You have to Believe (In Yourself too)
You have to believe in yourself. To some this may sound selfish and unGodly, but I don’t believe so.
God opens doors. God whispers in your ear. God gives direction. God gives abundantly. God changes lives… But unless we believe in ourselves enough to listen and to act then we’re lost.
Suppose God wants you to do something. How do you know? You feel an inclination or urge to do it, but it’s out of character for you, so maybe you resist. You don’t do it. You didn’t believe in yourself enough to act on, or listen to, your intuition.
Why doesn’t God just make it clear? Like a big booming voice or a huge lightning strike that writes his wishes and instructions on a tree trunk? Thing one… this is real life, not a sitcom. Second, I’m not going to pretend to speak for God. Third, my intuition is telling me that God prefers believers who can hear him whisper and have the courage, conviction, faith, and self-confidence to act on it.
Throughout the Bible, God picks those that you and I may not have. What if Noah didn’t think he could build that boat, or, that people would ridicule him? What if Joseph didn’t have the confidence to lead and ended up a bitter drunk who had been betrayed by his brothers? There is example after example in the Bible. What about current times: imagine if great ministers like Billy Graham had ignored the whisper they heard?
Why would we not believe in ourselves when we’re doing what God ask us to do? Because doubt and fear are powerful tools used to confuse, divide, limit, and conquer us by the forces of Evil. When God is telling you to do something, there’s a good possibility that Satan will tell you, in a sweet, believable voice, that you shouldn’t do it, that you’ll fail, that you’ll look like a fool, that your friends will laugh at you, etc. etc. etc. Don’t fall for it.
You have to believe in yourself and God!
You may wonder what prompted me to write this short post. I’m glad you ask!
“Sometimes you just need to believe in yourself.”
Walker (our six year old) was playing in the backyard yesterday afternoon and came running into the house with a stick. He asked me to sharpen it. I was in the kitchen and stopped what I was doing and asked him why… he replied he needed an arrow, and make it really sharp! I questioned him on exactly why he needed an arrow and what exactly he planed to do with it. He assured me it would not end up stuck in the dog.
He grew tired of my questions and got a regular table knife, to which I explained we needed a sharp knife, not a dull knife. As I got out my pocket knife, I told him I wasn’t sure I should do this… his reply? “Sometimes you just need to believe in yourself.” It didn’t really fit with the conversation (even if he is six!). So I replied, “no, I’m not sure that I SHOULD sharpen the stick, not IF I can sharpen the stick”, to which he repeated his same statement word for word…
Being that before I went into the kitchen I’d been working on this blog, it struck me as really profound.
My intuition tells me it was a message I was supposed to hear…
