BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Have you ever felt sorry for yourself? Overwhelmed with all your problems, defeated by your circumstances, disappointed in your progress, and just been down. Down wallowing. Wallowing in all that has gone wrong for you and all that could go wrong. Girl, let me make this real simple for us all … you’re entirely too powerful, too valuable, and too capable to be wallowing around in your own life. Life is hard. It’s meant to be hard. It’s what makes it beautiful and priceless … and it’s what makes you better! My daughter left for basic training in the Army this week. You think your life is hard right now, understand what this girl is going through. She’s running on an average of 2 hours of sleep, being yelled at every minute of the day, being pushed beyond her limits of anything she ever imagined possible, and questioning why the heck she would willingly choose this as her path. That’s hard. Before she left, her big brother who has been in the Army for 1 year gave her a pep talk and a list of advice. He said the most important thing is DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF. It’s the ones who feel sorry for themselves that don’t make it. They’re the ones who struggle the most. The ones who reach their limit with untapped potential still within. The ones who will look back with regret. Have you been feeling sorry for yourself? Understand you can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you can’t be both. God didn’t create you with all this potential and place his power within you so you could be pitiful. There’s not a single thing about you or about your life that warrants self-pity. Buck up big girl, this is life! Are you going to show up for it and do this thing, or are you going to shrink back, play little and wish it were easier. An easier life does one thing … it makes you lazier. With ease we become complacent and eventually grow ungrateful. Stop wishing it were easier. Ease is not your friend. Ease slowly rocks you into a corner where life becomes small and you’re living as a watered down, tamed version of the beast you were created to be. Yes, I said it … you were created to be a beast! Someone who can conquer challenges. Someone who can go through the valleys and climb those mountains. Someone who can handle the storm, walk through the fire, get knocked down and get back up again. You were created to be powerful, not pitiful! As a 19 year old newlywed I was faced with a major challenge. A blood clot had lodged in my brain stem for 8 hours causing a major stroke, leaving me unable to walk or talk. And God had given me the greatest gift in the form of a husband who was a beast. Lonnie was a young soldier and he had been trained to tackle a challenge head on, never back down, show up and do what needs to be done. While I lay in a bed drooling, he never once felt sorry for me. He never offered me pity. He offered me power. He pushed me to do the impossible. God worked through that man to help me reclaim my power and ultimately my life. This is what we need today. People pushing us instead of pitying us. Get over the woah-is-me pity party, shut it down, there’s no success to be found there. Pity parties are a gathering of the losers in life. Yes, I know that sounds harsh and I mean it to. Don’t be a loser! James 1: 2-4 says “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Hey, what if God has allowed your current circumstances for a greater purpose than you have ever dared to imagine. What if this is about helping you rise up to the next level of living? What if this is about giving you a story that will guide you to greater things?

I send and receive on average over 1000 texts and messages per day. I get to talk to a lot of women about real life, real struggles and real successes. And lately, there seems to be a theme for many of you. You’re experiencing some success. You’ve had a recent breakthrough, whether from attending retreat or something you heard in church, or you finally took action you know you needed to take. And while you’re excited about your new energy and positive actions, you’re fearful you can’t keep it up. You’re afraid you will slip back into old ways. So this morning, we’re going to address that. It’s a legitimate fear and issue for many of us. This isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve made progress before. We’ve had a breakthrough. We’ve overcome setbacks and began to rise up to new levels … and then we fall again. One little slip up on the journey and we get stuck, then before we know it all progress has halted and we’re right back where we started … sometimes even worse off than before. And this creates a literal fear of failure and and equally a fear of success. But is this what God wants for his girl? Does he want you to miss the joy of making the right choices today for the fear of bad choices tomorrow? What if your history says that’s what you always do? Ahhhhh my sister … don’t let your history keep you from your destiny. Isaiah 43:19 – “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” God is doing a new thing in you. A new thing. You are a new woman. Just because you always slipped up in the past – just because you let yourself down and quit before – just because you wavered on this journey last time – doesn’t mean you’re doomed for failure this time. Your history is behind you, leave it there. Your destiny is before you, GO FOR IT! God is working in you and through you and he is strengthening you. Can’t you feel it? Can’t you see he is doing a new thing in you? Through your commitment and effort God is creating a new mindset in you. Allow him to change the way you see food. Allow him to change the way you view exercise. Allow him to change the way you treat your husband. The way you spend money, the way you wake up. Allow him to change your attitude, your perspective, your habits. Allow him to do a new thing in you. Embrace the progress you are making and stop fearing the ability to maintain your progress. God wants you to do the best you can today and trust him with tomorrow. The enemy wants you to focus on the immensely long road ahead and grow overwhelmed with how in the world you will stay strong through all it will take. You know your situation will not be fixed in one day … it didn’t get broken in one day and it won’t be fixed that way either. The enemy will invade your mind with how miserable biting your tongue over and over will be. He will convince you that eventually you will need to lash out and say it like it is, so whats the point of playing nice today. He will convince you that you’re never going to get out of debt, so what’s one more little $20 charge today? You have 70 pounds to lose, one little cheat meal today isn’t going to derail you … or will it? The enemy knows you well. He’s been attacking you your entire life. And today he is telling you that the progress you have made won’t be enough. He’s telling you you will never be able to stay on track. He wants to discourage you. But God wants you to know the truth. The truth is he is doing a new thing in you. It doesn’t matter how you’ve always fell off the wagon in the past. God really doesn’t care about your track record, because he is doing something BRAND NEW and in the process he is making you a brand new woman. Don’t be defeated by your history … be inspired by your destiny. Do the best you can today and God will supply everything you need for tom...

