Ne​​ ver-​E​​nding ​B​​attle over ​O​​urselves. We think that whatever happens in our lives ​must b​ e God’s will, not realizing that our own decisions can, and frequently do, interfere with God’s will for our life. Thus, we are always in a battle where we try to put our own will above God’s. Then, when things don’t go our way we are quick to blame God for the bad in our lives. We don’t realize that the reason things turned out that way was ​because we were fighting God’s will in the first place.

Relinquishing control over our lives can be scary. Like the Israelites who doubted God, the fear of failure can be so terrifying that we opt for the comfort of slavery instead of trusting God to free us. God doesn’t ​just​ want to free us, though. God has great plans for our lives but we need to trust him​ ALL the way​ ​​if we want His promises for our lives to be fulfilled. Moses didn’t bring the Israelites out of Egypt for them to die in the wilderness; he believed in God’s promises and we need to too! However, Moses broke faith with God and, as a result, though God showed him the promise-land, God did not let him enter into it.

Giving God control is not about choosing what area of life—or how much of one area—you’re going to give him. Choosing to hold back a part of your life is still you maintaining control over your life. God ​wants​ to release his will into our lives—if only we let him. We always want to do things our way because it’s more comfortable but God is close to those who trust him and when you do, you realize that He is the ultimate source of comfort. We forget that when we partially obey him, we partially disobey him as well. That disobedience gets in the way of His will and prevents us from entering our own promise-land, like it did with Moses.

Jesus was constantly checking in with God to make sure that God’s will was being done—not his human one. The Lord’s prayer even says, “​THY will be done.”​ Giving God control so that His will can be released into our lives isn’t easy, but God is always one prayer away.

If you’re finding yourself walking through a difficult situation, or a season of continuous crying, you are most likely in The Valley of Trouble and Weeping. Through these valleys, we can hold on to the comfort of knowing that God will NEVER waste a hurt. God does not just let things happen to happen so trust Him in the darkness!

Has there been a situation that you thought was over—and God had healed you from it—but as time passed, it came up again? Some stubborn issues or sins will keep chasing you as long as you’re alive but the SAME God who defeated it the first time will do it again! He doesn’t do it the same way—usually ever. For Him it’s not about changing the battle, it’s about changing YOU! When the Israelites walked around the mountain for 40 years, He wasn’t trying to change the mountain, he was trying to change THEM!
Pain is a part of the process and it WILL produce fruit. Pain is a gift, pain will make you pause and realize you can’t keep doing what you’re doing.

We have to recognize that we can’t experience healing unless we’ve been hurt. We have to be okay with the unfiltered version of ourselves because that’s the version God works with. So, the next time you’re hurting and broken, the next time you can’t shake a sin or pain, the next time you can keep yourself from crying, know that He is near to the broken hearted and He is weeping right there with you. He will meet you in a valley where He has placed you in, or even in a valley you have stumbled in on your own. Ask God for help; cry out to Him! Pride will always rob you of full submission and obedience to God. Seek to hear His voice and His cries in those valleys and take heart because He has overcome the WORLD! In God, and in Him alone, you WILL have peace!

At some point, we all find ourselves having to face some extremely tough decisions in life—even some really small decisions that may seem meaningless to you but will play a role in determining your future. If you find yourself in the valley of decisions, fear not, there are many ways to navigate this!

Life is the sum total of all of our decisions. You are who you are based on the decisions you make in the life that you’ve been handed. You are not what you’ve been given rather, you arehow you use w​ hat you’ve been given. ​Focus on the big picture;​ not every open door is from God and not every closed door is from the enemy. The Bible says to KNOCK, and it will be opened. If you have to knock on a door for Him to open, it’s must already be closed to begin with. ​Know your values​; how you see yourself is how others will see you. ​Recognize the snowball effect​; one bad decision will lead to many other bad decisions. On the contrary, one ​good decision​ will lead to many other good decisions! We have to create an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit is openly welcome and He will be able to guide us through life’s difficult decisions. We must take immediate​ action; if you need to make a decision today, make it ​today​! Don’t sit on it! If you’re following all of these steps and letting the Holy Spirit guide you, the decision should be loud and clear! Take heart in knowing that a right decision will lead you to positivity, but acknowledging a wrong decision and getting back in tune with Him will lead you right back to a clean slate!