What are people telling you, you can’t do? What are you telling yourself you can’t do? Well, please allow me to counteract those recordings playing over and over in your mind with the antidote and help you over that hump of negativity.
Let’s begin by being very pragmatic. You don’t have time to listen to those voices! Parent’s—your children are growing up right before your eyes whether you think you can succeed as a parent or not. Leaders—your team is crying out for direction and vision; you will fail them if you don’t believe in yourself. And friends—if you’re held back by “I can’t” you might as well accept the fact that “you won’t”!
I’ve dealt with a few of those naysayers before. People have told me—or I have on occasion told myself—that I can’t because:
• I’m too young
• I’m too old
• I’m a girl
• I’m not getting the opportunities
• Or I just don’t have what it takes for whatever it is…
Each time those voices of opposition came my way, there was something God wanted to do in my life and the enemy was trying to stop it. Oh, the devil loves nothing more than to crush our dreams and stop us in our tracks. I’m so grateful I’ve learned to push back. You see, God won’t force good things on us. He won’t push us into his will. When we decide we can’t, we close the door on what he wants to do in and through us.
Philippians 4:13 says that you can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives you strength. My mom and dad gave me a small plaque with this bible verse when I went away to college. I kept it in my dorm room, then in my apartment, then it went with me to my first job and the one after that and the next. It is still on my desk at Joyce Meyer Ministries today.
I have held onto that promise when I didn’t see a way, and God has always come through. I still need reminded at times. Too often we brush over that scripture. It’s encouraging but we think it doesn’t apply to this situation or perhaps it doesn’t apply to us at all. God says you deserve better.
Read that verse over and think again! It applies to absolutely everything God is calling you to. He gives you his strength because we all need it so desperately. Because we are nothing without him. But with him, WE CAN DO ALL THINGS. When people say you can’t, let it bounce right off. “I can’t” needn’t be part of your vocabulary because it isn’t part of God’s!
Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ve always gotten everything I want. This isn’t a magic wand. Instead, I’ve received something even better than I thought I wanted. God’s ways are higher than ours and his heart for us is for good—to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)
There is no hope with “I can’t.”
Create your own Philippians 4:13 sign and put it where you can’t miss it. It doesn’t need to be fancy. This is your antidote to “You can’t”. It’s your answer when you think, “I can’t”. When that ugly voice begins nagging in the back of your mind; when someone fills your head with those negative words, push back hard with the truth. “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me strength!”
Do it long enough and it will become second nature. Parents—trust that with God, you can! Leaders—kick “I can’t” to the curb and your entire team will benefit. Friends—you’ve got this because God has you. Remember, you can, because God can!
Now the hope comes to life! I can’t wait to hear what beautiful things God will enable you to do, even in the face of all those “can’ts”.
– love, Ginger