The gap: Who you were – Who you could be Behind you is gratitude – Before you is growth God steps when you step, revealing more and more to you. Strengthening you for more, preparing you for more, but you don’t see it until you step. “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr. Psalm 139: O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! Your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. God created you, equipped you, and then filled you with His Holy Spirit, to face situations. The very situations you’re in the middle of right now. You can do this – you are good enough – you have exactly what it takes because God is within you and he is for you. “What did you have in mind when you created me?” “What do you still desire for me to experience?” “What untapped potential have you placed within me?” “Who could I become?”

Here it is today … we reveal the secret to a good attitude. Listen up, if you’re raising little human beings, this could be the best parenting advice you ever receive. Advice that also applies directly to your own life as well. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” Hmmmm, this is the gift of God – to toil. Have you been toiling? What is toil anyway? The definition of toil is to work extremely hard. That is God’s gift. Here have something to eat, have something to drink and work your butt off, and be happy while you do it. I have raised 3 children. In fact today we woke up in a house with a child living at home for the very last time. Our nest is officially empty as of today ya’ll. I learned a lot in raising teenagers. One thing I noticed is the the correlation between their attitude and how good they feel about themselves. If we ever had a problem with our kids, deep down they weren’t feeling good about themselves. If we wanted good attitudes in our home, we had to figure out how to help them feel good about themselves. Here was the secret … work … hard work! At one point we lived on a 200 area ranch in a tiny rural town in Arkansas. I’m talking real tiny town where the only job options are Dollar General, McDonalds and WalMart – none of which ever seemed to hire teens. I had this fabulous 16 year old son who desperately struggled with his attitude. And remember, what’s at the core of a bad attitude … he didn’t feel good about himself. So, we told him to find odd jobs and get busy working. He would pick rocks for an entire day and come home with $70, or clean an old man’s shed with 40 years of build up. His most memorable odd job was on a chicken farm. One chicken house held 30,000 chickens and his job was to sort through all the chickens and find the dead ones and haul them out in buckets. Classy? Not so much. But he came home feeling good about himself. And because he started feeling good about the work he had done, his attitude was automatically better. Today that boy is a soldier in the US Army. He pulls 16 hour days in full gear, in the melting heat and humidity of South Korea and he’s never felt better about himself. And guess what … his attitude is golden! God’s gift to my boy was toil! And aren’t we the same? We may complain about our “toil” but have we forgotten it is the very thing that makes us feel better about ourselves too? It is God’s gift to us – it’s a gift because God knows he created us to thrive most when we are working towards something. I’m sure you’re working towards something, hopefully you are. You’re working towards paying off some debt. You’re working towards getting your degree or advancing in your job. You’re working towards losing weight or being healthier. You’re working towards improving relationships, or selling your house, or buying a better car, or raising decent human beings. Don’t despise the work that you’re doing. Sure it can go unnoticed and without thanks, but this is God’s gift to you. Do your work today the best you can, with a smile. Be happy in your toil and you know what, you will feel good. You will feel good even BEFORE the goal weight is met. I bet there are very few of us that woke up this morning and weighed in at our goal weight. Most of us are ON that journey, and some of us need to begin that journey today. But you don’t have to be miserable between now and goal weight. Work hard, and feel good about your work. Be happy now while you work. If you’re struggling with maintaining a good attitude, could it be because you don’t feel good about yourself? You know you have more in you than you’ve been giving … you know y...

