by Joyce Meyer
Without confidence we are stifled at every turn. Satan drops a bomb, and our dreams are destroyed. Eventually we start over, but we never make much progress. We start and get defeated, start and get defeated, start and get defeated, over and over again.
But those who are consistently confident, those who know they are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, make rapid progress.
We must take a step of faith and decide to be confident in all things. God may have to correct us occasionally, but that is better than playing it safe and never doing anything. Confident people get the job done, they have the ministries that are making a difference in the world today. They are fulfilled because they are succeeding at being themselves.
God has dealt with me about confidence. He once said to me, “Joyce, be confident in your prayer life, be confident that you hear from Me. Be confident that you are walking in My will. Be confident that you are preaching the right message. Be confident when you speak a word in season to someone who needs to hear it.” He continues to press upon me the importance of being confident in Him.
I am now impressing upon you the importance of being confident. Make a decision that self-doubt is a thing of the past.
THE TORMENT OF SELF-DOUBT__________________
David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
1 Samuel 30:6
If we don’t believe in ourselves, who is going to? God believes in us, and it is a good thing too; otherwise, we might never make any progress. In our lives, we cannot wait for someone else to come along and encourage us to be all we can be. We may be blessed enough to have that kind of support, but we may not.
When David and his men found themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation, which the men blamed on him, David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord. Later on, that situation was totally turned around. (1 Samuel 30:1-20.)
On an earlier occasion, when David was just a boy, everyone around him was discouraging him concerning his ability to fight against Goliath. They told him he was too young and too inexperienced, he didn’t have the right armor or the right weapons, the giant was too big and too powerful, and on and on. David, however, was confident in God.
Actually all of the things people said were true. David was young, inexperienced, without natural armor or weapons, and Goliath was definitely bigger and more powerful than he was. But David knew his God and had confidence in Him. He believed that God would be strong in his weakness and give him the victory. He went out in the name of the Lord, with a heart full of confidence, and became a giant-killer who was eventually crowned king. (1 Samuel 17.)
David had no one to believe in him, so he believed in himself. He believed in God’s ability in him.
The Lord told me once that if I didn’t believe in myself, I really did not believe in Him properly. He said, “I am in you, but I can only do through you what you believe.”
Self-doubt is absolutely tormenting. I lived in it for many years, and I personally prefer confidence.
You may be thinking, “Well, Joyce, I wish I had confidence.”
Confidence is something we decide to have. We learn about God — about His love, His ways and His Word — then ultimately we must decide whether we believe or not. If we do believe, then we have confidence. If we don’t believe, we live in doubt about everything.
Self-doubt makes us double-minded, and James l:8 KJV teaches us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. He really cannot go forward until he decides to believe in God and in himself.
STOP SELLING YOURSELF SHORT!__________________
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ….
2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
I encourage you to take a big step of faith and stop doubting yourself. As the old saying goes, “Don’t sell yourself short.” You have more capabilities than you think you do. You are able to do a lot more than you have ever done in the past. God will help you, if you will put your trust in Him and stop doubting yourself.
Like everyone else, you will make mistakes — but God will allow you to learn from them and will actually work them out to your good if you will decide not to be defeated by them. When doubt begins to torment your mind, start speaking the Word of God out of your mouth, and you will win the battle.
6
FREE TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL
6
FREE TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
1 CORINTHIANS 9:24
When we are confident and free from tormenting fears, we are able to develop our potential and succeed at being all God intended us to be. But we cannot develop our potential if we fear failure. We will be so afraid of failing or making mistakes that it will prevent us from stepping out.
I recently spoke to a young man on our staff who has great potential and yet he had turned down two promotions we offered him. I felt in my spirit that he was insecure and unaware of how much he could accomplish for the Kingdom of God if he would only step out in faith and confidence. His insecurities had him trapped. He was doing his current job excellently and receiving good comments from everyone about it, but he was afraid to accept promotion. It was easier and more comfortable to just remain in the same position.
When we are insecure, frequently we will stay with what is safe and familiar rather than taking a chance on stepping out and failing.
I felt that because of this young man’s particular personality type, he did not like change. His hesitancy to accept greater responsibility was causing him to turn down opportunities to advance. He said he felt that he just was not ready, and the truth is that none of us is ever ready. But when God is ready to move in our lives, we need to believe that He will equip us with what we need at the time we need it.
