Is this God's will, or am I sabotaging?

We have discussed in previous posts the importance of asking with real intent the question, "Why do I need this in my life?" when we are working on changing our present results. Another angle to consider when searching for the answer to this question is the question, "Is this God's will, or am I sabotaging his will?"

How Can I Know?
I have noticed that people with a deep desire to do God's will are sometimes a little too quick to assume that the garbage in their life is His will for them. This idea is most likely based in the truth that trials are an intentional part of our existence. Because we know this is true, we are sometimes too willing to embrace and hold on to negative experiences, perpetuating something that might not necessarily be His will for us any longer.

It is my belief that in most instances, God's will for us is to have good in our life. To have love, health, and prosperity. Many of the challenges that rock our world are there for no other reason than to move us more quickly into the good that He wants for us. At other times those challenges are there because we are sabotaging His will for us, and He allows us to do this. A third possibility is that we are to experience a challenge for most or all of our existence in order to progress in the way that is best suited to us.

It is imperative that we discover which of these scenarios is responsible for what is happening in our life. With this understanding, we can make better choices for moving through the challenge.

It takes honest and prayerful meditation to discover whether we are living God's will or sabotaging it. It is all too easy to look at our present results and assume that if God meant for them to be different, they would be. If God meant for me to have financial independence, I'd have been born with it. If He meant for me to have love, I'd have it. If He meant me to be well, I wouldn't be sick. Haven't I prayed for help? This must be His will for my life.

It is only through prayer, personal revelation and deeply honest introspection that we can come to the conclusion that we are meant to remain in a current challenge. Without that sacred witness, we must assume that what He wants is for us to learn from and move through the current lack in our life.

It takes courage to look deeply enough to discover the truth about sabotaging. Sabotaging is usually done out of fear-an attempt to protect ourselves. You may have to ponder what it is you are afraid of. Often when we use 'It's God's will' as an excuse, we are using it as a cop out from exercising faith.

If it isn't God's will that we remain in a current challenge, that of course means we will need to exercise faith for change. We may discover fears such as: What if I don't have enough faith? What if He won't help me? What if I fail? Once we honestly assess these fears and concerns we can begin, with God's help, to address and move through them.

Perhaps it feels presumptuous to you to assume that God might want more good for you in your life. As a parent, wouldn't you be pleased if your child fully engaged in a challenge with the purpose of learning what needed to be learned, mastered the skill, and moved on?

Also keep in mind that where much is given much is required. The reason He wants us to prosper is because there is so much work to do. God has work to do and wants us involved, laboring in His vineyard.

From this perspective, this good in our life is a means to an end, not the end itself. If we are stable financially, physically healthy, and existing in fulfilling relationships, how much better are we able to do His work than if we are not? Of course this is what He wants for us.

To Engage or To Release?
Once we have determined whether the challenge we are dealing with is evidence of our own sabotage or God's will for our growth, we will know how to proceed.

If we discover that this challenge is no longer what God wants for us, it's time to 'release that which we no longer need' (Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life) and start affirming truth in our lives. We may need to work on issues of deserving. We may need to overcome false beliefs such as 'there isn't enough' or 'it's too hard' or 'it's not safe'.

Realize that if we really believed that what we are striving for was in our best good, we would already have it. We must change those inner beliefs to be in accordance with God's will. We can use visualization techniques, we can work with a counselor. Keep a vision of where you feel God wants your life to be and solutions will open up to you. Be patient, with time you will see progress.

If, however, you feel that this trial is something God has helped place in your life, then it's time to engage. Ponder, pray, explore, examine, study. Think of it as a wave and you are the surfer who's trying to catch it. Ride it as far as it can take you.

Resist berating yourself for where you are at. Be grateful for the opportunity because this is evidence that God feels you are ready for growth and change. Accept the feelings and reactions you have with patience and love. They are coming to the surface because it's time to grow through them.

When you have times of doubt, think back on the time when you felt an understanding for His will in your life. He won't leave you alone through this period of growth. He knows and wants what is for your best good.

Reliv-my life saver!

My favorite supplement of ALL time! Starting reliv was seriously the beginning of getting my life back. I will never forget one spring day after having been on the product long enough to see serious results. I was dropping my daughter off at her dance class and it had been a busy day and I FELT GREAT! My mom had been the one who bugged me and bugged me until I finally started taking it. I remember that day calling my mom and crying and saying, "Thank you for giving me my life back." How sappy is that? But totally the truth. If you've lost your health, and then gotten it back, you know it's not sappy, it's just SO COOL!