Have you lost your boom? Where’s your passion for living? Where’s your energy and zest? Has your get up and got got up and gone? Are you bringing your very best to the days of your life, or has your God given boom turned into a blah? It’s morning – blah. I’m back in the kitchen AGAIN – blah. Another day of work – blah. And going to bed with the same man – blah. Well that sucks doesn’t it? When we live in blah we become just a little more miserable every day. And you know what’s interesting about that? It requires just as much work. Living in your state of blah, you still have to wake up – you still have to cook – you still have to work. The amount of work doesn’t change, but living in blah sure zaps the life right out of you and straight up makes everything harder. Do you think for a moment that is God’s desire for you? I am 100% certain it’s not and here’s how I know … How can you possibly be drawing someone to follow your God if your life is an example of miserable blah? You can’t. No one wants that. God wants your life to be a magnet. You are supposed to be like salt and light. Your way of living should draw people in and make them say, “I don’t know what you have, or where your energy comes from, but I gotta have me some of that.” That’s your BOOM – your God given boom. Your passion for living this one life you have been given the absolute best you can. Your zest for becoming your best and enjoying every moment of the ride. Your heart to help others do exactly the same. Galatians 6:5 says “Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” Are you honestly doing your creative best with your life? Does your life get your best effort? Bringing the BOOM to everything you do today is your responsibility. It’s your job. No one else can bring it for you. And here’s the big kicker – no one can take your boom away. If your husband is in a bad mood, if your teenager has major attitude, if your cell phone gets smashed, if your tire is flat, if your dog barfs on the carpet, the responsibility for doing your creative best and bringing the boom is still yours. In spite of circumstances, the boom is up to you. Here comes the boom. Boom your focused energy. Boom your ‘can do’ attitude. Boom your best effort. You are the boom. You have something to offer today that is priceless. Don’t you know how valuable you are? Don’t you know what an impact you can make? Don’t you know circumstances and others don’t have to affect the attitude you put on today? Won’t you show up for this day of life with some BOOM? Banish the blah, evict it, deny it. When you catch the blah taking over your actions, thoughts and conversations, you remember that you are responsible for doing your creative best. You are responsible for bringing the boom everywhere you go. You’re God’s girl and he’s watching you closely – Make him proud today by bringing the boom. When you walk in the kitchen to make that meal, BOOM here comes the boom. When you show up for your workout, BOOM here comes the boom. When you walk into work, BOOM here comes the boom. And ladies, don’t forget when you go to bed with your husband, BOOM here comes the boom! You bring the energy. You bring the positive attitude. You bring the gratitude. Remember you don’t have to do any of this today … you GET to girl! Take responsibility for how you show up and live this day of life. Show your creator you’re a girl who takes nothing for granted! (As a side note, if you’re struggling with energy, I can give you the secret to energy. Here it is, the secret to having more energy in life ….. USE ALL THE ENERGY YOU HAVE TODAY. Energy builds when used. If you only use a little energy for your life today, dragging your way through the bare minimum, doing only what is required,

Today, Americans celebrate freedom. Friends and families gather. We fire up the grill. We jump in the water. We light up the skies with fireworks. As a little girl, there was no single day of the year I looked forward to more than the fourth of July. As a 43 year old woman, I still get giddy over the smell of sparklers and all things red white and blue. Freedom. Something most of us have done absolutely nothing to earn and there are others we should be thanking. Thank you! Are you living free? Free from anything and everything that serves to hold you back? What is causing you to live a life short of the life Jesus came to offer you? We all have chains. We all struggle with bondage of some sort. Some are more visible than others such addiction or a toxic relationship. And other forms of bondage are more widely accepted as “normal” these days: irrational thoughts and fears, lack of self-control, a roller coaster of moods, procrastination. Yes, that’s bondage. A bad habit, a rut you’ve worked your way into, a continual cycle of start strong and fizzle quick, those are chains, and those chains are holding you back from living the very life you were created for. Scripture tells us a story of two men, Paul and Silas who had been stripped, beaten and thrown into prison. I suppose you could say they were having a bad day. Naked, bloody, chained up and locked up. Yip, bad day. They were stuck. They had every right to be angry, They had every right to be throwing a fit. But you know what they were doing instead? Acts 16:25-26 says “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” Impossible chains were broken. Prison doors flew open. They were set free. What caused this? Paul and Silas were praying and praising when they had every right to be cussing and worrying. Our prayers appropriate the power of God. Our praise summons the Almighty. This is how we are set free. Understand this right now, God doesn’t want you stuck for another day. His desire is not for you to battle those thoughts, fears, moods, or bad habits past this very moment. His desire is to set you free. He wants to break your chains. Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” You have an enemy in this world who is a thief. What’s the thief after? He’s after YOUR life. The life you were created for. The life that’s available to you through Christ Jesus. The life where you’re living up to your potential as your best self. Every single day the thief is trying to steal that life from you and convince you that how you are is how you’ll always be. He shows you the chains you currently battle and whispers you’ll never be free. But the devil is a liar and you don’t have to listen to him for one more moment. He’s been killing your dreams. He’s been destroying your relationships. Stand up and tell him, not today Satan, not today! Bring on the fireworks … girl you are FREE!!!!!!!!! Jesus has come so that you may have life and have it to the full. What does that mean? He is offering you a BIG life. A life free of whatever has been holding you back. A life worthy of celebration and fireworks my sister! The price has already been paid for your freedom. You did absolutely nothing to earn it, all you must do is accept it. Even at this very moment when you may be struggling with worries and fears and temptations to keep doing the same darn things that got you in the predicament you’re in, you can claim your freedom and start praying and praising.

