You were created to be an overcomer. This means you have the ability to get OVER anything that may COME your way. Get it – Overcomer – Get OVER anything that may COME your way. You have been given a specific set of skills and experiences that have strengthened you for your journey.

You are STRONG. Have you forgotten this?

But this morning, I also want to point out something you’re likely fully aware of. You have weaknesses. We all have strengths, but we also have weaknesses. We don’t need to shy away from our weaknesses, cover them up or wish they weren’t there. Our weaknesses are crucial to our journey.

Listen to me here sister, this might be worth writing down: A weakness is not a weakness when God fills that gap with his strength.

When are we the weakest? When we are suffering.

I’m talking about suffering when a relationship is falling apart.

Suffering when sickness has hit our home.

When there’s no more money and the bill collectors won’t quit calling.

When we’ve lost someone we love.

In those times of suffering our weakness is magnified.

Maybe that’s you right now. You are suffering and therefore you are weak.

I want to speak to you this morning my sister … God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. When you are weak, then you are strong.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 God has a personal and direct message for you: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In response, you can say the same thing as Paul: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When I am weak, THEN I AM STRONG. Overcomer.

I’ve heard it said this way – We often treat suffering like a game of dodgeball. When anything hard comes at us, we jump out of the way. We duck, dive, and hide. We spend our whole lives trying to avoid anything painful or hard.But there’s a better kind of life—a deeper, more fulfilling kind of life—a life that isn’t about avoiding pain. Around here we like to call it BIG Life.

This BIG Life is about finding God faithful and sufficient in the midst of whatever trials or storms He allows. There’s something about our weakness that opens the flow of God’s strength.

Your weakness in this hardship has opened the flow of God’s strength.

In the midst of a trial, there’s a power coming into your life that you’ve never experienced before, because you never needed it so desperately before. Only when you’re personally weak can you experience this supernatural strength.

When you see a hard thing coming your way, stop trying to dodge it and maybe try a different reaction: I may not want this, I certainly didn’t choose it, but I can accept it and be content even now. I know God’s grace is sufficient to get me through it. I’m going to see the power of Christ in my life in an incredible way. I’m weak, but He’s strong.

You likely sang similar words as a little girl. Jesus loves me this I know – For the bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but HE IS STRONG.

God never allows a thorn without providing sufficient grace and strength in our weaknesses. Sufficient grace is not just enough to survive, but enough so that we can have supernatural joy in the midst of anything He allows us to go through.

Through mentoring thousands of women, it seems there’s a common thread among us … we all want to know our purpose. We’re searching for that deeper meaning. WHY DID GOD CREATE YOU? WHAT SPECIFIC WORK DOES HE HAVE FOR YOU TO DO? Some people have clearly discovered their purpose and you see them living it out so perfectly. Dang, ever wonder how it happened? Want it to happen for you?Today, I’ll show you how! This is going to blow your mind, make sure you’re ready for it. The hidden secret for discovering and fulfilling your purpose is found in Genesis 1:29: “Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth.”Boom! Blew your mind, right? Not really? OK, give me a minute.

The secret is the SEED. God created one time and he never had to create again. Every living thing has been given a seed to produce again. God didn’t have to keep making oak trees, the seed for the next oak tree was in the first one. Nor did God have to keep creating people. The seed for the next generation was in the one before. All big things began with a small seed already in them.You were a seed that formed within your mother while she was still in her mother’s womb! Yes, the egg that God would use to create the one and only YOU was formed 2 generations before you! You began microscopically small. But no matter how small, you were still there.The potential would grow!

And here it is, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it ….That big purpose that you’re searching for in your life, the answer to what you were created for and what you’re supposed to be doing STARTS WITH A SEED.A seed of purpose. God already put it in you. It’s already there! The purpose you’re searching for is already in you!

