— by Carnela Hill

With any change, you cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.  You must change your mind and your actions. Change how you think. You must surround yourself with positive people and people that push you to the next level.  Surround yourself with people who are moving forward.  Seek discernment and pray about everything. Trust God like never before!

  You will have days that you want to give up, throw in the towel, and shut the world out, but you cannot do that.  You cannot give up. You must keep pressing forward.  Your greater is coming! The change you seek is based upon your faith — the faith the size of a mustard seed.  I know it is hard to stand still with the earth moving around you.  I understand and know the feeling.  This scripture puts things in perspective: 

To whom much is given, much is required. (Luke 12:48b)

So, how badly do you really want it? I will admit, there have been times when my faith has not been what it should be. I just wanted to throw in the towel. But I remembered all God has done.  I remembered if He brought me out before, then He will bring me out again.  The fact that He woke me up this morning should be more than enough.  The fact that He walks with me and carries me when I am tired, weak, and frustrated should be enough.  The fact that He has taken my mess and created a masterpiece, even when I was not-so-good, should be enough. He keeps on making a way!

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10 KJV) 

You are not alone in being scared to take that next step to something new like entrepreneurship, ministry, or a new job that may pay less than your current one but is divinely ordered. I have had the anxious thoughts, experienced the utilities turned off, a car repossessed and almost losing my house to foreclosure in pursuit of a dream that others only see as glamorous.  Some people are only with you during the glory; yet, they disappear when it gets hard. They are not there when you cry all night asking God to help you through the sickness, the debtors calling, and the wondering when your time was coming.  There were things I could not tell anyone for fear of being judged, ridiculed, or told to go get a “real” job.  Not everyone will understand the dream God put in you!

If God told you to do it, you have to do it, even if you are afraid. Even if the storms are looming around you, know that God will give you the peace that surpasses all understanding to let you know you are on the right track. 

  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

LIFE LESSONS:

— Trust God more than yourself and man.

— When it gets hard, and it will, stay in constant communication with God.

— Remind God of His promises to you.

— Keep writing the vision and making it plain.

— Let God direct your path.

— There is nothing too hard for God.

Action Plan

1. What things are blocking you from a “mindset of making it?” 

2. Ask God for guidance and direction on the next steps, identifying all concerns that have blocked you in the past.

3. What would you change to stop the cycle and why? Is forgiveness part of your resolution to healing?

Related articles

——