I seriously doubt anyone reading this could be more skeptical than I was before I started taking reliv. I was convinced that anyone selling supplements was a crook and a scam artist, they only wanted my money, it was too expensive, it was too good to be true, etc. etc. etc. Fortunately, I have a very bossy mom. She pretty much wouldn't leave me alone, very effectively using the 'reliv system' to get me started. What is the reliv system? It is an amazing, catalogued network of people willing to talk to you on the phone who have dealt with the same health issues you have, thus establishing hope, and a personalized protocol for you. The thing I love about this system, is that most of these people aren't even in your upline, so they have no vested interest in you buying the product, it's just been established within the company that people help each other get well. This isn't that hard to believe because anyone who's been unhealthy and then gets healthy, is usually so excited about it, they want to help others. I learned later, as I studied mind, body, healing, that establishing hope was probably a big part of reliv's success. As the hope worked together with the amazing product, great results were achieved. Reliv has a high ethic of what a distributor/customer relationship should be. The distributor is expected to work closely with the customer, helping them through whatever bumps they may encounter on their road to healing. The goal is more about results for the customer, than high product movement for the distributor. For that reason, you can't just log onto Reliv.com and order product, nor will you ever find reliv in a store of any kind. It has only been recently that Reliv has started allowing their distributors to sell their product online, so concerned are they that a consistent, supportive relationship ensues between distributor and customer.

Detox

It is not unusual for a person starting Reliv to experience some detox. Mine was pretty intense. If I didn't have my mom (also my distributor) scouring the system through her upline for people to support me and answer my questions, I would definitely have quit the product. They told me I was going through a 'healing crisis'. Uh-huh. That's a convenient response for you to give me when I tell you that your product is making me FEEL LIKE CRAP! Well, that was about 6 years ago when nobody I knew had ever heard of a 'healing crisis', and detox was generally something you heard about people getting off of drugs. Nowadays everybody wants to detox and 'healing crisis' seems pretty logical. Luckily, I stuck through it and found that a 'healing crisis' is a legitimate step in the healing process. My body felt like crap because of all the crap I was dumping! I only felt really yucchy for 3-4 weeks, and from then on it was steady improvement. Within 3 months after starting the product I felt that I had a new lease on life. It was truly incredible. I had never in my adult life been in good health, so it was like getting glasses for the first time, stepping outside and seeing that the trees have individual leaves. It was so awesome. And yes, you cynics out there, I still take reliv and I still feel great!

The Cost

If you decide that you want to try reliv, definitely work with a distributor. Most people start with their main product, Classic. They usually combine that with Innergize. I also started with Fibrestore. Reliv products are soy based.

Because of the poor health I was in, it was recommended that I take 3-4 times the maintenance amount. At that time the maintenance amount cost about $70 a month retail. I didn't even feel justified spending that. But I did go ahead and start out with d double dose to accelerate my healing. I got into my 'healing crisis' and was strongly encouraged to increase. I think the most I ever took was 3 times the regular amount. Everybody kept promising me I wouldn't have to keep taking that much, which I was counting on because it was breaking the bank! They were right. Once I got feeling better I cut back to the double dose. I did the double dose for a couple of years. During that time I was aggressive with my mind/body healing and now I only require the maintenance dose.

So, yes, it is an investment. And you have to get to the point where your health is that important to you. What's more important, that new car with the hefty payment, or your health? We usually can find a way to improve our circumstances if we are truly committed.

Why does it work? (And is it too good to be true?)

One of my concerns before I started using Classic is that people were claiming it healed everything from diabetes to MS to bipolar. I thought to myself, nothing is that good! It's not even logical! Well, turns out, it is, and here's why. It isn't the reliv healing you, IT'S YOUR BODY! How cool is that? I had very suspiciously asked my dad, a pharmacist, "What's in this stuff? What's the magical ingredient that is so powerful it can heal all these diseases?" He explained it this way, "I don't know if it's necessarily that there's some unusual ingredient, I think it's more the delivery. Our bodies are undernourished, so they are manifesting all these diseases and are unable to do what they were programmed to do, heal. So, when we give them this nutrition in such an efficient way, our bodies suddenly start doing what they are supposed to be doing." So many of our vitamins are sitting in the sewers in their original form. Yes, you ate it, and it passed right through you! It didn't do you any good! But reliv is an awesome nutritional supplement that is absorbed into your cells within 15 minutes. Your body is doing a celebration dance inside and sending out the newly energized reinforcements to do what they do best.

