The Impact of One Voice

God can teach us a lesson when we least expect it! I was at church last Sunday reciting the traditional prayers and singing the hymns. The person behind me was doing the same but at a much faster rate – about a verse and half off from everyone else. What amazed me was how powerful that distraction was. Try as I might, I could not tune her out. All I heard was her voice over the hundred plus that were in unison.

I was starting to get agitated wondering why this woman was continuing to do this and more so, why I couldn't just block it out. Then, as if God whispered to me, "Do you choose to focus on the one negative distraction or the power and beauty of the hundred other voices around you?" Wow! Those words reached deep within and called out something I am guilty of. There is so much positive in our lives us but how many times do we choose to focus on the few negative things and allow that to distract us away from the positive? What we focus on clearly is a choice we make and God pointed that out to me this past Sunday in a very powerful way.

While it was hard to continue to block out her voice, I realized this is something I need to work on not just for that moment but for every moment in my life. We need to make a conscious decision to ignore the negative and focus on the positive until it becomes second nature. God has provided us with an abundance of the positive, we just need to be willing to tune into that and embrace its fullness.

Don’t Stop Believing

I attended my daughter's concert earlier this week and it is amazing how God can reach out to us in places we least expect it. I've been feeling very tired and drained recently, partly due to a health condition but more so to do with my mindset.

These past few months have shown tremendous growth for my business, stretching me in new ways that are both exciting and challenging. It has been a wonderful ride but the passion and energy that was fueling me was now getting lost in all I had to do. I started wondering, "Can I do this?"; "Am I really meant to do this?" Self-doubt never helps a situation and once that starts creeping in, it can grow like a weed.

God, in His all-knowing wisdom, was very much aware the self-doubt was starting to take root and knew it was time to intervene. It was then He whispered the voice of encouragement in the most unexpected way.

I showed up to my daughter's concert, tired and frazzled from yet another day of running around in twenty different directions chasing down deadlines and "to do's". The concert had already started and my heart sank thinking I may have even missed their portion of the performance as I raced to into the building. As I got settled in, my ears suddenly tuned into what they were singing, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. These young children sang it with an energy and spirit that spoke directly to my heart. I knew this was more than a verse in a song; it was a message I was meant to hear. And as God often does, He placed that message in front of me again two more times within the next 24 hours; once on the radio and again in a reference to that song in the book I was reading. By the third time, I clearly understood, it's not for me to ask how can I do this, but rather to believe in the outcome and the gifts God has given me to fulfill His purpose.

Now, when self-doubt creeps in, I just simply tell myself, "Don't stop believing".