But that seed of purpose doesn’t look like you thought it would. Think about it, why would it? You’re dealing with a purpose seed right now, the start of something bigger.You’re expecting it to look like what it will one day become, but it doesn’t! The oak tree seed doesn’t look like an itty bitty tiny oak tree now does it? No, an acorn doesn’t look like what it will become. Nor does an apple seed look like an ity bitty tiny apple. Wouldn’t that be cute if it did.? But it doesn’t. The seed looks insignificant. It doesn’t look like what it will grow to be. But don’t miss it.

And so it is with the seed of your purpose.Just imagine with me for a moment your specific purpose in life is to build an orphanage. That’s a noble purpose. But what does the SEED of that purpose look like? Does it look like an itty bitty orphanage? Nope.

Let me tell you what the seed looks like … it looks like getting up early today, 20 years before the orphanage is ever built. It looks like making your bed today. It looks like giving your best effort in the job you’re currently in just answering phones and filing papers.That’s what a purpose seed looks like.

And God wants to know, will you be faithful with this little bit today? Will you be faithful with waking up on time? Will you be faithful with making your bed? Will you be faithful with this seemingly insignificant job? Will you be faithful with this seed because before I grow it into something big, I need to know if you’ll be faithful with little.

Are you really ready for bigger things? Were you faithful with your purpose seeds yesterday?Every hour of your day has a purpose. An intended use for that 60 minutes. There is something you are supposed to be doing. Are you doing it well? Are you fully there for that hour of purpose? Are you giving it your best effort? Or are you just kinda there? Kinda faithful.

Today is nothing but a series of 60 minute purposes. Consider each 60 minutes a little purpose seed.

Have you been exhausting yourself trying to do what you were never meant to do alone? Have you been showing up in your own power and might, and wondering why you always come up short? Girl, have you been trying to do what only God can do? Have you slipped into your super woman suit, trying to do all the things for all the people, and failing miserably?

Take off the cape, Sis. That was never yours to wear.

I have a friend who’s about 10 steps ahead of me on her journey with God. Her faith is inspiring and God literally shows off through her acts of radical obedience. Recently she had asked me to pray over a situation with her. I responded with, “Yes, I will pray. Tell me what else I can do.” Her response was short and it was powerful, and it totally blew me away. She said, “God will do it.”

Oh, GOD will do it. Not Pamela. It’s not Pamela’s wise words that will help the situation. It’s not Pamela arriving on the scene to push on the mountain and make it move. Pamela needs to get over herself and recognize, GOD WILL DO IT.

Something totally unexpected happened in that moment. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. I felt pressure released. A burden was replaced by a blessed assurance that my job was to talk to God about it, God would do what only God can do.

Come on, I can’t be the only one who immediately assumes they’re supposed to fix everyone and everything. I can’t be the only one who thinks every problem is my responsibility to get in the middle of with some sort of solution.

I’m beginning to realize that all this time I’ve placed entirely too much value on what I have to offer in my works. And in the process, I’ve assumed burdens that were never mine to carry. I’ve taken on missions that were not my own. I’ve tried to fix what I could never fix. This isn’t about me, and it’s not about you. It’s about our God being mighty and sovereign, with all the power in the world to do exactly what needs to be done.

You don’t need to fix anyone. Instead, the best thing you can do is point them to the one who fixed you.

If someone needs saving, you are not suited for that job. That’s a job for Jesus. Your job is to point them towards Him.

You are not dismissed from being his hands and feet when he prompts you, however you are dismissed from thinking this has absolutely anything to do with you. Some of us are walking around with a Savior Complex, thinking we have to save everyone. And guess what … we are exhausted. We’re like the little girl trying to walk in her mama’s high heels that are 7 sizes too big. You’re not getting anywhere very fast, now are you? Girl, you’re going to hurt yourself. Step out of the shoes that are WAY TOO BIG FOR YOU.

What is the situation you’ve been trying to insert yourself into as the answer? YOU’RE NOT. You are not the answer. You are not the solution. You are not the savior here. God will do this. If he invites you to partner with him, then yippeeeee, but remember, it’s still not your show.

