You are not a product of your setbacks

Many of us may have been raised in an environment or circumstance that makes us believe we are not good enough and for some of us our experiences may have led us to believe we will not amount to anything or that we are not worthy of happiness, love or freedom. Our belief systems/mindset at times can play a significant part in blocking the things that God has already spoken over our lives. We are at times robbed from happiness/confidence when we compare ourselves/circumstances to others, when we lack self-belief, when we do not have role models/mentors to guide us and sometimes due to bad company. All these factors and many more have an impact in the way we perceive ourselves and where we think we will end up in life.  

While we are physically a product of our environment, we do have have to be a prisoners of the mentality of our environment. We are capable of achieving anything we put our minds, when we align our desires with God no one can take them away from you but you. There is so much power in the things we speak over our lives and in the things we believe about ourselves. Our belief system is made up of the things that we feed our minds. Think about it, when was the last time you sat down and read a self help book? When was the last time you spent time with God? When was the last time you looked in the mirror and really faced yourself? On the other hand, how much times have you sat down and subconsciously compared yourself to others? How many times have you gave up on an idea because things fell through? Most importantly how many times have you sat down feeling sorry for yourself and did things you knew would temporarily fulfil you because you wanted to forget? I can guarantee you that the negative outweighs the positive. However, It takes a certain type of discipline, mentality, and belief to overcome the negative and we are more than capable of achieving it. Make God the vocal point of your life and spend time in his presence when you feel confused or when all things seem lost. Jesus was constantly an example of this in the bible, there where many times when he isolated himself from the crowd to spend time with God in prayer. An example can be seen in Matthew 26:36-39. "Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. " Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will (Bible.com, n.d.). 

First thing to do is to really sit down and be honest with yourself, ask yourself the questions that make you feel uncomfortable and really dig deep to identify the answers to your question. This is probably one of the hardest things to do because you will begin to identify things that you may not like about yourself or things that make you insecure. You may start to find yourself denying the truth, you may start to ponder on the things that happened to you years ago; who hurt you, why did they betray you etc. These are the things you really need to identify, process it, understand and give it to God. The most important thing is to accept what happened to you and to ask God to help you forgive yourself and those who let you down. In doing so you will break free from the hurt and angry. You will then start to see changes in your perspective, relationships and the decisions you make moving forward, don't allow yourself to turn bitter. I know it is easier said than done and it requires you to take yourself to a really vulnerable place. 

Over the last couple of weeks I've been sat at home unable to walk, unable to do things that I am used to doing because of a  ruptured knee. In this space I have been forced to repeat the same day over and over again. I haven't felt sorry for myself, I haven't asked myself why did this happened to me but I have been forced to sit here and identify ways to kill time while everything else around me seems to be moving. Things were easier at the beginning because I was able to rest and spend time watching new shows on Netflix and Amazon to get through my day. However, the reality of what happened to me has now started to kick in and it has made me eager to get on my feet again. In my heart I knew I could do more to be productive with my time, but I was hard. However speaking to the right people made a difference, our conversations encouraged me to use this time to get closer to God. I started viewing my circumstance in a different way, I have been provided this opportunity to get closer to God although the opportunity came due to a negative experience. Now everyday I've try to do something that allows me to be in his presence, whether that is reading the bible, praying, meditating, journaling, or watching a sermon/podcast. Now for the first time since my injury I have decided to post again. While writing this post I identified that sometimes I  go through this phase where I don't believe in myself, where I don't believe that may post are useful to my readers. My previous experiences in life whether this was through, football, education, relationships made me develop something in me that made me question my ability to be successful. However, God never failed to remind me or show me that he has always been there for me through my setbacks and that my life/purpose/testimony makes a difference in someone else's life. I believe we are all connected and we have a story to tell that can change someones life forever. 

This leads me to my question for you. What is something you are holding within you that you need to let out or let go of?  Philippians 3:13-14 says "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken a hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Bible.com, n.d.). 

I hope this post resonated with you and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I am more than open to feedback or a conversation. please dm me and I will get back to you. Thanks for reading!

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References

Matthew 26: Niv bible: Youversion. YouVersion | The Bible App | Bible.com. (n.d.-a). https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/MAT.26.NIV 

Philippians 3: Niv bible: Youversion. YouVersion | The Bible App | Bible.com. (n.d.). https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/PHP.3.NIV