Category Archives for My Process

Don’t be discouraged. Let the opposition fuel your faith.

It’s been awhile since I have written here. In addition to adjusting to a new season of life, I have also been facing all types of resistance with my writing. On more than one occasion, I tried posting to this blog but it would not let me email my subscribers. However, I continued to write on my laptop. Then my less than year old laptop began to malfunction and I lost all my files. ALL .MY. FILES. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The temptation is there to say, “FORGET IT, it’s not like I have that many subscribers anyway. I don’t have time for this!” However, I can’t give in to that kind of thinking. Huge following or not, I know that writing is a part of my purpose. I have enough sense to know that none of this is coincidental. Even in the process of writing this post, I experienced some more technical difficulties. However, instead of giving up, I am going to use this resistance to fuel my faith. I am going to use this resistance to develop a greater resolve to do what God has called me to do. The devil would love for me to just give in to my frustration but He won’t win. I am going to BANG AWAY AT THIS KEYBOARD AND TYPE THE WORDS THAT THE LORD GIVES ME TO SHARE WITH OTHERS. Keep watch for that book!

I love the story of Paul in Philippians 1:12-19. He was arrested for preaching the gospel. Instead of keeping his mouth shut and doubt God, Paul continued to preach even while in prison. His steadfastness fueled the faith of other believers and gave them the courage to preach the gospel with boldness! What has God called you to do? Are you experiencing any resistance? How have you been responding to the resistance? Today, I want to encourage you to keep going!
Blessings
Anika

 

The process itself is a testimony.

How we handle seasons of difficulties can give others more boldness and confidence to keep going in Christ. Therefore, we must be willing to share not just the testimony that comes at the end but also share the process itself with others. It is more comfortable to share at the end of the struggle when everything is in a nice neat package and everything has fallen into place. However, the testimony is not only about the end of your difficulty. The process itself is also a testimony. Be transparent in the process and be willing to share how you respond and how you feel in the face of adversity. Resist the temptation to act as if you have it all together or to even feel ashamed about your process. God does so much work in us to make us more like Him during the process. We must not miss the beauty and redemption that is attached to the pain of going through.

What if scriptures omitted the Garden of Gethsemane account and we missed the tension that Jesus himself had with accepting the weight of the father’s will for His life. What if we didn’t see the pain and the shame of the crucifixion and we only read about the resurrection? What if we didn’t have the account of the hardships and the years of waiting that Joseph endured and we only read about His arrival to being the second in command in Egypt? What if we didn’t read of the anguish Job was feeling, the accusations of his friends, his moments of despair and the rash counsel of his wife and we only read about his restoration? Sharing that you arrived and omitting the details of the process drains the testimony of its power!

Be Blessed!

Anika