{"id":331,"date":"2018-02-05T20:38:17","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T20:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/?p=331"},"modified":"2018-02-05T20:38:17","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T20:38:17","slug":"when-i-wasnt-looking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2018\/02\/when-i-wasnt-looking.html","title":{"rendered":"When I Wasn’t Looking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StockSnap_D4S78EZCHD\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple years ago, I remember looking at the Instagram account of a fairly “famous” woman and thinking to myself that I wanted to be like her.\u00a0 Not because of how she dressed or wore her hair, but because of how she expressed herself on her feed.\u00a0 Yes, she had some selfies and random pictures of her dog or her friends.\u00a0 But, a good portion of her feed was full of inspirational quotes and Bible verses.\u00a0 Even though I didn’t know this person “in real life,” I felt like I could feel<\/em> her faith and love for God just jumping off the page.\u00a0 I remember thinking I wanted to be like that, but not on purpose.\u00a0 I didn’t want to just jump back over to my account and start posting all these Bible verses to intentionally be like her.\u00a0 I just wanted to be<\/em> like her.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a couple years and the craziest thing has happened… I have become like her.\u00a0 Again, not in a superficial way.\u00a0 We are still different people with different tastes, different interests and different appearances.\u00a0 But that thing<\/em> that I so longed for… that thing<\/em> that jumped off her feed all that time ago… I now have it.\u00a0 And it’s simply an authentic and overwhelming love for God.\u00a0 Turns out, I didn’t even have to worry about becoming<\/em> something I wasn’t… all I had to do was seek Him<\/em> and fall in love with Him<\/em>.\u00a0 And in the process, He changed me.<\/p>\n

And it’s not the only way He’s changed me.\u00a0 I also remember desperately wanting peace.\u00a0 I envisioned it as me running through a field of wildflowers without a care in the world.\u00a0 Cheesy I know… but the idea was to be so relaxed, so carefree that I just floated through life.\u00a0 Now, even though I can’t say that I’m all the way there, I am<\/em> a lot<\/strong> more peaceful than I used to be.\u00a0 And again, it happened without me even really noticing it was happening!<\/p>\n

Because as I leaned more on God, trusted more in Him and surrendered more to Him… the peace just came as a result.\u00a0 He has been stripping away the worry, the stress, the indecision and the doubt, so that what was there along – the peace – actually has a chance to shine through.<\/p>\n

And the same is true for all of us.\u00a0 We don’t need to spend endless amounts of time and energy worrying over things we want to change about ourselves or trying to strive for some perfect “ideal” that we think we need to achieve.\u00a0 All we have to do is fully and earnestly seek Him.\u00a0 To fall totally in love with Him and give Him the very best of ourselves.\u00a0 And He will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n

He will transform you, He will grow you and He will change you… all, when you’re not even looking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple years ago, I remember looking at the Instagram account of a fairly “famous” woman and thinking to myself that I wanted to be like her.\u00a0 Not because of how she dressed or wore her hair, but because of how she expressed herself on her feed.\u00a0 Yes, she had some selfies and random pictures…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":589,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[228,133,140,189,125,97,40,33,137,161,99,141,172,149,22,456,340,605,604,482,483,96],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-believe","tag-change","tag-christ","tag-christianity","tag-encouragement","tag-faith","tag-freedom","tag-god","tag-growth","tag-individuality","tag-jesus","tag-life","tag-life-change","tag-life-lessons","tag-love","tag-soul","tag-spirit","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-the-lord","tag-transform","tag-transformation","tag-trust"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen I Wasn't Looking - 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