Inspiration Requires Opportunities For Hope
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ”
If you don't believe in yourself, you will be no good to anyone else or to God. The negative society we live in makes it even harder to find wholeness. Yet, according to Brianna Wiest, in her article, “How to Free Yourself From Limiting Beliefs,” “Your brain is a self-validating mechanism. It goes out of its way to find evidence to support whatever it wants to believe is true.” This self-validating mechanism helps us make sense of our world. Some of these mechanisms are true, while others are more illusory.
Wiest continues, “Discomfort is always the cue for transformation.” When an aspect of our life is uncomfortable, rather than bemoan it or make excuses, see it as an opportunity to seek necessary change. God often allows uncomfortable moments in our lives to force necessary change. In the Bible, almost all the characters face insurmountable struggles but find hope in God’s covenantal care.
Wiest challenges us when she says, “You’ll need to decide whether or not to create your future or be a victim forever.” Over a dozen years ago, our daughter interviewed a woman supported by the Family Promise organization and documented her progress from homelessness to getting a job and a new home. This woman faced so many challenges that would have victimized most people, but not her. She has a child, and she found a way to keep her safe. A couple of years after my daughter’s interview, the woman and her daughter were doing well. She had a good job, a nice place to live, and her daughter was thriving. She is an inspiration.
Family Promise and Westminster, which at the time housed the Family Promise organization, were the safety net for this mother and her daughter. Yet neither Family Promise nor Westminster should get all the credit. No, it was this woman’s strength in herself and her daughter that gave her the courage to keep moving forward. Rather than wilt under the huge strain, she was transformed. In moments of struggle in your life, trust yourself, because God is working through you to make lasting positive change.