Our problem is not honestly feeling we are not ready for the next step, it is pridefully feeling we are ready when we really aren’t. Pride always causes problems and ultimate failure. Humbly leaning on God leads to success. I believe God calls us to step out when we don’t feel ready so we will have to lean on Him totally.
I talked with the young man and encouraged him. He said that he knew I was right and that he wanted to start stepping out. He said he had been asking God to let him do something different, and yet every time he was offered some new opportunity for growth and service, he always turned it down.
Insecurity, self-doubt and fear can totally prevent us from ever reaching our full potential. But if our confidence is in Christ rather than in ourselves, we are free to develop our potential, because we are free from the fear of failure.
As Christians, our #1 job is the development of personal potential. Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines potential in part as “existing in possibility, not in act.”1 It then defines potentiality in part as “not positively.”2
In other words, where there is potential, all the parts necessary for success are there, but they are not yet put into action. They still need something to propel them, something to empower and motivate them. They are often in embryonic form—they need to be developed.
Potential cannot manifest without form. There must be something for it to be poured into, something that will cause it to take shape and become useful. When we offered that young man a promotion, we were offering him a form in which to pour his potential. He would never see it take shape unless he did something to exercise it. He had potential, but it needed to be developed.
A developer of a subdivision has plans in his office, but they remain only drawings on paper until they are actually manifested as houses. What stands in the space between potential and manifestation? I believe it is three things: time, determination and hard work!
The amou
nt of undeveloped, wasted potential in the world is pathetic. God places a part of Himself in each of us. We are created in His image, and He is filled with potential — with God nothing is impossible. (Matthew 19:26, author’s paraphrase.)
All of us have potential and many of us want a manifestation of it, but too often we are not willing to wait, be determined and work hard at developing that potential. We have a lot of “wish bone,” but not much “back bone.”
The development and manifestation of potential requires firm faith, not wishful thinking.
Dreams and visions develop in a way similar to the way a child develops in the womb of its mother. Certain things must be done certain ways or the pregnant woman will never deliver a healthy baby. She must wait full term; a premature birth will produce a sickly child. She must also be fully determined and willing to work hard to bring forth that which is within her. Any woman who has ever given birth and remembers her labor can say yes and amen to that fact.
DON’T MAKE SMALL PLANS!__________________
Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.
Proverbs 24:3,4 TLB
I hope you have a dream or a vision in your heart for something greater than what you have now. Ephesians 3:20 KJV tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we can hope or ask or think. If we are not thinking, hoping or asking for anything, we are cheating ourselves. We need to think big thoughts, hope for big things and ask for big things.
I always say, I would rather ask God for a lot and get half of it, than to ask Him for a little and get all of it. However, it is an unwise person who only thinks, dreams and asks big but fails to realize that an enterprise is built by wise planning.
Dreams for the future are possibilities, but not what I call “positivelies.” In other words, they are possible, but they will not positively occur unless we do our part.
When we see a twenty-year-old athlete who is a gold medalist in the Olympics, we know that he spent many years practicing while others were playing games. He may not have had all the “fun” his friends had, but he did develop his potential. Now he has something that will bring him joy for the rest of his life.
Far too many people take the “quick fix” method for everything. They only want what makes them feel good right now. They are not willing to invest for the future.
Don’t just enter the race for the fun of being in it — run to win! (1 Corinthians 9:24,25.)
There is a gold mine hidden in every life, but we have to dig to get to it. We must be willing to dig deep and go beyond how we feel or what is convenient. If we will dig down deep into the spirit, we will find strength we never knew we had.
When God called me into the ministry, I wanted to fulfill His call more than anything. I didn’t even know where to begin, let alone how to finish the task. As God gave me anointed ideas and opened to me doors of opportunity for service, I stepped out in faith. Each time He met me with the strength, wisdom and ability that was needed to be successful. I had reserves that I didn’t even know existed, but God already knew what He had placed in me long ago.
Quite often we look at a task and think there is no way we can do what needs to be done. That happens because we look at ourselves when we should be looking at God.
When the Lord called Joshua to take the place of Moses and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, He said to him, …As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you ( Joshua 1:5).
