Shifting from “Self Reliant” to “God Reliant”
I’ve recently had a few people ask me about my spiritual journey and what my perspective is on God, Jesus, my faith and why I left new age to going “all in” as a Christian again.
There are three stages of personal growth that I evolved to as a human being over the years. But the last stage of moving from being “Self Reliant” to “God Reliant” was the most transformative for me. It made my life (and my business) so much easier, less stressful, more peaceful and more abundant in less time and less work than I could have done by myself.
I’d like to share these 3 stages and my spiritual journey with you.
The first stage is “Others Reliant”. This is a stage when we rely on other people or other situations to support us and take care of our basic needs and wants. Children are at this stage. They need the support of a parent or caregiver for their needs and even their wants. But as adults (over 18 years old), there comes a time when we must become independent and provide for ourselves.
The second stage is “Self Reliant”. This stage is when we use our personal will power to do things for our selves and to create what we desire. We become independent. We can support ourselves financially for all the things we need and want. (Food, water, shelter, clothes, entertainment, car, running a business and getting clients, etc)
This was the stage that got a little tricky for me. You see, I’ve always been a high achiever. So I thought, “I can do this all by myself!”. I put in the work. I pushed and forced and climbed and I MADE THINGS HAPPEN in my life. I reached a six figure income at work. Won awards. I got promotions. I bought my dream house. I bought a Mercedes Benz, nice clothes and plenty of entertainment. Then, I pushed even more when I started my own lip gloss business. I made some sales. I appeared on the TV show Shark Tank and I won more awards.
I thought I could use my will power and do it all by myself since “I’m a high achiever and I ALWAYS reach my goals”. I thought I had it all figured out and I thought I was in total control.
Life was good for a while.
Until the day I lost a huge licensing deal which led to losing nearly all of my material possessions, facing bankruptcy and hitting rock bottom. You see, I ran out of ideas for how to fix it. I desperately wanted to shake it off, get back on track and build success again (Like I always have in the past). But this time I felt stuck. “What’s wrong with me?”
That’s when I finally turned to God for help.
You see, there are things in life, in our business and even relationships that we don’t have the capacity as human beings to navigate or overcome or open certain doors all by ourselves no matter how much we push or force or try. God’s supernatural power is greater. We need His guidance. His intervention. His favor. His grace. His healing touch. And His supernatural miracle to help us on our journey so we can fulfill our purpose and reach our destiny.
I began searching for answers. I wanted to heal myself. I went to counseling. I hired life coaches. I reading books on psychology, core wounds and healing. And I watched every episode of “Super Soul Sunday” on the Oprah Winfrey Network on TV. (Yes, all 130 episodes!)
Then one day in 2015, I had a supernatural experience and I met Jesus Christ face to face. I talked to Him! I can’t even begin to describe His light and the overwhelming and complete unconditional love that I felt from Him. It was so overpowering that I collapsed in His arms with overwhelming raw emotion and sobbing. He picked me up and carried me. We sat on top of a mountain with the most beautiful 360 degree view. And that is where we had a 45 minute conversation. I won’t go into detail here about everything He told me and what happened next but this experiences completely changed ME. It healed me. I began to feel worthy and whole for the first time. I will write more in detail about this experience another time.
But that’s when I shifted from being “Self Reliant” to being “God Reliant”. The process of going “all in” and totally surrendering took a while.Things got worse before they got better. It’s because I went through a death of my old identity and a rebirth of my new identity in Christ.
In January 2019, I did a 21 day prayer and fast at church. For the first time ever, I went to God in prayer, I confessed all my sins and asked for forgiveness. I let it all out and let it all go! I balled my eyes out! I was filled with deep peace and relief. I am truly FREE!
That day, I chose to no longer follow the new age and I went “all in” as a Christian again. I surrendered my life, my gifts, my business, my marriage, my kids and EVERYTHING to God. I started going back to church every Sunday. I read the Bible every morning and pray. I have a close personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ now. I feel the holy spirit daily. I’m not perfect by any means. But I’ve made progress.
The third stage is “God Reliant”. This shift is about no longer holding on to the thought, “I can do this all by myself!” and instead connect with God through prayer daily and ask for His help in all things. It’s so much easier and more peaceful when we co-create with God and receive His guidance and supernatural favor. You don’t have to do this alone.
God reliance also requires us to release our need to control everything and instead develop unshakeable trust in God AT ALL TIMES and in ALL THINGS no matter what the outcome is.
Trusting God isn’t about always getting everything we want when we pray. It’s having the faith and trust to know that God’s thoughts our higher than ours and being just as happy no matter what the outcome is.
God reliance also is not about praying all day for God to do a miracle and not take any action. The Bible says, “Faith without works is dead.”. We must engage our personal power and take action to create our best life and fulfill our purpose and even grow our business in the physical realm. We do all we can do (consistently), surrender and let God step in and help. You can’t simply be in limbo saying, “I’m waiting on God”. Because God is really waiting on YOU to just do it! (thanks Nike).
I’m so grateful for my spiritual journey. I’m clear that I’m not a victim in my life. I created what I experienced. But I know I have the power to change it and make new choices and do something new. To be better and do better. My life has been radically transformed for the better. I’m happier, more peaceful, more fulfilled and more abundant than I’ve been in a while. I look forward to the next leg of this journey.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story here.
Much love my friend,
April Yvette
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