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.”

Well that’s pretty clear now isn’t it? GOD WILL DO IT. What’s your role in this? Commit your way to him and trust him. What’s his role? HE WILL DO THE DOING! He will make happen whatever needs to happen. He will move the mountains. He will change people. He will heal what is broken. He will make a way. Not you.

The Message Translation of this scripture says, “Open up before God,

I know you’ve asked God before, and you’re still waiting, but go ahead and ask again. I know you’ve prayed before and you feel like your prayer was unanswered, pray again. I know you’re growing discouraged. I know you feel like this is never going to change and it’s never going to happen. The answer may have been no before. It may have been wait. Or it may have been silent and left you confused. But today, God has prompted me to tell you, ASK AGAIN.

This morning I was led to Luke 18. Jesus was teaching his disciples, telling them stories they could understand. First, a story of a widow who continually asked a judge to be fair to her and give her justice against her enemies. Jesus said this judge neither feared God nor cared about people. Again and again, the widow would ask the judge for justice. Time and time again, the judge would ignore her. But Jesus says eventually the judge, although he didn’t care about this woman or anyone else, grew so tired of her incessant asking, that he eventually gives in. Verse 5 the judge says, “this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!”

Now the teaching from Jesus so that we can understand. Verse 6-8 “Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!”

Jesus is telling us to always pray and never give up. Maybe you prayed before, but now you’ve given up. Maybe you used to ask, but you grew tired of asking, and you sit in defeat and disappointment. Maybe out of self-protection you don’t talk to God about this anymore. But hear Jesus loud and clear. “God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night.”

Keep asking. Keep praying. Keep coming back and talking to God about this situation over and over again.

Many years ago I read the book “Heaven Is For Real”, before they made the movie. There are a few things I remember most about the account of a 4 year old little boy who died, went to heaven, then came back to share the most amazing details a 4 year old couldn’t possibly make up. I believe it with my whole heart.

He talked about meeting his sibling. Yes, the baby he didn’t even know his mother had lost, yet he met her in Heaven. All those lives gone before they even began, they’re lived fully in Heaven. He talked about the animals in Heaven, which sure makes this dog loving mama’s heart happy. And he talked about his conversation with Jesus where Jesus said the little boy’s daddy just wouldn’t stop bombarding the throne of heaven with his request to bring his son back. So, Jesus was giving him back.

Are you really bombarding the throne of Heaven with your requests, or are you whispering a shallow and distant passing request not really expecting much. Girl, you have the ear of God Almighty. The creator of the Universe is listening to you. What do you want to talk to him about? And what will you keep coming back to talk to him about again and again?

Remember, always pray and never give up. You’re giving up too easily. You’re treating prayer like a one and done. Pray again. Ask again. Don’t you stop bringing this to God.

When I pray about something, I say God is going to know all about it because I’m just not going to stop talking to him in detail about my request. If I’m praying for you, God is going to know your name.

When we’re going through the storm, it’s easy to forget that God is up to something. When our good plans are falling apart and nothing else seems to be coming together, it’s easy to forget that God is up to something. When it’s bad news, when we’re wandering through the darkness, when we’re overwhelmed with hurt or loss or sadness, it’s easy to forget that God is up to something.

So, wherever you are and whatever you’re going through, maybe what you most need is a little reminder that, Sis, God is up to something for you. He’s working behind the scenes in the details you don’t yet know about. He’s aligning the right connections and the right circumstances, all in the right timing, to bring you to a place where you step into all he has been working on for you.

I’ve been praying over a family who lost their job, and as a result had to sell their large family home. In the process of looking for a cheaper home to rent within their new tightened budget, they encountered one closed door after another. They would find a home, but it would be gone. They would find another home, and the owner wouldn’t accept their dogs. They would then find another home, and at the last minute it wouldn’t work out either. Time was running out with nowhere for them to go. This morning I woke up to a text that said “God provided us a rental home that fits us all! We are sooooo blessed!”