If God promises to be with us — and He does — that is really all we need. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV.) Whatever ingredients we are lacking in the natural man, He adds to the spiritual man. We can draw what we need out of the spirit.
DRAW UPON THE STRENGTH OF THE LORD__________________
…be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Ephesians 6:10
In this passage, Paul assures us that the Holy Spirit will pour strength into our human spirit as we fellowship with Him.
Then in Ephesians 3:16 Paul prays to the Lord for us, May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].
In Isaiah 40:31 KJV the prophet tells us that …they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
It is very obvious from these Scriptures and others like them that we are strengthened as we go to God for what we are lacking.
When I first started out in the ministry, I had potential, but I had to work with what I had for a long time. God helped me, and little by little I advanced toward the place I am today. It certainly was not always easy. There were many, many times when I thought I just could not go on. The responsibility often seemed more than I could handle. After all, I am also a wife and the mother of four wonderful children. But I was motivated by the desire to be all I could be.
In my life there had been many people who had told me that I would never amount to anything, so I was determined not to succumb to their negative prophecies. God had told me that I had potential and a future and that if I would trust Him, work hard and refuse to give up, He would walk me across the finish line.
Most of the things that are truly worth doing are never easy — we are not filled with the Spirit of God to do easy things. He fills us with His Spirit so we can do impossible things!
If you want to develop your potential and succeed at being all you can be, keep your eyes on the prize and press on! It won’t all be easy, but it will all be worthwhile.
I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am now that I did not give up somewhere along the way. It would have been easy to make excuses and quit, but I would be sitting somewhere now totally unfulfilled and unhappy, probably wondering why life had treated me so badly.
Most of those who blame everyone and everything for their failures had potential but either did not know how to develop it or were unwilling to meet its requirements.
When things don’t work out in our lives, it is not God’s fault. He has a great plan for each one of us. It isn’t really circumstances that are to blame, because they can be overcome with faith and determination. It isn’t other people who are the problem because Romans 8:31 says, …If God is for us, who [can be] against us?… Even though people do come against us, and Satan does use them to hinder and torment us, they cannot prevail. If God is on our side, it just does not matter who comes against us; they are not mightier than He is.
The truth is, when things don’t work out for us, and we feel that we are sitting on the sidelines somewhere with life passing us by while everyone else is successful, it is because we have not obeyed God, not pressed on and been willing to take giant steps of faith. We have not been willing to look foolish, to be judged and criticized, to be laughed at, to be rejected and labeled radicals who need to calm down and just “go with the flow.”
The world wants us to conform, but the Lord wants to transform us, if we will do things His way. He will take us and change us into something more than we could have ever dreamed — if we will refuse to give up and just keep running the race that is set before us.
RUNNING THE RACE__________________
…let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
When the writer of the letter to the Hebrews told them to strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, he was thinking of the runners in his day who entered races with the intention of winning. They literal
ly stripped off their clothes down to a simple loincloth. They made sure there was nothing that could entangle them and prevent them from running their fastest. They were running to win! Some people run, but not to win — they just want the fun of being in the race.
To develop our potential and succeed at becoming what God intended us to be, we will have to lay aside other things. To be a winner in life we must do those things that support our goals and help us fulfill our purpose. We must learn to say “no” to well-meaning people who want us to get involved in endless things that ultimately steal our time and produce no fruit.
The Apostle Paul was intent on developing his potential. He pictured himself in a race, straining every nerve and muscle and exerting every ounce of strength, like a runner, with bulging veins, lest he come short of the goal.
We must make up our mind and get into agreement with God that we are going to be excellent, not mediocre. We must take an inventory of our life and prune off anything in it that entangles us or simply steals our time. We must be determined, work hard, and refuse to quit or give up — drawing strength from God and not depending on ourselves. If we will do these things persistently, we will eventually have victory. If we are in the race just to have fun, we will not win the prize.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to strip off and throw aside every encumbrance and the sin which entangles us. It is virtually impossible to be a spiritual success with known, willful sin in our lives. I don’t mean to say that we must be 100 percent perfect in order for God to use us, but I am saying that we must have an aggressive attitude about keeping sin out of our lives. When God says something is wrong, then it is wrong. We don’t need to discuss, theorize, blame, make excuses or feel sorry for ourselves — we need to agree with God, ask for forgiveness and work with the Holy Spirit to get that thing out of our lives forever.