Never Give Up

"Never, never, never, never give up!" - Winston Churchill

Years ago I gave up. I stopped believing. Not in God, but in myself. My dream. All because I allowed someone to bulldoze my confidence. Subsequently, I lost faith in myself...my talent...my gift...my calling.

To write.

Now that dream is alive and well, despite setbacks, roadblocks, detours and a few flat tires along the way. My career careened off course all because I believed a voice that told me, "I couldn't...I wouldn't...I shouldn't..."

I wish I could erase the lies I believed from someone who didn't believe in me. Someone who had an agenda, ulterior motive, vengeful spirit. Someone who used feathers from my clipped wings to help them fly. Someone who would rather watch others trip over their own two feet instead of hailing them victor when the race is won.

Through this experience I learned to regret. I regret giving someone else permission to distort my dream, weigh my worthiness, pummel my passion. It wasn't the first time someone looked at me through a distorted lens and blurred my vision. Why did I let them drown my confidence like a rose petal in battery acid? Because I believed they knew better? Because my well of doubt already ran deep? Because they were older and wiser?

Older maybe, but not wiser.

Wisdom doesn't automatically grow with age, only wrinkles and gray hairs do.

Why didn't the encouraging voices drown out the ones that were drowning me? Why didn't their sweet melody outweigh that discouraging dissonance? Why did I accept the lies all tied up with their ugly bow and discard the truth like a soiled diaper? I don't know. Maybe it was just easier to believe and wrap my mind and heart around lies because they were all too familiar. When you live without the light of day for so long, your vision learns to adjust to the dark.

Sometimes I'm tempted to regret, but I have confidence that God works all things for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

So I can't. I won't. I shan't.

REGRET THE PAST.

Because the plant of bitterness is watered with regret. With "should haves, would haves, could haves." Instead, I will choose today to start anew. To believe the truth. Leave lies behind like paper dolls I've outgrown and don't play with anymore.  

Never, never, never, never again will I give up...

MY dream, which is God's ultimate will and plan for my life.

This ‘dream’ might not come in the wrapping paper I choose, but it is always the perfect gift in the end. I will never exchange it for another. I will never demand a refund.

God's word says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalms 37:4) This doesn't mean we come to Him with our shopping list of requests like He's Ol' Kris Kringle. But when we align our heart with His and surrender totally to His will, our dreams take a shape only His hands can mold. "Yet You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the Potter; we are all the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8 His perfect plan mysteriously unfolds in us as we allow the Master Potter to do His work in our lives. But first we must let go of everything that is holding us back.

No holds barred. 

I believe today: for every naysayer who says you can't, there will always be someone in your corner who says you can. And HE has so many blessings He's just waiting to pour out to those who seek Him with their whole heart.


"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." 2 Chronicles 16:9


He wants nothing more than to see you cross that finish line victorious! It's your choice whose voice you will listen to, believe and trust. "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 


He has a plan for our lives. Along this road called life, we all experience setbacks, detours, roadblocks and flat tires. Fortunately, God allows U-Turns and it's never too late to get back on the right path and let Him steer us in the right direction.

"I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. Abiding love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. So rejoice in Him, all those who are His, and shout for joy, all those who try to obey Him." Psalms 32:8, 10-11)

With God, there is no expiration date on our dreams.

"God's gifts and His call can never be withdrawn; He will never go back on His promises." Romans 11:29

So today I choose to believe:

I CAN, I WILL, I SHALL...

Overcome. The. Past.

For God's TRUTH tells me: 
"If God is for me who can be against me?" (Romans 8:31)
"But He was pierced of my rebellion, crushed for my sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. By His wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
"For God hath not given me the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)
"In all my ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct my paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
"Delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart." (Psalm 37:4)

Now I am learning to accept His truth like a precious gift and discard lies like yesterday's garbage. I KNOW I will cross that sweet finish line of victory, because I will never doubt again: Someone believes in me.

And I promise to help those limping along the sidelines cross their finish lines, too, by being encouraging, supportive and a believer of dreams.

For dreams can only come true if one truly believes...in the One who never gives up believing in us.

I believe.

Do YOU?

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH AN INSPIRING VIDEO CLIP:

Never Give Up

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

"What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." Mark 9:23

"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

Posted in: Daily Living,Karen