Isn’t that interesting. They’ve lost their job and were forced into selling their home. That’s not a good situation. Yet, they are celebrating and recognizing how blessed they are because after all the nos, they finally have their yes. All this time, God was up to something for them. Before, were they waking up in their large home with their comfortable job feeling this blessed? Probably not. It was all they’ve gone through that makes them realize how God was working for them.

And all that you are going through now is leading you to a place where you will look around and realize how God has been working for you. Your time is coming when you too will say, “God has done it, and I am soooooo blessed.”

I often think about Jochebed. Maybe that’s a woman’s name you don’t know, but I bet you know her story. This is the woman who was desperate to save her baby from Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the baby boys, so she hid him for 3 months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she placed him in a basket made of papyrus, and set him to float down the Nile river.

Imagine how hard this would be. Imagine the fear of hiding a baby when the king has issued a decree that all baby boys were to be drown in the river. While you’re hiding this baby, you know the dangers of being caught. Your entire family would be killed. Now imagine the baby growing too big to hide, and you’re faced with the only option of floating him down a river and hoping someone finds and saves him. Jochebed had to let go and trust God.

So do you. You have to let go and trust God. When you’ve done all you can do, there’s only one thing left to do, let go. Will you trust God enough to provide? Will you trust God enough to do what only he can do? Will you trust God enough to believe he is making a way even when you can’t see it?

This baby boy floating down the river in a basket made of papyus is Moses. God had great plans for Moses. Pharoah’s plan to kill all the baby boys would not stop God’s great plans. In fact, it would perfectly position Moses right in Pharoah’s house to do God’s great work. We know all this now because we know the end of the story.

When is the last time you screwed up and fell short? No one likes to admit it, but we’ve all been there, and we’re not talking majorly past tense. I failed, and y’all it was super recent.

God gave me a tremendous gift in this regrettable failure of mine, he allowed me to watch the unfolding affects as if from a distance. Almost like an out of body experience, I watched myself in response to my own recognized shortcomings. Now, I understand the tactics of the enemy to defeat us even better. I see it. I felt it. And God showed me exactly how to overcome it.

So, if you’re carrying around a failure you’ve been trying to hide, but it’s been eating you up inside, this one is for you, Sis!

The details of my failure are not necessarily important, but it’s much the same as yours. You do the thing you don’t want to do, and minutes later you wish you could go back and undo it, but you can’t. You’re left to face the fact that once again, you didn’t do what you know you were supposed to do and you regret it. And now, you’re so sorry.

We’ve all felt it. In fact, Paul certainly felt it and wrote about it in Romans 7:15, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”

That’s regret. Regret over what we did, what we said, how we behaved, how we reacted. I don’t understand why I do these things, and I bet you don’t understand why you do either. Dang, I hate it, don’t you?

So, here I was hating myself for my failure, and I saw the domino affect within me. I shrunk back in shame. I replayed the event over and over in my head, each time with greater guilt. And right there, I began dismissing my calling to be more because I felt less.

Sound familiar? Anyone else caught in this same trap? You’ve been called to be so much more, but you’re dismissing that call because you too feel less. I get it. But God says something different.

Step 1 is to confess and ask for forgiveness. I hit my knees. I told God exactly what I had done, although he already knew. I genuinely asked for forgiveness.

Then, let me tell you exactly what happened. I’m going to be completely honest with you. I laid down in bed and replayed the same event on a perpetual loop, sinking lower each time.

Is this what forgiveness looks like? Really, is what Jesus did for us not enough to cover our sin? What would be enough? Do we want Jesus to crawl back up on that cross and hang there again?

My Sister, what Jesus did for us IS ENOUGH. WE ARE COVERED. The moment we ask for forgiveness, it is given freely and fully. There’s nothing you have ever done, or ever could do, that is not covered by the sacrifice of Jesus. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God, and all of us are offered complete forgiveness. Not a single one of us is disqualified.

