New Life Design Blog

I wanted to share a wonderful testimony with you.  This is from Myra Woods who is one of our Board Members here at NLD.  We had asked her to write up her story of how she came to understand the exchanged life and the impact that Grace has made on her life.  When I read this earlier today I just had to give you a sneak preview.  This is hopefully going to be in our Summer Newsletter that is going out in a few days.

Dana

Strivers Anonymous. If there were such an organization, I would be a member, for this is my confession, “My name is Myra Woods and I am a Striver.” But, thank God, a recovering striver. Jesus rescued me from my pitiful self-efforts at living the Christian life and He set me free. “How?,” you ask? When I came to the end of my rope and He offered to exchange His life for mine. I accepted.

For me, to live was to try harder, to grow greater, to understand fuller, and to doubt deeper. I was forever striving to control and desperately hold on to those things that kept me safe. Combine these efforts with a concept of God who wouldn’t rescue me from my frustrations and fears when I so needed Him to. Do you see a recipe for a life full of anxiety, fear and panic attacks? Well, that’s what my life was.

I was emotionally exhausted. I was trying to hang on by my fingernails to keep from falling into an abyss – an abyss of darkness. One of my most challenging emotional journeys was when I was on an airplane. Once, I single handedly kept a 747 in the air between Denver and Atlanta using all the emotional strength I had. I worked harder than the pilot and co-pilot combined. On arrival to Atlanta, I was exhausted! That was my life. The only way I know to describe it is: I was emotionally exhausted.

Three times over the past two decades I sought professional help. I credit two Christian counselors who saw me through some tough times and helped me survive not only my own clinical depression but my husband’s as well. I left their care better able to cope and thankful for their guidance. It was not until I attended a Grace Life Conference, however, that lasting change happened.

After listening for two days about how the flesh exhibits itself I began to see clearly just how I had been striving so hard to keep it together, to make my faith stronger, to not doubt, to grasp truth, to always do the right thing. Whatever my hand found to do I was going to strive to do it….myself. But all it got me was a life full of anxiety, fear and depression. Surely there was an easier way to live the Christian life.

Fear had driven my life for so long, and I was desperate to know what else God had to offer. I was afraid to surrender it all for fear of what God might do. I had been unable to let go while my fingernails were becoming weaker and weaker.

The instructor at the Grace Life Conference quoted scripture after scripture about who we were in Christ and what Jesus had done for us and in us. I realized I was not living out of that identity but out of my own strength. That night God offered to exchange His strength for mine.

Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait on the Lord will gain (exchange) new strength; They will mount up with wings (literally, sprout wings) like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

The instructor guided us to a page in our workbook entitled “The Selfer’s Prayer” and began to read. He encouraged us to go home and get before the Lord with this prayer. I couldn’t wait. Tears began to flow and the Holy Spirit flooded my heart with the knowledge that I needed to repent of trying to live the Christian life in my own strength, to quit striving and start trusting. I literally lost it. It was very loud in my head and in my heart as I said the words of that prayer through my tears. If my life had depended on it I could not have waited to get home to do business with the Lord. What happened that night is a significant benchmark in my spiritual journey.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Behold old things have passed away and all things have become new.” Something new happened in me that night. There was a release – a realization that God was truly good and I could trust Him no matter what. I could let go and know He would catch me. Were these new truths for me? No. I knew Jesus lived in my heart through the Holy Spirit, but somewhere I had missed the part where He was actually going to live the Christian life as me.

One of my favorite verses is,

“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Since that weekend five years ago the grace message “Christ in YOU” has flowed like a river through me. I have the promise that He will make all things new in every area I learn to trust Him with and that He loves and accepts me just as I am – all because of who He has made me to be – His holy, pure and righteous child.

Not only do I experience a security I had never known, but I am learning to enjoy an intimacy with Him that I never dreamed possible. I have the hope that where ever I am, what ever I experience, whomever I need to deal with, Jesus is there with me to live His life through me.

There are days I feel like something new is happening, that there is something new to share with a friend about the Lord, but I can’t really point to any one thing. Everyday is just new because He’s in it.

The message of grace continues to change my life. Knowing I am completely accepted, loved beyond my comprehension, and will never be abandoned strengthens my faith to rest in the power of the very life of Jesus living in me.

This is the grace message. This is the grace message that New Life Design teaches. It can change your life. It did mine.

I serve on the Board of Directors of New Life Design because I believe in the transforming power of the Word of God in a person’s life. I believe in the emphasis on God’s grace in the counseling ministry. I believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide, to heal and restore a person’s faith. This is what the ministry of New Life Design is all about.

Jesus invites us – no, He pleads with us, “Come to Me those who are weary (who work to exhaustion) and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul (mind, will and emotions).” Matthew 11:28-29

Well, just before I began to write this post I got a notice saying that my 20 year class reunion is going to be held this summer. Ouch! That really bits! I can’t believe it has been that long! I know….some of you out there are saying, “Welcome to my world!” and others are saying, “You’re only as old as you feel!” and I know some of you are saying, “Dana, get over it!” etc….” Yes, I understand all that but it is just the thought that 20 years have flown by. You may laugh, but I never thought I would live this long, but here we are 20 years later!

I am reminded that a lot of pressure comes with class reunions. You know what I mean?? People want to be able to say that they have accomplised something over the last 20 years, that their lives have counted for something. Some are still trying to gain that love and acceptance from others. They still have not learned that those same old fleshly strategies don’t work. I wonder how many of my classmates have just decided today to go on that diet or exercise plan? They want to show up to impress others with how they look feeling like they have to look a certain way so others will love and accept them and think well of them. Their performance and appearance must be at top notch perfection! Wow….I’m tired just thinking about it all.

Quite fankly, the “old me” use to live this way. I spent so much time, energy and resources trying to impress, measure up, be perfect, look perfect, perform perfectly….get the “perfect picture”?? I exhausted myself and when I took an evaluation at how I was doing, I always came up with the same old thoughts – it was never good enough – I was never good enough. Finally, one day just a few years ago God had put me in the “perfect” sceniro to show me that my fleshly stratagies just wouldn’t work and I was harming myself with the continued efforts to try to make them work. My “perfect” sceniro happened to be the wonderful world of “church work”. My first few attempts seemed to work pretty well so when I moved to Georgia over 12 years ago I continued to pull out the same stratagies to get my needs met and would you believe it when I said I hit a brick wall?? I couldn’t do anything right, keep anybody happy or be successful in anything I did. I was plegged with problems, mishaps, shortcomings, failures you name it! Well, it was over the course of several years that God led me to that place of brokenness. I kept trying to tell him I had been broken enough through all the death and tragedy in my family over recent years but, oh no….I had not been willing to SEE and release those fleshly stratagies that I held on to for LIFE. God had to prove to me that my way of finding LIFE and getting my needs met just did not cut it. So, I crumbled and when I did….ironically….I found that LIFE and identity that I was so desperately looking for. I found the love and acceptance of Father that I so desperatly needed.

Now, I can honestly say I am experiencing more and more freedom from peoples opinions and their thoughts about me. I am living in that “sweet spot” of life where I do what I do because that is what Father ask of me and He has put the desires in my heart to do those things that he has created me to do and it glorifies Him. That is what the sum total of our lives ought to be about anyway….Glorifying Him and Him alone (not ourselves).

For all my fellow “people pleasers” out there – this is the one time that I can truly say….”the grass really is greener over here!” Come on over and join me!

Dana