INSPIRATION

“Our chief want is someone who will INSPIRE us to be what we KNOW we could be.” Ralph Walo Emerson

Have you ever taken two steps forward, only to find yourself four steps backward?  LORD knows I have!!  It seems like just when we’re getting ahead and things are going well, a setback occurs that inevitably pushes us farther away from our intended goals. Has this happened to you? If it hasn’t brace yourself, it will. That’s because life deals us ALL some type of unexpected curveballs that will leave us feeling like if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Situations like having- more month and bills than money, losing a job and becoming unemployed, a relationSHIP breaking up, or ending in divorce, high debt, the death of a loved one, etc. Sometimes it seems as if we just can’t catch a break. It’s almost like no matter how hard we try to get ahead, SHIP happens. And it does. Life’s circumstances can be so overwhelming that they leave us feeling more like spectators than participants in our own lives.  It’s as if we’re sitting on the sidelines wondering how to conjure up the INSPIRATION needed to get back on our own journey.  But, how? How are we supposed to find this INSPIRATION?  Have you ever needed to find INSPIRATION?   When your SHIP happens, who or what do you use for INSPIRATION? Is INSPIRATION important? Is INSPIRATION something we really need?  I know I DO!!!!  So for this week’s blog, let’s talk SHIP about the importance of INSPIRATION!!!

When we are experiencing difficulties in our lives, we have a tendency to overlook the importance of INSPIRATION.  But, what is INSPIRATION and why is it so important? According to Webster’s Dictionary, INSPIRATION is defined as 1) Something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create; a force or influence that inspires someone; 2)  A person, place, experience that makes someone want to do or create something.  INSPIRATION has the ability to transform the way we view ourselves and our circumstances.  INSPIRATION can change our mindset from impossibilities to one that is filled with possibilities.  INSPIRATION allows our thoughts to go beyond our experiences and limitations and reveals to us new possibilities and opportunities. INSPIRATION has major effects on important outcomes in our lives, but before that can happen, we have to be inspired by something or someone and then act on that INSPIRATION. 

Let me be clear, GOD is certainly the GREATEST INSPIRATION one can ever have AND will ever need. HE is certainly ENOUGH!!  Yet, when we are bogged down and overwhelmed with life’s circumstances, we tend to focus our thoughts on those issues, making it difficult for us to hear GOD’S voice clearly.  I believe that in those times, GOD reveals HIS word to us in various other ways.  HE may use a movie, a song, a sermon, a book, a blog post, a commercial, or a person to provide us with INSPIRATION and insight into our particular situation.  Truth is, no matter how strong our faith is, there will be times when it will waiver.  Times when we will experience self-doubt.  Times when we allow our circumstances to dictate our mood. Times when we’ll have experiences that question our faith and make us wonder if we’ll get through it. During these times when we can’t hear GOD answers, who and what can we use for INSPIRATION?

Last week, I had to address some tax issues with the IRS. After finding out how much I actually owed, I felt defeated.  Owing money and being in debt is uncomfortable for me and I needed some immediate INSPIRATION and began to pray.  I tried letting go and letting GOD handle it but the lyrics of Angie Fisher’s song, “The IRS” continuously played over and over in the back of my mind.   Although the song’s dollar amount was off, its sentiment wasn’t.  The situation had completely stressed me out. It was consuming my thoughts and I knew that in order to hear GOD’S voice for directions, I first had to clear my mind. I had to transcend my thoughts from my IRS problem into reassuring thoughts that confirmed, I’d get through it.  That this too would pass. I needed some additional INSPIRATION to help me clear my thoughts and I found it.

While scrolling through my timeline on Facebook, I ran across an encouraging video that Tabitha Brown had posted.  Tabitha inspires me on so many levels but especially because she’s already something that I aspire to be, a successful blogger.  I listened attentively as she, in her unique southern accent, talked about her life’s journey.  She shared how her dream to be an actress was deferred, but how she remained encouraged. She talked about how her faith in GOD actualized and carried her through her hardships.  She spoke about her humble beginnings when she struggled and how now she’s the CEO of three companies.  She recounted how her faith in GOD presented itself in the form of life-changing opportunities. Although she didn’t specifically mention struggling with the IRS, she shared that financially she and her family struggled too. Her inspiring words reminded me that GOD can and will reveal new possibilities even when all we can see is lack.  Her words gave me hope and INSPIRATION. Her words cleared my mind and enabled me to clearly hear GOD’s voice. Her testimony reaffirmed that GOD is a WAY MAKER and that HE can turn our ordinary circumstances into extraordinary blessings.

Tabitha’s video reconfirmed what I already knew, that GOD will provide the opportunities and resources I need to settle this debt. Her past struggle was my INSPIRATION because she’s where I’d like to be and her encouraging words made me believe that one day, I could actually get there. Truth is, we all need some type of INSPIRATION in our lives, and the good news is that it’s all around us. GOD gives us an array of people and things that we can draw INSPIRATION from every day. So the question then becomes, who or what is the INSPIRATION you’re using to get through life’s unexpected circumstances?

SHIP TALK: Who or what is your INSPIRATION?

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