Get Doubt Out!

I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post! Time has been flying by which I guess is a good thing. We've been having so much fun with friends and busy with gymnastics, church, birthdays, etc. I have been in true awe of how well I'm doing now. My feet and legs give me grief at times, but it's not at all what it used to be. My life is no longer dictated by the clock. There was a long period of time in my life just a few short years ago where I literally planned my entire day based on fear. I don't know when it began to control me exactly. I wouldn't do anything after about 1:00 in the afternoon because I was too afraid that if I was away from the house after that time, my feet would hurt too bad to get back home. Now, it was true that my pain level significantly increased as the day went on, but it got to be ridiculous that the clock ruled my day. Instead of going by how I was feeling at the time, I just assumed I'd be in pain, and so I was.

What you think, what you truly believe will happen, will happen. Our fears and our thoughts about ourselves are very powerful. If you dwell on what you fear, chances are your fears are going to come true. A guest speaker came and spoke at our church retreat that Josh and I attended about a month ago and he had amazing things to teach us. One thing that he said was this, "Fear is faith in reverse." Fear will produce results, just like faith will. It says something bad will happen and when it does, we say we can't believe that it actually happened. Well, why don't we believe it? If you've been dwelling on something and truly believing that it will happen, then why are you surprised when it happens? That goes for both good and bad things. If you're believing in faith that something good will happen, why are you surprised when God answers your prayers? He promises us that he will hear us and answer us. If you've prayed for something, without any doubt in your heart that God will hear you, then don't be surprised when He hears you. The same is true with negative thinking. If you've been thinking negatively about something and dwelling on all the things that could go wrong, then don't be surprised when everything goes wrong.

Many people focus so much on the negative that they can't even see the positive anymore. For example, there was a guy who had to give a speech and he was so nervous that he was physically ill. He could only focus on everything that could possibly go wrong with his speech. "What if I freeze and forget what I'm supposed to say? What if I stutter?" Well, he was so consumed by everything that could go wrong that when he got up to do the speech, all his worst fears came true. He flubbed the whole thing, he stuttered, he lost his place, he dropped his note cards,etc. If he would have focused on the positive things, told himself that he was going to be great, to just relax and not worry about anything, then chances are his speech would have gone a lot better, if not perfectly. What you truly believe about yourself is what is going to come out of you.

We need to be focusing on our good qualities, on our accomplishments, what we like about ourselves, etc. I'm not saying to become cocky or conceited. But for goodness sakes, have a little pride in yourself! You were created with love and extreme care by the God of the entire universe. That in and of itself says that you are pretty amazing! It's not by accident that you were put on this earth. God knew you before the foundations of the world. He knows your whole life before you even live it, and he still chose to create you. Sometimes I wonder why God would still create me if he knew how bad I was going to mess up my life at times. But, without mistakes, we wouldn't know the true meaning of grace. If we were perfect and without sin then we wouldn't have any need for a Savior. God knew we were going to fail and that's why he sent Jesus. It doesn't mean that we get to live carelessly and do whatever we want. We are to strive to be more like Jesus, but we need to know that we will never accomplish that fully, and that's ok. Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin and death. He came to give us abundant life.

Some people struggle to live an abundant life because of what's going on around them. Some people struggle because of what's going on inside them. If you submit to your circumstances, or to what's in you that's negative, you will never see what God has for you. God wants to bless you, uplift and encourage you. When he created the earth and man, he only had blessing in mind. Nothing in the creation of the world speaks of pain, suffering, poverty, etc. It was all about blessing. From the beginning, God wanted us to live an abundant life. Even though sin entered the world, that still hasn't changed God's mind about blessing and abundance. His desire is still the same. But, it's up to us to live by His principles and to position ourselves for blessings and not strife. What we see on the news, what we hear all around us regarding our economy doesn't surprise God at all, and it doesn't change what the Bible says. If anything, it confirms that what the Bible says is true. We don't have to be of the same mentality of the world. I'm not saying that we should be stupid. Not by any means. We can't pretend that we don't live in this world because we do. What I'm saying is that even though the media wants to tell us that we're all going to hell in a hand basket and that we're all doomed, I believe that there is a God above who loves me and protects me.

My husband and I have continued to be unbelievably blessed in the midst of this economic crisis, along with hundreds of others that we know. Why is that? Is it because we are super special and we deserve it? No, not necessarily. But, we feel that we have positioned ourselves to be blessed. We have remained faithful in our giving, both of our finances and time. We have remained faithful to trust God and not man. We know that we are going to be provided for. We have no doubts at all. I think that is the key of what I'm trying to say. You have to believe without doubt. I used to pray for so many things, but I never really believed that what I was praying for would happen. I was double-minded. May I just say from experience, don't pray that way. It does no good. Do you think it moves the heart of God when we pray and ask him for something and then have no faith in him that he will deliver what we've asked? What if someone asked you if you could fill in for them at work and this is what they said, "Hey, will you fill in for me at work? I know you probably won't show up, but I thought I'd ask anyway." Would that make you want to help that person out? Not so much. But if someone said, "Hey, do you mind filling in for me at work? You're always so reliable and your the first person I wanted to ask because I know I can count on you." Now that would motivate you in the direction of saying yes, right? It's the same with God. When you pray, believe that he will answer you, period. I finally did that when I would pray for my feet and legs to be healed. I started truly believing that God was going to heal me, and He is! My life is no longer dictated by the stupid clock. I trust God. Period.

Whew! I didn't mean to get my preach on again, but sometimes it just happens that way. : ) Seriously, I just want to see people living abundantly. It's an awesome way to live and it's possible for all who believe. I pray you all have a wonderful week and hopefully it won't take me as long to write another post next time. I will leave you with a few things my kids have been saying and doing lately:

- We walked outside the other day and Hailey said, "Hey Mom, it totally smells like sunscreen out here! No, wait...it smells like molecules."

- Sarah calls her covers her "cupboards." "Mama, I need my cupboards on!"

- I was trying to button Hailey's dress the other day and she wouldn't stand still. She said, "Mooom, stop it! You're going to make me walk away from myself!"