Innergize (besides making Classic more palatable...I'll admit it, it's nasty!), is loaded with vitamin C and hydrates the cells. I love it, and often drink it plain or give it to my kids when they are sick and need a tasty nutritious liquid.

Fibrestore is an awesome fiber supplement that cleanses and detoxifies at the cellular level. It is my best friend. Seriously.

Reliv has many other products, especially some great ones for kids. But those are the main ones I have used and have experience with. You name it, Reliv can help you with it. I'm not seeking out new customers right now, but if you come to me, I'm happy to support you or refer you to someone who can. Call 801-451-9421 if you want to give it a try.

You Can Heal Your Life

by Louise Hay

This was the second book I read in my mind/body healing journey. I felt that everything I had been taught, all the cultural norms and mores I had never even been aware of let alone questioned, had to be re-examined as I read this book. It was like putting on an entirely new set of lenses with which to view myself and my life. When I came across a new idea, I would set the book aside for a while so I could process, ponder, evaluate, and assimilate the idea. There were a few ideas I disagreed with, but everything in here I at least considered and examined closely before discarding it as half-truth or false. I was surprised that the majority of the ideas in the book I agreed with, once I had given them sufficient thought. I believe we all have the ability to discern truth from error when we are living close to God through prayer and study.

There were many life-changing principles I learned from this book, but I will only mention one of them here. Louise Hay teaches that everything in our life is there because we want it there. This was highly offensive to me when I first read it. I had been un-well most of my adult life and when I read this book I had spent the previous 3 years deteriorating after having 2 babies close together. On a conscious level there was simply nothing I wanted more than to be healthy and well. To state that I was sick because I wanted it just plain made me mad. But there is something hardwired into my brain, call it OCD, or whatever you want, that doesn't allow me to move on from an idea until I have looked at it from every angle, prayed about it, pondered it, held it up to the light and looked deep into the dark places inside myself. To my great shock and disappointment, I discovered that yes, I had some payoffs for being sick. In other words, it was meeting some needs that I hadn't figured out yet how to meet in other ways.

The great news about this discovery was that maybe I had a little more control over my health than I had previously thought. Perhaps I could figure out how to meet those needs in healthy ways, thus eliminating the pattern in my life of 'dis-ease', as Louise calls it. I set my mind to it and I won't say it was easy. These were some pretty deeply rooted habits. But I was determined. I was done being sick. So I took the next step in my journey and starting 'releasing the need' to be sick by getting my payoffs in healthy ways. I'll get specific with one example. I used to have a really hard time asking for help. To admit that I needed help from someone was so horrible, I can't even describe it. One of the first payoffs that I recognized was that being sick gave me the 'right' to ask for help. If I was well, but a little tired, I would never ask my husband to hold down the fort while I had a power nap. But if I was suffering from one of my bouts of stomach pain, I knew I was justified to go lay down in the bedroom for a bit while he took care of things. The funny thing was that none of this was coming from him. He was fine to do his part either way, it was all in my head. I was only giving myself permission to receive help if I was sick. So, I got sick. It was working pretty effectively!

Well, I knew that I needed to start opening my mouth and asking for help. It was like my mouth was nailed shut. It was so hard at first! But little by little, I starting prying my mouth open and asking for help when I needed it. It is something that has changed drastically in my life and I would say now I'm pretty good at it. I had to tell myself that I didn't need to be sick anymore, I would take care of my needs in healthy ways.

One other great thing about this book is that at the end she has compiled a list of common physical ailments with their corresponding emotional imbalance. It is truly amazing how often this is right on. Our body's ailments are messages to us of things we need to heal in our lives. This resource at the back of her book takes a lot of the work out of figuring out what the message is for you. It is also insightful for understanding our childrens' needs when they are dealing with health issues.

I don't buy very many books, most I borrow from the library, but this is one that I recommend everyone have on their shelf. The resource at the back is so valuable. I use it on a weekly basis.