So, what’s the problem here? Why are forgiven girls walking around burdened by guilt and covered in shame? Why can’t we stop the story from playing out in our head over and over again? Why can’t we just stop beating ourselves up and fully accept what Jesus has offered us? If we have confessed our sin and asked for forgiveness, why are we still struggling with it?

This is where I was. I could see it playing out. Fully forgiven, yet not free. Falling victim to the ploys of the enemy who loves to play in our sin. His tactics are always the same, screw up and beat up. You screw up, then he beats you up. Over and over again, he reminds you of your failure.

How hard is it for you to get up when your alarm rings in the morning? How many times do you hit the snooze button? Have you noticed how accustom you have grown to an ignored alarm, that you no longer even wake up to it? Seriously, you can sleep right through your blaring alarm because you’ve trained your mind and body to dismiss it.

You don’t hear it. You’re not moved by it. You don’t respond to it.

Why? Because over time, you’ve ignored that alarm and avoided it, so it no longer moves you into immediate action.

Anyone see where I’m going with this?

God has given you his Holy Spirit within to guide you. It is not God’s desire for you to wander around aimlessly and perpetually confused. He’s not playing some sort of guessing game where he knows everything and you’re left to just worry and wonder. His Spirit prompts you like an alarm, but if you’ve been dismissing those promptings, you’ve likely stopped even noticing them.

Honey, God’s been trying to wake you up and divinely guide you to walk in his great purposes, but you’ve been hitting the snooze button. After you hit that snooze button on his promptings for so long, you stop even thinking about taking action. You’re perpetually dismissing the alarm that says, “wake up and do this”, then you wonder why you no longer feel led by God at all.

You’re still being led, it’s just you’ve gotten into the bad habit of dismissing his leading.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve discovered I can’t be trusted with “later.” I’ll do that later. I’ll make time later. I’ll get going on that later. NO I WON’T. Me and later mix like water and oil. I have a proven track record that shows if I push what I’m being told to do now into later, it won’t be done.

Are you the same? Can you be trusted with “later”, or do your good intentions slowly dwindle into inaction? You do understand inaction is disobedience, right? When God prompts us to do something, and we hit the snooze button on it, delaying our action, we are stepping into the dangerous grounds of “later” which soon turn into disobedience.

Stop dismissing what God is telling you to do. He is guiding you. He is leading you. The problem is, we’re turning off the alarm.

Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

Let me flip that. Are you a child of God? Did God create you? Do you acknowledge him as your Heavenly Father? Yes? Then YOU ARE LED BY HIS SPIRIT. That’s plain and simple. He is speaking to you. He is calling you. He is guiding you. He is leading you. Constantly and continually.

The alarm has been ringing. Maybe you haven’t been getting up. Maybe you’ve been hitting snooze on his promptings. And maybe you’ve hit snooze so many times, it’s become an automatic subconscious response to dismiss the alarm without you even being aware. You think God isn’t speaking to you, but he is. You’ve just gotten used to ignoring it so you no longer hear it.

I spent this past weekend at our BIG Life Mission Retreat. There, I was surrounded by impossible things being made possible. Totally unrealistic things becoming reality. Children with such traumatic pasts that they had been thrown away and never expected to be capable of leading whole lives, walking in full restoration, being made totally new, and stepping into greater purposes than ever imagined. Girls rescued from unimaginable situations,

Who woke up today carrying a heavy load of uncertainty? Who is walking into work today unsettled? Who is at home today concerned over something specific? For some it’s something small, and for some it’s life-altering. God’s word instructs us very clearly on what to do with these worries, both big and small.

1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Imagine being able to say with confidence today, “I’m just giving this to God, because he really cares about me.” Woah, what would that do in your life?

