What does it mean to seek first?

I always had a yearning to put God first yet I couldn’t seem to do it. I always knew there was a reward to it. Hebrews 11:6 says “He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” I knew my life would change forever. I knew I had a calling bigger than I could imagine. I knew so much good can come from putting Him first but I was always too tired, lazy. I would tell myself I wasn’t a morning person, excuse, excuse, excuse. I allowed the devil to speak his little lies to me, “You aren’t a morning person and thats ok, it’s ok to fit God in when you can, at night is fine, squeeze Him in between your day, He understands. It’s ok to not start your day with God…”

*exhale* i literally just had to breathe because i get mad all over again!!

Please hear my heart friends anytime of the day is good. You should talk to Him throughout your day.

See friends, the devil is very smart. He knows you and all you’re insecurities and will whisper lies to you. He will even use God’s word! He does not want you to start your day with Him. He knows your life will transform. He knows that you will move mountains, HE KNOWS YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE THAT WILL CHANGE SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE. The wisdom you will gain through putting him first will be unshakeable.

Friends, you will step into a whole new realm, a calling you never knew you had. A whole new life, perspective. You will change the world!!

Do you really think the devil wants you to step into your calling? NO!

Putting God first will be the biggest challenge but it will be so worth it. I struggled to wake up before my kids woke up. See, for me, it was important to make sure that I prioritized Him, that there was intentional sacrifice. I wanted that reward! So 5am it was and that was so hard. I would do it for a couple of days and fail. Start again and fail. On and on. I even asked friends to help keep me accountable by calling me at 5am and that worked some days. Other days I would just answer and go back to sleep, lol (Kaitlyn and Siana know). These girls were my friends, aka sisters, from my Sisterhood group I led for many years.

It wasn’t until I literally got fed up!! Like mad that I couldn’t simply sacrifice a couple of hours of sleep to spend them in solitude with my Father. (It’s the least I can do, after what He has done for me.) To hear what He wanted to tell me. To read His word and know Him so intimately. To be used by Him and not live day to day just for me. I decided one day. I still remember where I was because when you step out in fear you never forget where you were. It was March 2019, I was sitting on my living room couch with my sister. I think we were watching The Bachelor, lol. The hubby was out of town. I could hear God whispering “start now”. He had been calling me to go live at 6am with my sisterhood group girls every morning. He said, “this will keep you very accountable to waking up and it will create the habit”. I was like “what, right now?!”

Friends, God’s timing is always inconvenient. It may be random but you will feel the urgency of the time and you will have two choices – 1) pretend you don’t hear Him, ignore Him and disobey or 2) simply get up and obey, because how can you ignore that urgent feeling that if you say no, He will raise someone else to do it. Friends, “you were born for such a time as this”(Esther 4:14). I was not about to miss out on all God had waiting for me on the other side of obedience. I had wasted enough time.

YES, I was terrified! I quietly walked to my husbands office and propped my phone on some books. I was like, “ok God this is all I have, nothing fancy, just my phone and books to hold it up”, while I was repeating in my head that i’m totally unqualified for this! God was saying, “you can and I will be with you every step of the way”. As I write this i’m reminded of the verse in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that says, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can imagine the things I have for those who love me.” Since then God has revealed and opened up so many other doors in my life. It takes that one step of obedience for God to propel you to greater things, a purpose for your life.

I quickly fixed my hair, it was a mess (bedtime hair). It was already 8pm. Literally shaking, I was sitting on the desk chair staring at my phone for what felt like an eternity. I was on my Sisterhood page. All I needed to do was press the “live” button. I could see myself on my screen. I was telling God “are you sure this is the right time?” I think I sounded a lot like Moses when he kept saying “but i’m not eloquent enough”. I felt God say “there is no better time than right now”. I was able to get my hand up, my finger slowly started going towards the screen to press this button. That was so intimidating! I pressed it! Now what God?!

With words trembling out of my mouth I say, “Hey Sisterhood girls (with all the confidence yet inside I was dying, lol) I know it’s late but i want to start going live with you every morning. We are going to go over (I quickly grab a book I had just received as a gift from my neighbor Inez) the Women of the Bible. So ok, we are going to go over this book together, every morning at 6am, be ready (was I ready?). Love you girls, see you tomorrow!” I’m sure there was more that I said explaining to them why I felt God led me to do this. I really don’t remember anymore.

Wow, I did it! We did it God! I had a flood of emotions. I cried I was so overjoyed and at peace. I heard God say “I’m proud of you but that was the easy part”. I couldn’t sleep all night. All the lies of devil started flooding in. I began questioning myself like “What in the world did i just do? Did i really hear God say to do that?” I woke up at 5am to be ready to go live at 6am. I was exhausted to say the least but I needed to be ready. I wasn’t going to give up on my girls. I wasn’t going to let the devil win. No more. Day 1 done! I did it! I can’t believe I have to continue to do this God. Day after day I was so tired but then it started getting easier and it became a habit! For a little over a year I went live daily. Our last live ended in April of 2020 because, well, life got crazy with the pandemic. I wasn’t sure if God was releasing me but my kids were home now. Heck, everyone was home now. My live season was over. I continued to wake up early to be with my Father. I was already trained to do it and I honestly can’t start my day without him. It’s a non negotiable. My days don’t go well when I don’t spend time with Him. How did I ever start my days without Him? Ok God, whats next???

This is where I believe this blog has come in. This is the next step of obedience.

So that’s where SEEK Him comes in. You will hear Him clearly, you will feel His promptings to move, you are awakened in a spiritual way to be used by God and to be His vessel. You have purpose!

Ok friends, I have a challenge for you. It doesn’t have to be at 5am. What time do you wake up now? Is it 8am? Ok, wake up at 7am. It will feel a little weird and maybe uncomfortable. Maybe you don’t know where in the Bible to start. There are a ton of Bible plans on the Bible app. I’m actually following a three year plan. I love chewing on his word. So I love three years more than trying to read it in one year. Just start. Open His word, ask Him to speak to you, to reveal to you all He wants to show you.

I cant wait to hear how God spoke to you!

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT WEEKS VIDEO/BLOG AS WE CONTINUE TO UNRAVEL WHAT IT MEANS TO SEEK HIM.

My goal is for you to experience this and completely fall in love with His word. Let’s SEEK Him together.

Love you friends,

-Angelica