Hell hath no fury like a kingdom woman disturbed. She won’t stop doing all she can until she makes the devil regret ever messing with her. This explosion of strength and inner resolve could put many men to shame.
Yet, this same woman of grace is equipped with insight, sensitivity and spiritual beauty to temper steam with some self control. Behind every great man, is an even greater woman.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, the collection of us ought to be able to turn it right side up again. #kingdomwoman
There are times God doesn’t close the door. Someone just told us no. Don’t mistake no as the answer. This is how perseverance grows.
Conversely, sometimes you get a yes and you know that’s not an open door for you. Hold out for something better.
When you know where your purpose, passion and skills intersect for greatness, it turns your questions into answers.
Do that thing you think you cannot do. If you take the chance and it doesn’t work out, what’s the worst that can happen? That you’d have to try something else?
Falling will probably hurt a little. But, going against gravity and rising when you want to stay down is what produces growth. Resistance is meant to be uncomfortable. Let go of protecting yourself from trying. Workout those possibilities. Exercise the opportunities.
Where there’s no risk, there’s no reward.
Let me be more black and white…
You may have reached your end, but it’s really a new beginning.
Though you may not see the hope at the end of your rope, let go.
Trust.
Free fall into the unknown and find His faithfulness.
When we come to the end of ourselves, we find Him.
Everything under the sun has been leading us to this point of no return.
Someone to depend on. Someone to invest in. They help each other succeed and are worth all the struggles to stay for. That is a friend. That is someone we all need.
Today is Friendship Day. A time to reflect on those who demonstrate their kindness and loyalty to helping us rise up when we fall and reach out when fear holds us back.
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Gathered around tables of sweets, surrounded by a sea of success, my mind was stuck swirling over a speechless performance just hours before; which sounds outstanding until I mention it was me, the deliverer, who was left on that stage speechless. At the conclusion of a 3-day conference, all I could think about was my failure to deliver what I was sure God had anointed me with.
What do you do when you know you are equipped and have more than enough to get the job done but you show up empty handed? The mercy here is that I was in front of an audience overflowing with grace when it happened.
Now sitting in a pool of tears at the reminder of my humiliation, I wondered why He hadn’t shown up.
I trusted Him with the stage and He gave me silence.
Sitting in my room now at the midnight hour, with a flight scheduled to leave late the next day, I continued to question, where are you, God?
Leaving room for an interruption (in other words, the divine appointment to make new friends), I had purposefully paid more for an afternoon ticket because I expected God to intervene with some last minute adventure.
At this point, you’re probably wondering, why in the world would you rely on the mystery of some random encounter? Welcome to my life. God has been doing it for years. So at this point, I plan on them.
It’s late. My emotions are tossing every bit of faith out the window at this hour. The control freak in me is consuming every thought.
“Hello? I changed my mind. I want to change my departure time tomorrow and leave as soon as possible. Change fee? That’s fine. Please book it.”
Tossing and turning through the night, I woke up with the same questions, Lord, I trusted you. Why didn’t you come through?
Though I was tempted to roll over in scenarios the moon lit up the darkness again, God gripped my soul with power in His Word, He who calls you is faithful. He did it before and He’ll do it again.
Stinging tears became a soothing shower of affection streaming over my face.
The healing in God’s spirit comforted mine and captivated the focus from my frustration to His faithfulness.
So by this time, I’m rolling a suitcase into the lobby in search of someone to share a lift with me. In this moment, two women walked out the doors looking to split the cab fare as well.
Juggling a terrible tasting, lukewarm cup of coffee during our trip to the airport, my attention was caught up in these writer’s experiences about being signed to agents, with book deals under their belt. My questions weren’t keeping up with the curiosity and racing excitement, as our cab driver maneuvered up to the curb and stopped his meter.
And at this point in the weekend journey, I had concluded that even when we fail, He still prevails.
He is surely… still… faithful.
But you didn’t think God was done at this juncture in the story, did you? I’m not home just yet.
Handling a better tasting cup of coffee this time as I found my seat on the plane, I began to jot down in my journal all kinds of aftermath thoughts in the wake of enlightenment from my two new writer friends. Passengers began to make their way down the aisle as my attention faded in and out of a mashup of conversations until my ears caught the voice behind me say she was heading home to Nashville from a conference.
Hey! That’s my town. This is my chance!
Turning around I introduced myself and asked if she would like to get coffee sometime to debrief over the whirlwind of workshops.
My heart was quick to skip over the beat of humiliation as she introduced herself as one of the speakers on staff with the conference ministry. She travels the country delivering messages at gatherings like this she said. My eagerness pounced at the opportunity to learn from her experience.
Walking through the threshold of home, sweet home, a smile stretched across my face at the faithfulness of God. My bags were stuffed with names of new friends, notebooks spilling out with wisdom, yet He was able to fit a few more surprises in there.
Looking back I have concluded maybe I didn’t fail at all. The story He wants us to tell is the one we’re living, with our mistakes covered in His faithfulness. Yes, that is the only one worth sharing.
He is faithful. He is faithful.