Your anxiety is the very thing causing you unease or worry. It’s not yours to hold onto. Imagine this as a game of hot potato between you and God. Stop holding onto it. Pass it. Instead we sit there examining the worry, fretting over ever detail, posting about it, talking about it all while the one thing we’re supposed to be doing is casting it on God. CAST IT ON HIM.

To cast means to throw. Throw those feelings of hurt on him. Throw those feelings of nervousness on him. Throw those feelings of hopelessness on him. Frustration, overwhelm, uncertainty, confusion, hey it’s hot potato here sister, throw it!

But there’s one really important step we sometimes forget in “casting it on him”. We forget that means we actually have to let it go.

You can’t cast without loosing your grip. You can’t cast without giving up ownership.

Think about this. You could be the best baseball pitcher in the world, and your ball could go nowhere. You could wind that ball up. I mean wind your arm up and hike your leg. Wind it up, wind it up, wind it up, and at just the right point and babam baby, with all your might swing your arm, but if you don’t actually let go of that ball, you will dislocate your dang shoulder. I mean you will seriously injure yourself if you don’t let it go.

Did you here me? You are going to seriously injure yourself if you don’t let this go!

So you’ve got this problem. Whew it’s been worrying you. It’s been keeping you up at night. It’s been so heavy it takes your breath away sometimes. Your energy has been zapped by the weight of these feelings. CAST IT ON HIM. Loosen your grip. Your problem can no longer be your identity. You must be willing to move on in your life without this. Are you really ready to give up worrying about it?

Some people are and some people aren’t. If you’re ready, God is ready. Cast all your anxiety on him because HE CARES FOR YOU.

Hebrews 4:15 – “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”

God is touched by the FEELINGS of my problem. The devil tells me God doesn’t care. He says I’m alone. He says something is wrong with me for feeling this way. But let me tell you the truth, NO ONE CARES ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL MORE THAN GOD DOES.

The God who runs the whole universe watches your face. In Genesis the Lord said to Cain, “why has your countenance fallen?” In other words, why is your face sad. Girl, you think God doesn’t hear your cries? He sees your tears. You don’t even have to be crying, he sees the look of worry and sadness on your face. And get this, HE CARES.

Why does the enemy work so hard on us trying to convince us God doesn’t care about our feelings? Here’s why … when you stop believing God cares, you give up on your faith. You can’t continue to have faith in a God who doesn’t give a flying flip about you. So of course the enemy of your life tries to convince you God would never actually care about you. But girlfriend, he is wrong!

Somewhere in your life fear is holding you back. There’s your fear of what may never happen for you, and then there’s your fear of what could happen to you, so basically there’s fear around everything. Where does that fear come from, what is it doing to you, and how do you overcome it?

First, where does fear come from? Well, fear doesn’t come from God. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

So, if fear doesn’t come from God, who does it come from? Satan gets a whole lot of credit, no doubt. But I also want to honestly address our own culpability in the fear factor. Don’t we allow our thoughts to run wild? Don’t we play pitiful and wallow? Don’t we make things worse than they are within our own head, then create chaos in our lives as a result?

2 Corinthians 10: 5 “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” What happens if you don’t take your thoughts captive and make them obedient to the truth of Jesus? Oh, let me tell you, Sis … your thoughts end up creating a prison for you, holding you hostage in a life of fear and overwhelm.

You know who delights in that whole crap fest created by your fearful thoughts? SATAN!

Fear is in fact one of the enemy’s finest tactics to keep you from reaching your full potential. Fear cripples us in inaction and keeps us stuck in our head. After listening to that voice of fear for so long we become hell bent against our own selves, sabotaging ourselves, getting in our own way, setting up road blocks to keep us from the very things God has written our name on.

AND WE’RE THE ONES DOING IT. Have you ever listened to yourself literally talking yourself down from action? It’s ridiculous, and yet every single one of us have done it and may still be doing it. You could rise up and do exactly what needs to be done with the supernatural strength God has given you, but you don’t. Why? Because fear has created the soundtrack playing in your head and you’re completely defeated.

