May I make a confession?
I have not been practicing what I’ve been preaching.
My fingers type one thing, but contradicting emotions and feelings keep bubbling to the surface and calling me a liar this week.
With the writers conference and two publisher appointments looming on the horizon, I have been overly focused what has the potential to hold me back.
I’m overwhelmed with too much to accomplish and not enough time to complete it all. Fears and insecurities have been drowning out God’s encouraging whispers. My lack of credentials or a platform mocks me. My regular responsibilities don’t seem to be cutting me any slack, either.
All this fear, doubt and chaos have caused me to limit my expectations of what God can do through me and what He desires to do in me. I’ve been forgetting just what He is capable of accomplishing with a willing follower.
Not only have these things conspired to keep from enjoying this opportunity for what it is, but obsessing over them has kept me from being my best self in every area of my life.
Do you feel you restrained by a lack of time? Is your spirit subdued by notions of inadequacy? Are you smothered by chaos? Does fear have you hog-tied? Have your expectations of God been muted?
Don’t allow what you lack to hold you back any longer.
Perhaps one of these principles I’m trying to apply will help you break free, too. Click on the linked ones to read more.
1. We may not have the hours, but God can make our minutes work.
2. All the things we’re not may hold us back, but focusing on what we ARE in Jesus propels us forward.
3. Make a list. Seeing the tasks in print can make them more manageable and it is fulfilling to scratch through those items.
4. Find control in chaos by submitting to the Spirit.
5. Enlist some help. Sounds easy, but I know how hard it can be to admit you need it. We feel useful when we can help others, so make somebody’s day and ask them to lend a hand.
6. Fear confines us to living in futility. Faith frees us to live fruitfully.
7. Step away. We are prone to looking so closely at our own struggles that we miss the big picture. When we focus on the faults, we are likely to miss the beauty of the larger image.
9. Remember to think big, think miraculous, think eternal. God is able.
10. The opportunity is not our destination.
I’ve heard that the devil fights harder when we are close to a breakthrough. As odd as it may sound, that has encouraged me in these last few days. If He is putting so much effort into highlighting my inadequacies, I must be on the verge of something big! And guess what? Jesus already defeated our enemy.
Together, let us shake out our rattling knees, steady our anxious hearts and stand tall on His promise today!
When nothing is holding us back,
God delights in launching us toward His best.
Check out the conversation started by the prompt “nothing holding me back” with Suzie Eller’s #livefree Thursday friends.
Liz, I have no doubt that one day that your dreams will come true, for you are a hard worker and gifted. What I also know is that this training ground is just as precious, just as key, just as beautiful as the finish line. If I could go back to that writer girl I once was, I’d tell her that one day she’d look back at her first three books and think that they were “okay” but not truly who she was, and that they were her training ground. That as time passed she’d find that niche that made her want to dance in the living room when no one was looking. : )
Have fun with She Speaks. Meet lots of amazing women. Let the fire hose of information pour over you and take the drops intended for you. Breathe deep. Be you. It’s all helping you lead others to Christ and that’s such a gift. I’ll be celebrating with you!
Oh, Suzie, your words are precious to me. Thank you for your encouragement today and always! I’ve made a perspective shift from viewing SheSpeaks 2015 as the pinnacle of my writing career to looking at it as the beginning and that has helped immensely this week! And considering it as a source of encouragement rather than a test to pass has been huge! And reminding myself that all this belongs to God takes so much pressure off of me - knowing He will use whatever I offer to His glory! HUGS to you!
Prayers for you, Liz, as you prepare for and attend the conference.
Love your points above. Whatever happens, it’s valuable experience, that’ll grow you in your goals. How I pray that exciting things develop as a result of this trip. Look forward to hearing an update. ~ blessings <3 ~
Brenda, your prayers are precious to me! Thank you! I cannot wait to share an update of the goings on at the conference. I do believe I’m about to have my socks knocked off!
Lord, launch us in the direction You would have us go…..xo