I currently live on a lake in Missouri. When the sun goes down, the yard is lit up in flashes of fluorescent green. The magical phenomenon of fireflies flood our green grass and shoreline. I suppose there are many people in the world who have only heard about fireflies, but I’m here to tell you they are real and they are the most joyous and magnificent bug ever! They represent my childhood in a mason jar. They bring back memories of summers spent barefoot chasing these little treasures and delighting over their magical glow. How in the world does this happen? I mean seriously, how does a bug’s butt just light up and glow in a magnificent florescent green like that? Oh I’m sure there’s a deep scientific explanation of some sort, but in short I can tell you exactly how … GOD! God did that. God took great delight in creating a very ordinary looking bug and giving it a touch of magic. He was showing off his creative talents and desire to awe us all. Hey – IF GOD CAN MAKE A BUG’S BUTT LIGHT UP, THINK OF WHAT HE CAN DO FOR YOU! What can God do in your life? He can do anything! There’s absolutely nothing that isn’t possible through the power of God. All you need to do is introduce your impossible to the God of impossible. Luke 1:37 reminds us “with God, NOTHING is impossible.” What is it you need in your life? What dream seems to be out of breath? What goal seems to be unattainable? What hope has run out of time? What love has gone astray? GIRL, WATCH GOD WORK RIGHT HERE! We serve the God who makes new life grow within the barren womb. We serve the God who breaks prison chains and sets prisoners free. We serve a God who heals the sick and makes the lame to walk again. We serve a God who makes the butt of a bug light up ya’ll! He has power for the big and the small. He has a passion for doing the impossible and leaving us in awe. Invite his work into your life. God, I need you to light me up! I need you to touch me with your awe and wonder. I need a little of your possible to touch my impossible. Psalm 37:23 tells me that “God delights in every detail of my life.” He is a personal God. He’s here. He’s involved. He’s delighted as he sees you, his precious child, live your life. Yes, even when you mess up. God’s not freaking out over your misstep – do you know why – because he can use it! He can use your mistakes for good. He can use your struggles for future greatness. Oh what he can do for you! God is unlimited. There’s no measurement for him or his power. He is all powerful, he is all knowing, and he is all present. Our God isn’t limited by a single thing. He can do anything he wants. And did you know, this God of ours who can do anything he wants with his supreme power, desperately wants to help you? He knows everything, the end from the beginning, he sees it all because he is everywhere. There is no where you can run that God isn’t there. And this is the God who is FOR you. This is the God who loves you relentlessly. This is the God who has chosen you. He loves your quirkiness. He gets your weird and awkward tendencies … because he MADE them! Just as he decided the firefly would have this totally unique feature making it magnificent in it’s own way, he decided you would have your own unique features. Girl, I’m in awe of you. You have something I don’t have. There’s something totally special about you. Something this world needs. Won’t you show up and just be you today? You know what would happen if we were fireflies? We would be embarrassed by our light up butt. We would be concerned it was too big or the wrong color green. We would be all busy trying to change it, stressed out wondering how much longer it would work, trying to save it for special occasions.

God needs your cooperation today. He’s trying to work in your life. He’s trying to pave the way. He’s trying to guide you into his ultimate and best plan, but he needs your to cooperate. there’s one thing we keep doing that hinders god’s work and allows the enemy to gain a foothold. This one thing is something most of us struggle with, without even realizing the danger. what is it? what are we doing that’s hindering god’s work in our own lives? We keep running our mouths. In Exodus chapter 14 the Israelites are being chased by the Egyptians. They have every reason to be scared. Every reason to want to turn around and go back. but their instructions are very clear. Verse 14 in the Message translation says “God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” If you’re facing a battle right now, understand God wants to fight it for you. He wants to defend you. He’s able to bring victory … but you have a job to do and that job is to shut your face. Let God fight this for you. Take a seat and be silent. When I’m under attack I have a natural defense … I lash out. Then after I lash out, I like to retell the story to anyone who will listen. Are you the same? We build our defense by talking about it. And did you know when we do, we hinder the VICTORY God has planned for us? He doesn’t need you to lash out. He doesn’t need you to tell everyone your side of the story. What he needs is your cooperation. Here’s the problem … if we’re busy complaining and telling our side of the story, we’re not praying. The answer is always PRAY about it, not COMPLAIN about it. How often do we seek the opinion of others without first seeking the direction of God? Did you know your words have the power to steal your peace and your victory? God has a plan to redeem you fully. Every hardship or wrongdoing against you has been seen, he is fully aware, and it will be used for your good, but girl you’ve got to get out of the way! When you lash out in anger, speak out of turn, pipe up with your complaints, your side isn’t being built … understand you’re only giving the enemy ammunition. Satan wants you to be busy fighting so you’re distracted from your mission. Every time you retell the story, every time you engage in the argument, every time you complain about the situation, you’re loading bullets in the weapon pointed directly at YOU. I promise it is possible to be under attack and still have peace. It is possible to be in the battle and retain your joy. You can walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and FEAR NO EVIL because God is with you and he will comfort you. You’re not in this alone! Oh if you could only see God leaning in over you to protect you. If you could only see the angel armies of Heaven on their way to defend you. If you could see it, you’d easily keep that mouth shut. Even though you can’t see it, will you trust it? Do you trust that God is for you and not against you? If you do, then you know what they’re saying about you has ZERO impact. Who can be against you? NO ONE. Let them talk, you keep your face shut. God wants to fight for you. Victory is yours … If you don’t screw this up. You have one clear instruction here, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. No complaining, no building up your side of the story, no fighting and arguing, no lashing out. Cooperate with God and let him do the fighting. I remember a time when there was a personal attack against my family, my team and my ministry. It was harsh. It was unfair. And it was untrue. Everything within me wanted to stand up and defend myself and set the story straight. I woke up one morning totally fed up with the nonsense, fully prepared to tear a new butt from my attackers. As I was typing out my planned defense,