You no longer have to be a slave to fear. You can overcome this, and here’s how: Use what God has given you.

Did you know God has already equipped you with every single thing you need to overcome your fear and live in confidence and peace today? Remember that scripture says God didn’t give you a spirit of fear. Nope, that fear you have comes from the enemy, but God gave you three things … power, love and self-discipline. You already have power. You already have love. And you already have self-discipline. They’re inside of you, given to you by your creator. You’re not lacking any of these things, but perhaps fear has been overriding them.

The enemy’s offer of fear attacks the very things God has equipped you with. Think about it, God gives you power so the enemy plants seeds of fear in you to make you FEEL powerless. It’s fear that holds you back from taking action and exercising your God given power, so you get stuck and then you stay stuck, living a life far short of what’s truly available to you. Not only available to you, but specially designed for you. How heartbreaking would it be to come to the end of this life and realize how much bigger and better the life you were designed for was than the life you lived, and it was all because you let the enemy get in your head with his offer of fear instead of waking up and putting your feet on the floor in power and taking a stand.

Within you is enough love to change your world. Your love can cause you to do radical things. A mother’s love can lift a car off her child.

God isn’t looking for the strongest, the smartest, the most experienced, or the most qualified. None of the things we place such importance on are on God’s list of expectations of us. God asks for one thing from us … believe. Simply believe he will do what he says he will do. Believe he can do it through you and he can do it for you.

We are so quick to dismiss ourselves. We’re so accustom to playing little and sitting it out. Experience has shown us if we will just sit and wait, someone else will step up and do it for us. But really, is that what God created you for? Did he create you to be the girl who never does anything hard? Did he create you to be the girl who watches others do what you should be doing? I think not!

Your Creator expects you to believe his power is enough to overcome every single inadequacy you may have. Your Creator expects you to show up like you’re chosen, and count on divine providence to make things happen as you go. This whole laying low, hiding in dark corners, and playing little crap has got to stop.

Your muscles are atrophying because you’re not using them. And let me tell you something, your faith is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. But lack of use causes it to wither and deteriorate. If you haven’t been showing up in the middle of circumstances that are beyond your own ability and putting yourself out there in the face of potential failure, then you’ve started to believe you never could. Your focus has become set on all you can’t do, rather than what God COULD do through you.

What could God do through you? Oh girl, you have no idea! But don’t you want to know!

I totally want to know what God could do through an ordinary girl like me. I want to know what my life could become with a disciplined surrender to his promptings. Notice I said “disciplined surrender” to his promptings. I’ve discovered this journey of being led by the Holy Spirit is a daily act of discipline. It means I get up when I don’t want to get up. It means I show up no matter what. It means I believe there’s something greater guiding me than my feelings in the moment. It means I start small and humble and refuse to give up in the struggle, because eventually God will grow it to something greater. But he doesn’t grow great things out of our nothing. He doesn’t show up and use magic in our lives.

Is that what you’ve been counting on? Magic. God, just make it happen. Do something big, while I do nothing. Nope. God uses seeds. Your disciplined surrender every day is a seed. If you don’t plant it by showing up when you don’t feel like showing up, then guess what … you forfeit the blessing of seeing what God could have done with your little. You dismiss yourself from growth. So, God will grow someone else. God will use someone else’s seed of disciplined surrender to create what you’ve been dreaming of, and you’ll sit there and watch it happen wondering why it couldn’t be you.

Well, honey, it couldn’t be you because you weren’t willing to believe to the point of action.

Yes, that’s what we’re talking about today. Belief in God that makes us move. Believing so much that we can’t sit in inaction. Believing God is doing something so good, no one could make you sleep the day away. Believing God is guiding you so powerfully, that nothing could hold you back from taking the next step.

Would God really choose someone like you for that? You bet your butt he would. You’re perfect for this!

The Lord chose Gideon as his mighty warrior to rescue his people.