A few weeks ago I facilitated my first Wait on God workshop at a church in Garner, North Carolina, and it was awesome! God showed up in our midst and blessed the people. He did exceeding abundantly above all that I thought and even asked for, and I felt confident in my future as a speaker. But the night before was a different story.
I was up until 3 am after a three-hour drive. There was no rest before getting on the road either. I worked all day, then went home to finish packing, and then I had a church service to attend. Needless to say, I was tired.com. Knowing that I still had some finishing touches to do for my presentation added some stress on top of my sleepiness. Self doubt and discouragement began to set in. You should just stick to writing books and leave the workshops alone, was the thought that shot across my mind at that moment considering all the preparation involved in presenting workshops. I followed it up. I was too tired to fight back. Yeah this is just way too much! I thought. I would be too tired to function let alone teach a workshop. I envied my husband who was sleeping soundly next to me as I plucked away at the keyboard, eyes stinging from the lack of sleep. I counted the amount of hours I’d be able to get if I laid down right then. A whopping 3 hours. I decided to take advantage of those few hours and finish gathering my thoughts after my nap.
I woke up feeling physically drained and still a little hesitant about how the workshop would flow. Again, this was my first time doing one and the fear of the unknown was very real. I couldn’t back out now. There was a group of about 20-25 ladies awaiting my arrival. I began to pray in the Holy Ghost as I got dressed, during the ride to the church, and during set up. Lord knows I needed to get out of my head (rational thinking), and I needed His direction and anointing to flow.
And flow it did. It felt to me as if I had been doing this for years. It felt like I knew these women all along. I was so comfortable and in my element. And they received. Now, I could credit ten years of teaching and every other life experience of talking to others that I’ve had for this sense of ease, but I don’t. Rather, I thank Christ Jesus my Lord, who has enabled me and counted me faithful to do this service in His name. I’m also thankful to God that I pushed past the pessimistic mindset that the enemy wanted me to adopt. If I had let the doubt paralyze me I would not have realized the potential that God put in me nor would the ladies have benefited from His gifting in me. And I encourage you to push beyond negativity so that you can experience the good success that God intends for you to experience and you can bless those whom God has put in your path to bless.
So what is the lesson in this? I learned two things from that experience that I will use going forward to prevent the spirit of pessimism from falling on me.
- Adopt a positive mantra (confession) for success. I am a firm believer that confession brings possession and that words have power. If success is what I desire, and the Word indicates that I can have success (Joshua 1:8) then I must believe that I do have success. But I can’t say it only once and expect results. That makes it only a statement. What makes it a confession is the ongoing nature of it. Repeating it over and over until it becomes a part of me. This process is transformative because it transforms the mind to think this way and ultimately become this way. If my mind is already programmed for success, there’s no way that it can be tricked into thinking otherwise.
- Trust God for success. Once you’ve done all the preparing you can possibly do, all that’s left to do is trust God to bless the works of your hands and give the increase. The sign of success for me at the end of this workshop was for my audience to receive something that would impact their lives. That I cannot do on my own and to think that I can is putting undo pressure on myself and displacing my trust. I need God to breathe life into my words so that they penetrate the hearts and bring about the necessary change.
So, what is it that you’ve been putting off doing as a result of listening to the wrong voice? And what steps can you take to push forward and into the destiny that God has predestined for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below. 🙂
I am a Julia Cook fan. I have purchased pretty much all of her books to read to my students, and I have thought on several occasions that I want to follow in her footsteps as a writer/school counselor. Well, today I had the chance to meet her, my professional icon. Not only did I meet her, I spoke to her several times, got an autographed copy of her book, took a picture with her, and almost held her dogs (I refused the last opportunity because while they were cute enough, I’m just not a big dog person). Luckily, she didn’t take offense to that though. I was pleased to see how personable she was even though she’s a world renowned children’s book author who has published over 50 books and has earned numerous national awards and recognition. Her presentation included helpful information, entertainment, and the right amount of transparency. And I could tell that she was genuine in her interactions with the public. She didn’t fake a smile, handshake, or conversation, and she didn’t appear to only be tolerating all of her adoring fans for the time being, but was truly sincere and interested in us as people. It is my prayer that no matter how far I go with my writing and publishing endeavors, I maintain a spirit of humility. That is how true success is achieved and maintained. My talent may have helped me arrive at this point, but the right attitude/spirit will take me to the next. Thanks, Julia, for the living, breathing example of greatness.
