BRAVELY MOVE ONWARD

Hey girl, following Jesus can be difficult.Not everyone is going to understand where He calls you, the things He places on your heart or the path He wants you walking down.Sometimes you won’t have a special tribe, a supportive spouse or a group of fans. Sometimes there won’t be applause or affirmation. Sometimes it won’t make sense and not everyone’s going to get it. They may push back.Don’t listen to them.Don’t listen to the nay-sayers or the pessimists. Don’t listen to the ones who only see your weakness and never your potential.Don’t listen to the ones that will fight with you, but not for you and the ones who will play with you, but not pray for you.Don’t listen to the ones who are short-sighted, the ones who limit the big God inside of you. Don’t linger in their soul-sucking pit. Get your focus and eyes off their illegitimate concerns, approval and opinions.Stop trying to make everyone understand. Step back from trying to convince them or justify to them. This is called meekness, also known as “strength under control”.You have nothing to prove if God has proved it so.Don’t listen to the enemy.He wants to slow you down, shut you up and hold you back.He wants you quiet.He wants you defeated.He wants you second guessing.He wants you to focus on the difficult circumstances, your past failures and present problems. He will do anything to take your eyes off of Jesus and onto yourself ... and everyone else.Don’t listen to yourself.Don’t listen to the self- deprecation and self-doubt.Don’t listen to the voice in your head that says you can be enough if you try hard enough. Take your eyes off yourself, even your ability. Don’t depend on your gifts, your adequacy and your effort, thinking that you are enough on your own.It’s not about you.It’s about His strength and sufficiency working in you. If you think it depends on you, you will strive, you will worry and you will burn out.Don’t look BACK, unless to remember His faithfulness.Don’t look OUT to compare, compete or convince.Don’t look IN to trust your fickle feelings and deceitful heart.Only look UP.Listen to God. Trust what he has placed on your heart and revealed through His Word.Realize that He is always enough.When your path, your motives and your dreams are set on building His kingdom and not your own — bravely move onward.***And as a side note, if you have people in your life that are willing to pray with and for you, stay in the Word of God and say both encouraging and hard things because they love you ... listen to those people. They are a gift from God. Proverbs 15:22