It’s easy to tear yourself down when doubt budges against hope, debts rattle an empty piggy bank, and skeptics wait patiently for you to fail.
And yet, somewhere inside you, beyond the anxiety and unruly fear, is a stillness that steadies itself in God’s will.
In this space rests God’s intention. Here, you find just enough oxygen to activate faith — no more, no less.
In this faith, there is endless power born in belief.
But belief in what?
The belief that God’s power residing in you, through you, and around you is greater than anything that comes to destroy His plans for you.
Genuine faith is not a haphazard ceremony of casting wishes.
Faith must be intentional and requires confident hope and courage.
However, we are human and, as such, often falter in steadying our thoughts and actions despite our efforts to be rational and responsible.
Failure and frustration are often established in poverty of thought.
Darkness is most evident in our slumber when the sky and eyes have masked themselves with nightfall. Yet, we know many who arise only to remain in the darkness of discouragement.
The discouragement we entertain can quickly become a constant companion, alienating us from our purpose and path.
The key is to redirect your focus from being problem-centered to opportunity-centered. Everyone has problems, but not everyone finds opportunities within difficulties.
Opportunities may look like learning a new skill, minding your tongue, honoring your body, committing yourself to prayer and scripture, decluttering your home and mind, reaching out to others, and learning how to live contently in truth, integrity, patience, and love.
Recover your verve. Replace pessimism with praise.
Do not tax your energy with the arrogance that you must toil with difficulties until they are tattered by discouragement. God gave you more than your limited abilities to care for your mind, body, heart, and soul.
You have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to help you defeat doubt and swap negativity for gratitude.
“Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!” reads an excerpt from Romans 8:5-8, The Message.
You must choose to be led by God rather than yourself, and this choice must be made repeatedly with each encroaching thought until your spiritual muscle is so fit that no other choice BUT GOD seems viable.
“But you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit,” Jonah 2:6.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” Matthew 19:26.
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive,” Genesis 50:20.
May 2025 be the year your upsets are churned into a harvest of testimonies: “The old things passed away; behold, new things have come” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
FRIEND, BE BOLD WITH STRENGTH IN YOUR SOUL (see Psalm 138:3).
This column was initially published by CherryRoad Media. ©Tiffany Kaye Chartier.