Guest Post by Pam Taylor
Pam Taylor
Donna had been to therapists, specialists, and gurus – but with no improvement. Her physical health was deteriorating from the stress of self-hatred. And she was angry. She despised those who had rejected her and had failed to encourage her, blaming them for her pain.
Yet Donna continued to wonder what was wrong with her. Why couldn’t she please anyone? She only wanted to be loved.
Donna experienced what so many of us face: she rejected who she was and she questioned everything she had done in her past, thinking she should have done it better. She did not love who God had created her to be. Her mind and heart were filled with stinkin’ thinkin’.
Do you ever feel that way?
People Are Struggling With “What-Ifs?”
Week after week, I have discussions with women who are discouraged. They try to live the Christian life, but it is not turning out how they had hoped. They are too busy for extended time alone with God and too distracted to just sit alone with the Lord and let Him love them. They try all sorts of fixes: distractions … trips … make-overs …
What if they had done things differently? Would things be better if they had married a different man? What if they had children? … or not had children? Maybe their lives would have turned out better if they’d kept working or if they’d stayed home.
Even Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, asked God if there was another way (Luke 22:42).
Yet God was at work in all of Jesus’s suffering. And He is at work in your circumstances, too.
It is Never Too Late To Ditch the “What-Ifs”
“What-if’s” are a plague because you can never have a better yesterday. It is history.
But what if you can have a vibrant, full life?
You can when you walk forward, knowing without a doubt, that God is at work in everything was in that past, is in the present, and will be in the future. Nothing ever takes Him by surprise.
It is not too late to stop the expectations that will never be met by another person. It is not too late to move past your past and into your glorious future, knowing that only Jesus can truly satisfy every longing and every need you will ever have. And that is possible for you, no matter your circumstances when you turn away for your “What-Ifs” and fully to Him. It is a daily choice you can make.
A Good “What-If”
I am happy to tell you that Donna completed the Leading From Your Strengths assessment. As I coached her through her profile, she changed her mind about herself – almost instantly. Many of Donna’s self- perceived weaknesses were actually God-given personality strengths. What she had rejected in herself was actually a gift carefully chosen for her by God. She now saw the world through God’s lens rather than her own and now she is free of her past stinkin’ thinkin’.
I’ve seen this happen over and over with other women. God has given you particular strengths chosen especially for you because He knew what you would face in your life here on earth. He wants you to discover your God-given strengths so that you can embrace them with gratitude and will live them out to the fullest, experiencing the joy He intended for you.
We are all Donna, to one degree or another, looking at our strengths as weaknesses. And it is never too late to change your mindset based on principles in scripture that tell you who God created you to be.
What if Donna’s story of transformation was your story, too?
That is a good “What-If.” And it’s one you can embrace as truth.
Leading From Your Strengths assessments are personalized, detailed 20-page reports which accurately describe your individual habitual patterns of behavior, thought, emotion, and communication.
More Guest Posts
Leadership: How To Handle Seasons of Insecurity as a Pastor
Teams: Healthy Teams Plan Together