Is there something you have dreamed of doing, but think you can't?
Maybe you've spent months or even years believing you just don't have what it takes. You think you are too old, too young, not smart enough, not talented enough to make your dream happen. It might be starting a new career, trying a hobby, beginning a ministry or like me going back to college.
I hope this blog encourages you to take that first step of faith. Doing whatever it is that you have always dreamed of and making it your reality! Don't let your past failures slow you down, don't let satan's lies beat you down. If I can do it, anyone can do it!
My biggest regret has always been not finishing college. Satan used that regret and twisted it into lies that I believed to be true. Lies that said I was too old and not smart enough to go to college. That's how satan works. He takes your failures and regrets and twists them into lies repeating them over and over until you believe they are the truth.
Well, I blew those lies totally out of the water completing my first full-time semester of college with a 3.75 GPA!
I walked away from this semester realizing that I am definitely smart enough to get my college degree. It makes me sad thinking of the years I wasted believing satan's lies. Imagine the damage done to my self esteem. Living years believing I was not good enough or worse not smart enough. This semester was not easy. It was the hardest thing I have done in a very long time. But I did it! And whatever it is you want to do, you can do it too!
I fought my low self esteem and fear of failure at every turn. Isn't that what haunts us all when we try something new? The fear of being seen as a fool or failure? My fears took me back to middle and high school and the fear of people not liking me, talking about me behind my back and making fun of me. What I found was just the opposite. I had many people ask me why I came back to college after all these years and when I told them, they described me as "gutsy" and told me they were impressed. That is not what I thought I would hear! I can't believe how long I lived with so many fears that turned out to be so wrong.
The lessons I have learned this semester go so much deeper than my book learning. Oh sure I can tell you the difference between Monet and Renoir from my Art Appreciation class. Or I could tell you what I learned about Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam from my religion class. But the real lesson I learned was that I can do anything God asks me to do, because He is going to help me along the way.
It is difficult to describe exactly how I feel at this moment. The joy I've found from knowing that I am smart. The confidence I have gained from believing I can complete my degree. And finally, the assurance that I can do whatever God puts in my heart, because he's going to enable me to do it. It's all so overwhelming.
Don't continue to believe the lies the devil whispers in your ear every day. That's how he wins. If you have a dream, step out in faith, give it to God and ask him to help you. If my son comes to me and needs help, I know I will do everything I can do to help him. That's how God feels about us. We are God's children and He wants to help us. He will move heaven and earth for us. All he is waiting on is for us to step out in faith and ask Him for help and then believe!
Be Blessed!
Lisa
"I can do ALL things through Him who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13