July is the 2nd half of 2019. This is your second chance January. What will you do with this fresh start? Regardless of your success or failure in the first half, you now have the opportunity starting today to make this the best year of your life. It is possible. You are capable. It won’t be easy, but my sister, you are worth it! I pray you take this opportunity and you run with it. I pray you stop running from the hard things, you face them head on and you make any necessary changes to start becoming the best version of you. I pray today you would receive courage from God like you’ve never felt before to step into your destiny and leave behind anything that has been holding you back. Right here, right now, may you truly begin to THRIVE. Are you ready to thrive? You were meant to do more than just survive. You weren’t meant to fight and claw your way through this year, this month, this week, or even this day. You weren’t meant to wake up with dread and the weight of the world on your shoulders. You weren’t meant to be shackled by anxiety, worry, and fear. You were meant for so much more. And you might be hearing this right now thinking, “Maybe you Pamela, but not me.” No! You too sister. You too. You were meant for so much more. I believe if you could get a glimpse of the life you were truly meant for you would never wake up feeling the same. You were created for something special, custom made like none other. When you begin to THRIVE, waking up in the morning is a gift not a burden. Your load gets a little lighter and your hope gets a whole lot bigger. So the question is, are you ready to thrive? There’s a cost to thriving, and the cost is letting go of some anxiety, letting go of some worry, letting go of some fear, and trusting. I’m asking if you’re willing to trust that God has a plan for your life right here right now, and it’s a good plan. Now let me give you a huge disclosure with that, God’s good plan for your life doesn’t always include “easy.” This month is not guaranteed to go magically well. In fact Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Trouble is guaranteed. Not maybe, not if you’re unlucky, not if you’re being punished … you WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But Jesus has offered us peace in knowing that he has already overcome it all. Whatever trouble you woke up with this morning, it’s already been overcome by Jesus. And because of that we can greet the trouble that comes our way with a renewed perspective. It’s just crap. And crap is good for you. Crap is just fertilizer for your Big Life. You’ve been looking at it wrong. You know what makes every garden grow stronger, faster, bigger … crap. But the bag says fertilizer. You may have woken up to large piles of fertilizer this morning. My sister, let me remind you, you can thrive in that. Because Jesus has already overcome the world, we can thrive here. This has already been covered by Jesus. I don’t know what you may be facing right now, I’m don’t have to be aware of your current struggle to know it can be fertilizer and you can thrive. Decide now today is going to be a day of growth and you are going to get better. Decide now you will use whatever may come your way this month to help you thrive and step into the life you were created for. You were meant to have life, and live it BIG time. That’s the promise of the Eternal God. John 10:10 says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” That’s for you, insert your name. For me it says, “Jesus came so that Pamela could have life, and could have it abundantly.” Now it’s your turn: Jesus came so that ______________ could have life, and have it abundantly. And that means you, you who are hearing this, you, can have life abundantly. Will you thrive? Surviving is for those who have no hope, and that’s not you.

This week I’m surrounded by the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains. In fact today, I’m tackling the feat of leading a group of BIG Life girls up one of those mountains. It will be hard. But mountains are supposed to be hard. Mountains represent the impossible in our lives. The barrier between where you are and where you want to go. Mountains stress us out. They make us back down and play little in our own lives. Sometimes they even hold us in fear causing us to live a life far short of what’s truly available to us. I understand mountains. I’ve faced a few impossibles in my life. And I’ve also created a few as well. Girl, listen to me … as much as you want to be in control of your life, there are things that you are unable to control. And the more you try and control the uncontrollable, the more you miss the beautiful flow of life. You know what some of us really need to hear this morning? CHILL OUT! Just chill the heck out. Why you got yourself all worked up in a tizzy over these things? Why you walking around in a bad mood with worried eyebrows? If you can’t change it, if you can’t control it, if you’ve done all you can do, there’s only one things for you to do … be still and know that God is God. I know it may not look like it, but God’s got this. He’s got this and he’s got you. Your worry doesn’t help him. You know what your worry does … it builds mountains. Some of the very mountains you face today weren’t built by the enemy, they weren’t built by your ex, or your boss, or your haters. They were built you. Mountains hand built by you with your worry and doubt. Could the obstacle in your way be of your own doing? Sometimes the devil doesn’t even need to step foot in our lives … we’re pretty good at holding ourselves back. Why would he waste his time messing with you when you do a darn good job creating barriers on your own with your worry? You know what can move those mountains in your way? Faith. Faith that God is God. Faith that he is for you, not against you. Faith that he has a plan for you and it’s a good plan. Faith that he is always with you. Faith that everything is within his power and he cares about every detail of your life. Today you’re being called to be a mountain mover, not a mountain builder. Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Yes, Jesus walked this earth and he said that a long time ago, but he’s here today telling you again – if you can have even a little bit of faith, your mountains can move. A tiny bit of faith can make your obstacle shake. A tiny bit of faith can make your impossible possible. Where is your faith? Is it in you, or is it in the God who created you? Is it in your plans, or in the plans of your Heavenly Father who knows all things? Our family has been in one of those impossible situations. We prayed and prayed for answers and all God gave us was, trust me … I am God. We had done all we could do. Maybe you’ve done all you can do and yet things still are uncertain. I get you. I’ve been there too. So here’s what I recommend you do. Go to the spice isle of your local market and invest $2 in a jar of mustard seed. Hold those seeds in your hand. This is all it takes. Faith the size of a mustard seed. Faith this tiny. Faith in God. That he sees it all. That he hears you. That he has a plan. And that he will honor your faith. In the middle of our greatest trial, we held mustard seeds in our hands and saw our mountains move. Mountains that should have never moved, had never moved before … they moved. Straight up miracles. And what God has done for my family, he can do again. He can do it again for my family and he can do it for your family.

