What a beautiful day today is and will be. It is not because something significant has happened, but just the ability to think independently, breathe without assistance, shelter, water, you know, daily blessings we may take for granted. I have been sitting and thinking about the desire for perceived perfection and convenience. These are separate thoughts, but somehow interconnected on some levels. Let’s talk perfection. I was thinking about the fact that I miss crooked smiles, misspelled words, imperfection, and, honestly, originality. I know that not everyone has had enhancements, surgeries, or dental work of some sort to achieve some level of perfection, probably due to availability or accessibility, but the fact that it is the desire of many hearts is what saddens me. Let me say, I am not speaking to those needing surgeries for medical reasons. Lives that were lost due to botched surgeries chasing perfection and beauty standards. People who capitalize on insecurities, so those underground “dentists” performing cosmetic surgeries. Yes, there are people who play “dentist” from their homes or business locations and conduct veneer implants and things of that nature with no form of professional schooling. I miss when originality was the trend. We have so much access, yet we lack depth. Ranging from children to adults who use ChatGPT to write papers, books, and a wide variety of other things instead of using the gifts that are placed within. I miss run-on sentences. How is everyone grammatically correct? While I understand accessibility issues, AI should not replace people: therapists, financial advisors, friends, human interaction, and sometimes the Holy Spirit.

ChatGPT cannot and should not replace the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life. Now here is the transition to convenience. There is 24/7/365 access to the Holy Spirit. Prayer. Reading the Scriptures and connecting with other believers, even if you may not have access to a church building. We have to become more spiritually disciplined and less lazy. Many of us desire convenience, which is probably due to the state of society. Yet, convenience and spiritual laziness will never sustain you. This is why you keep asking ChatGPT more questions: “What do you think?”, “What should I do?”, “Did I make the right decision?”, and more. I have been guilty of the same at certain points in my life until I realized I was no longer using a tool, but raising up an idol in my life. Idols seem harmless, but when I caught myself going to other vices (yes, even ChatGPT) before consulting God, I knew something was wrong. Convenience is like a dopamine hit, but it is not sustainable. It is cheap, easy, and accessible, but you have to keep coming back to the vice. It takes time, effort, energy, and relationship to sit with God. To pray. To be disciplined. To keep coming back even when you don’t feel anything or even feel like doing it. Hence the need for the quick dopamine hit. I can say that dopamine hits do not compare to the presence of God. When I experience the Holy Spirit coming over me, goosebumps, overwhelming emotions, freedom, peace, the washing, and sometimes the fire of the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that can compete or compare.

Sometimes we cannot see an issue in our habits because there is no one holding us accountable (and we even resist accountability) or anyone to challenge our belief systems. Sometimes we are not ready to change or even have the desire to, so we avoid what needs to be healed and delay deliverance and freedom. Sometimes we are delaying the very thing we are praying for due to a lack of patience and that slow-cooker experience with God. The finances, relationships, friendships, marriages, houses, businesses, and more will come when we go through the fire and not avoid true pruning, true transformation, true deliverance so that we may sustain what will be placed in our hands and not mishandle or mismanage it.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.’

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV