He's got this!

          I have recently been reading a book, "Cinder Girl" by Christina Meredith. It's the true life story about the author, a phenomenal young woman who overcame insurmountable obstacles to be where she is today. As a child she suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her mother, who it seems never accepted her. As she grew older she underwent sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's brother who later handed himself over to the police with a written confession admit​ting that he had committed the act but that she was in agreement with it.  Her one shining light was her father who himself was thrown into jail after being falsely accused by her mother of physical abuse. He consequently spent years in jail writing to every authority he could think of to free his children, especially her, from the abuse he knew they were experiencing. During all this turmoil she was introduced to Jesus and held on to Him like a lifeline. She believed in Him and trusted Him even when it didn't make sense to do so. And countless times she saw God pull through for her. She chose to hold on to the belief that she would be somebody and would make a difference in spite of what her mother  had tried to embed in her brain to the contrary. Believe it or not she succeeded in winning a beauty contest and even writing the book I'm now reading.
          What amazes me about this young woman is her persistence, her tenacity. She never gave up on the dreams she had and still has: to write a book, to fight for children in the foster care system, to help as many abused and neglected children like herself. She never gave up on her God. She chose to trust Him and be thankful sometimes for the simple things. What I have read of her story so far has motivated me to pursue relentlessly after my own dreams. It matters not who believes in them with me and who does not. What matters is that God believes in me and supports me. He is the One to bring those dreams to pass.
          Many times it can be so easy to believe what others say about you. It can be so easy to give up on a dream just because some don't believe that you can. That 's alright. Even if people believe that you can't or that you should not, God is the One person who believes in you and who will give you the ability to make it happen. After all, His Word reminds us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength or in other words who enables to do what we may not be able to do on our own (Philippians 4:13).
         I even think about the story of Joseph. He had a dream but his own family did not support him. They did not believe in him. In fact his own brothers were jealous of him and did their best to abort his dream. But when they thought they had succeeded in killing his dream by selling him to a band of merchants who later sold him in Egypt, little did they know that their negative actions only served to propel him straight into his destiny. Sometimes that's what happens. The adversity we face in life - whether it be from others or from our own mistakes - end up propelling us into our destiny. What the enemy means for evil through those negative circumstances, God turns it around for our good and for the good of others.
          You see, when your life is in God's hands and you trust Him with it, no matter what comes your way God will turn it around for good; He will turn it into a blessing what the enemy meant for a curse; He will turn it into a powerful testimony or message that will minister to millions and set captives free. In the young lady's life above, God has used her heartache, her hurt, her suffering to minister to thousands like me, to motivate thousands like me to never give up, to keep trusting, to keep hoping in the God of the impossible; to believe that this same God does love me, does care for me, and is working on my behalf even when it feels as if nothing is happening. It's a reminder of God saying constantly to me: "I've got this!"