Life has a way of continually bringing us back to a humble place of being on our knees. We are high, then we are low. We are up, then we are down. We are hopeful, then the wind gets knocked right out of us. Think about the ups and downs of life – while we’re desperate for things to level out, the true design of life is in the roller coaster ride. It is in our heartbeat. Look at heartbeat, when the ups and downs end, it’s a flatline. A flatline is the end of life. You were designed for the ups and the downs. The flatline you sometimes desire isn’t life at all. As long as you’re living, this will be a ride. There are some things in life we simply can’t fix, we can’t control and we didn’t see them coming. And although they are out of our control, we still have a choice. We have a choice to keep trusting God. Do you have a down in your life right now? An uncertainty, a hardship or struggle, a situation that’s left you seeking answers and solutions. Maybe it’s the very thing that brought you to this devotional today. Think of this “down” in your life. Hold this situation in the forefront of your mind. I likely don’t even have to tell you to do that, you’ve already hurt over it this morning. You’ve already worried about it, prayed about it, felt frustrated over it. The question is, will you keep trusting God in this? Psalm 31:14 But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying “you are my God.” BUT I am trusting you. Before this verse is an entire chapter of all that is going wrong in the author’s life. He is sad, he is frightened, he is being threatened, and his very life is at stake BUT. BUT, in spite of it all, I am trusting God. Let’s go back to your “down” now. That hardship or struggle. Now is the time for your BUT. God, this sucks, it’s not fair, I don’t understand it, I’m upset, I’m hurt, I’m afraid … BUT. BUT I am trusting you. You are my God! We like to live without the need for a BUT. Wouldn’t we love the opportunity to have the next 40 years of stress free, care free life, guaranteed to go exactly as planned. Come on God, no more downs. Let’s just stay at the top of this ride. Let all my goals be reached with minimal effort. I’m looking for easy. Yes, that’s it. Let’s just make life easy God. And God in all his wisdom knows that without the struggle, without the uncertainty, without the dark times, we would eventually stop needing him. We would become full of ourselves living under our own power. Know that every hurt and struggle you face today may not have been orchestrated by God, but it has been allowed by him. As his child, nothing can touch you without first going through the Father. Nothing comes as a surprise to him and he uses even the attacks of the enemy and Satan’s ugly schemes to simply bring you back to him. Back to God. Back to your creator. Back to your father. Perhaps today is the day for you to say, this is not what I expected. This is not what I hoped for. I am frustrated and disappointed. I am angry, I am hurt …. BUT I AM TRUSTING YOU O LORD. I choose to say YOU ARE MY GOD. Imagine standing before a fork in the road. You have a choice to make. You go left, or you go right. One way is to try and handle everything on your own. Keep it together, pick yourself up, and muster up enough strength to just make it through today. It’s a heavy load carrying that bitterness, that anger, and that hurt, but you’ve kindof gotten used to it. That is one way. But there’s another way. This fork in the road presents another option. An option of opening your hands, dropping your heavy load and saying I trust you O Lord, you are my God …. now carry me. Carry me through this grief. Carry me through this trouble. Protect my heart and mind. Strengthen me with your power as I trust in you.

Are you ready to really be committed this time? Committing everything you do to God – Will you do that, because you know what happens when you do? This is exciting … HE WILL ESTABLISH YOUR PLANS. Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Maybe you’ve committed some things to God in the past … well, it’s time to recommit. Recommit to living the life you were created for, as the girl you were created to be. Oh yeah, it’s time to get back on the horse again sister. It’s time to embrace the grind because actually the grind is good. It’s time to focus on becoming our best, enjoying the ride, and helping others do the same. We all know when we’re living below our potential. We have that nagging feeling inside that sometimes appears as boredom, and other times it appears as shame or guilt, or regret. You don’t feel good when you’re living below your potential because you’re not supposed to feel good. It’s God’s red flag to you alerting you that something’s not right. And let’s get real clear … you don’t want to have regrets. And you DON’T HAVE TO. You were never intended to live the days of this one precious, beautiful life you have been given in any way short of passionate, purpose filled, intentional and fulfilled. BUT … that’s going to take some work. Are you willing to work my friend? Are you willing to show up for yourself today and take the next step towards the life God has available to you? Let’s break down today’s scripture – “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” 1. Commit to the Lord whatever you do. Commit in Hebrew literally means to roll. Imagine the ideal of rolling something to God. This means you let go and you completely give it over to God in full dependence upon Him. That is how we commit. We roll it on over to God. Everything we have to offer, everything, we completely give to him. Out of our hands and into his. What a scary way to live – when it’s out of your hands. For my sisters who are control freaks, this is a tall order, and yet it is exactly what you are being called into. Give it to God. Roll it on over to him. Hasn’t he proven he is capable? Hasn’t he proven he is always working for your good? 2. Commit whatever you do. DO. This means you have work to do. You can’t just sit around in those giving up on life pants and say God, I roll this over to you, now you do it all. I’m a just gonna sit here and wait. Girl, you will die a rusted out life full of misery and regret. Commit whatever you DO. Today, you get up and you work for it. You take the next step. The life you want is going to take some “doing” from you … so do it. Now. There is simply no more time to waste. And then what happens? We commit to the Lord whatever we do, and here comes part 3. THEN HE WILL ESTABLISH YOUR PLANS. Essentially, you show up, you keep showing up, show up when you’re tired, show up when you don’t feel like it, show up when it doesn’t seem to be working and just do what you can. Keep rolling it over to God. God, this is yours. God I trust you. God I will keep trusting you and then he will establish your plans. God will do what only he can do. He will open doors only he can open. He will pave the way. He will make the connections. He will move the mountains. He will refresh dry bones and breath life into relationships that were dying. We do the first part. We commit and we work … and God will establish our plans. God will build it. God will make it all come together. God will make the way. But we can’t expect him to fulfill the 2nd part if we don’t do the first part. Let us come to a place where we completely depend on God. We depend on him in our work. We depend on him in our goals. We depend on him in our relationships.

Today, women from East coast to West coast are packing their bags and traveling to Colorado. We all have one destination in mind … the BIG Life Colorado Retreat. The weekend of a lifetime is just ahead, but first, we pack. Before each retreat I provide the all-important packing list. What to wear, what to bring, what you will need. Show up without the right gear and you’re in for a rough retreat. It’s all about the packing list. Mark it off and check it twice. So of course, our most important journey will require the best, most carefully crafted and double checked packing list. You do know you’re on a MOST IMPORTANT JOURNEY, don’t you? Maybe you didn’t even realize, girl you’re going somewhere. What is your most important journey? In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells his disciples, and each of us, all about this journey. “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations.” In essence, go and tell people the truth about me. Go and show me to those I place on your journey. So understand, each and every one of us are called to GO. We’re created to be GO-ERS! You need to GO. You were created to GO. Your soul is longing to GO. Going is your purpose. It takes you to your ministry field. Yes, you have a place where you’re supposed to be working, and to get there you must GO. For some, you are to go to a foreign country or another state. For others we are to go to a urban area in need, or it’s a job, a school, a sports team, heck it’s your own neighborhood. Here’s what we miss … wherever God leas you, THERE is your ministry field and that’s where you’re meant to go. God has a plan for you, a place for you to specifically be and a role for you to fill as part of his kingdom work. The question is, how do you know where you’re supposed to go? In Isaiah 30:21, God spoke to Isaiah and gave him a mission. He used him to guide the Israelities in where they should go … you know those lost people who had wandered around in circles for 40 years? Yes, those people. And God simply told Isaiah to tell the people, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying ‘This is the way; walk in it.” Girl, are you seeking God? Are you looking to him for guidance on where to go? Do you truly want to go where he wants? Do you fully trust his plan and purpose for your life? Then find complete peace in knowing, regardless of which way you go, God will guide you. Whether you turn right or left, God will be behind you saying “this is the way, here you go.” Will you trust that? Here’s the thing, when you’re seeking God, you can’t screw this thing up. You’re not possibly big enough to mess up God’s plans forever. You’re not that powerful. God can take even a misstep and use it for good. Have confidence knowing when you’re willing to go, he will guide you. So, this is your journey. What do you need to bring along? Where’s the packing list? This is important. What should you bring where God is sending you? Here we are, thinking and planning, working and preparing so we can take our very best talents and skills, and gather up all the wisdom there could possibly be to be ready to go. We read all the books, we learn all the things, we pack and we pack and we pack … and we are exhausted before we ever take a step in actually GOING where God wants us to go. Some of us are waiting on the packing list for life. What do I need God? I gotta be ready for this. And so we spend the most precious seasons of our life getting ready. Let me ask, how long have you been getting ready to do something for God? You’re getting ready, you’re packing, you’re preparing, and all this time all God has said is GO. Just go. I will guide you.

Job 37: 5-6 “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” When God created you, he had greatness in mind. He formed you as a masterpiece, equipping you with every single thing you would ever need. He had a vision for your life, a good plan for your days. In his marvelous ways, he created you to be marvelous. Now … let’s get back to the girl we were created to be. Somewhere along the way of trying to keep the house clean, put food on the table, and raise decent human beings, we’ve gradually warped into women we are not. We’ve faded away. Our zest for life and our passion for living slowly evaporates. One tiny piece at a time, we literally become a shell of the girl we were created to be. Here’s the big question this morning …. have you gotten so busy that you’ve forgotten to ENJOY LIFE? Have you missed that the very purpose for the breath in your lungs is to BREATHE IN LIFE? Not in a forceful “I have to be here and do this” rigid way, but in the natural way you were created to be. You were made to live life. You were made to enjoy the beauties of your life. You were made to venture, to wander, to explore. You were made to capture and create. Don’t miss who you were created to be because you’re so busy doing what you feel you have to do, to get more of what you really don’t need. In today’s scripture, there is so much freedom. God says to the snow, fall on the earth. That’s it. Just do one thing, just fall. And then he says to the rain shower, be a mighty downpour. Yes, just do the one thing I created you to do, and do it well. You’re rain, so rain. Come on down. You’re snow, so snow. And my sweet sister, you are YOU. Totally special and unique you, and all you have to do is you. Just do you. And do it the best you can. You don’t have to try and be something you’re not. Stop trying to contort and twist yourself to match the pictures in the magazine. And don’t you dare play little and shrink back into the corner. Do what you were created to do. Be you. Fully you, not a watered down, held back, house-broken, tamed version of you. Be the FULL version of you. Passionate and powerful. This is your mission. And that’s it. Take the weight off your shoulders. All God’s asking you to be is the one thing he’s already created you to be. Let what’s in you come out and play. Let the real you step forward and start running the show. Trade your exhausting quest of more for the replenishing, refreshing, renewal of who you already are. Peel back the layers of expectation and pressure, and find the girl God created you to be. Can you simply enjoy life? Can you do what you were created to do? As the snow is just supposed to fall and the rain is supposed to be a downpour, you were created to live. So start living. Living bigger. Living more intentionally. And ON PURPOSE be the girl you were created to be.

Since yesterday’s episode, who has been singing Bethel Music’s “Raise a Hallelujah”? I literally had that song on repeat and it was my continual prayer throughout the day. In the face of my enemies, in the midst of my unbelief, I used my praise as a weapon and heaven came to fight for me. If you missed episode #364, I encourage you to go back and listen to it now. Today is Part 2. The story behind the song is one of heartache and uncertainty. Jackson, a 2 year old little boy, was sick. He had been battling for his life, and on one particular night they didn’t believe he would make it through. This song came from the cries of believers that night. They felt the overwhelm of fear and the darkness of the enemy and they sang. They raised a hallelujah as heaven came to fight. Jackson survived the night and he recovered fully. Have you ever wondered why God would allow something like this in the first place? Why the suffering? Why the sickness? God saw it all and he allowed it. This happens to be one of those times where we can see the eternal impact of a seemingly unfair situation. This song is the result of a little boy fighting for his life, and it is impacting the lives of millions. Is God taking what the enemy intended for harm and using it as good … yes, you better believe he is. And this is what he wants to do in your life! Remember the story of Joseph? He was the favored son of his father, the one who received the fancy coat of many colors from his Daddy and his brothers all got jealous. And what do jealous brothers do … they throw him in a pit and leave him for dead. (And you thought your kids fought savage!) Joseph’s brothers intended harm. The enemy knew Joseph’s potential and he tried to destroy him. After the brothers left him Joseph for dead, his life got even worse. For 22 years he was mistreated as a slave, then a prisoner, always working his way back up. Eventually he was put in a position to save the lives of the very men who first tried to kill him, his long lost brothers. He looked at his brothers and said in Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” God used the struggles – he used the hardship – he used the pain – he used the unfair treatment – he used it all for eternal good. This wasn’t just brothers playing unfair, this was about the saving of many lives. And so it is with Jackson, the sick little boy for whom this song was written. It wasn’t just about Jackson being well again, it was about the saving of many lives. The eternal impact of his story. The hallelujahs that were sent to heaven just yesterday as we sang in the presence of the enemy, louder than the unbelief. Could the very thing the enemy has used to attack you, be turned into your weapon to defeat him? Could God have allowed this because of the eternal impact on countless lives you’re not even aware of? Could the way you fight this battle be a guide for others in their battles? Are we all connected and impacting each other? Yes. I believe this is exactly how our God works. He uses it all – the worst of the worst, the hardest of the hard and he uses it for good. Something real good. Something you and I cannot even imagine. Our simple minds cannot contain how God is using every struggle and hardship for something good. Listen to the next set of lyrics in the song: I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee I raise a hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me! If you’ve been walking in fear – if you’ve been laying awake at night playing out all the possible scenarios – if your mind is filled with a continual replay of the hurt and the pain...