“Your imagination is your preview to life’s coming attractions.”~Albert Einstein
I love this quote. It reaffirms the message you are what you think. As a child, we all had dreams of what we wanted to be when we grew up. However, somewhere along the way, we lost that zeal to pursue and turn those dreams into reality. Why?
We lose sight of those plans because we allow outside influences to persuade us to believe we can’t achieve them. As we grow older, our responsibilities increase exponentially. If you aren’t enjoying the current attraction, change the channel.
Yes, some of the adversities we go through might be out of our hands, but our reaction to them should be to calm down and assess the situation to see if we caused the problem. As I have gotten older, rather than freak out, I have learned to go to God in prayer immediately (James 5:16). After giving my pain over to God, I go to sleep. Nine times out of ten, depending on the complexity of the situation, when I wake up, God’s typically given me a blueprint to resolve my issue.
My goal is to help us enjoy our films. We can accomplish this feat by removing negative emotions such as fear, frustration, and worry, which can easily sneak into our movies.
Fear is an unpleasant emotion that destroys dreams in a variety of ways. A single fear can easily hold us hostage and trick us into accepting a mediocre life. Whereby other fears can create a domino effect of frustration and worry which will keep us complacent and prevent us from moving forward in our desire to seek and fulfill our goals. On the flip side, some fear success because they are afraid of not being able to retain what they gain. In either case, we must admit our fears to prevent apprehension from stealing our dream. There is no shame in admitting you are afraid of (insert your fear).
The problem is when we allow fear to dominate our life. If we allow fear to dominate our life, we cannot experience the abundant life Christ came to give us. Fear is a destructive spirit that hinders our growth. It keeps us from discovering our talents so that we can experience success. We must read and apply God’s word to conquer our fear.
One of the main acts we need to incorporate into our lives is that “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7).” Adopting this mindset would prompt us to start our day with prayer and be careful with the words we choose to speak. Words are like seeds. They function as a device that plants (creates) the type of person we wish to become (grow into). If we constantly speak words that leave us feeling defeated and powerless, we will become fearful and think God is not there to help us. We must keep in mind that whatever seeds we plant, meaning whatever words we allow to take root in our mind, is what will grow. The seeds we plant will determine the type of person we become.
Our words are powerful (Matt 12:36-37). Our life moves in the direction of the words we speak. Meditating on honest, pure, and praise-worthy thoughts will influence us to have strong faith. Doing so will place us in a position to identify and remove the frustrating moments from our thought life that seek to keep us in bondage.
Frustration aids fear. Its job is to keep our minds in turmoil so that fear can dominate our life. Frustration helps anxiety by keeping us from performing to the best of our ability. Even worse, frustration keeps our minds in a state of unrest, whereby we give up, quit growing in grace, and stop pursuing our goals. Frustration causes us to wallow in self-pity and focus on defeat. Frustration will cause us to lose focus on our dreams.
We must remember that God allowed these uncertainties to avoid this loss. Therefore, we must approach them with a calm, wise demeanor to understand why God allows problems in our life. If we did not cause the pain, this usually means God allowed that problem in our lives, helping us to develop and rely on Christ’s attributes such as courage, strength, patience, etc. For example, patience is an attribute of Christ that will strengthen us so we can work within God’s timing.
Courage helps us to handle resistance (Deut 31: 6-8). Regardless of which attribute we need to develop, we will never know what we can do until we incorporate them into our life. The more attributes we gain will help us realize the power we possess to overcome whatever curveball life throws at us.
If frustration is left unchecked, it will mutate into worry. Once we get into the worry stage of Satan’s entourage of negative emotions, we reject Christ’s Kingdom to cross over to Satan’s world. There is no reason to worry when you’re in Christ’s Kingdom. (Matthew 6:25-34). Newly converted Christians might express concern when things go wrong. However, seasoned Christians know they must catch themselves before anxiety evolves into worry.
Allowing our distorted emotions to take control of our life destroys our faith, derailing our relationship with Christ. Christians walk by faith. They know that God will cause all things to work together for their good (Rom 8:28). If we are truly walking by faith, we will not allow our distorted emotions to control our thought life and derail our peace and happiness. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:7). This is why Christians can have peace amid their problems.
To experience Christ’s peace, we must identify which master we are truly serving, Christ or Satan (1 Peter 3:13, Matthew 6:24). We examine our lifestyle by comparing it to God’s word. This way, we can see if our life aligns with Christ. Then, when problems arrive, you know there is no reason to panic. Instead, knowing you are with Christ will help us have a calm and wise approach to our problems.
We do not focus on instant gratification. Instead, we allow patience to rule our thought life. Patience will enable us to see why God allowed that problem in our life. Issues are often permitted to help us develop whatever attributes of Christ we need to align our souls to Him. For example, patience is an attribute of Christ that will strengthen us so we can work within God’s timing. We need to develop patience because whenever we go outside God’s timing, we delay and even derail our destiny, which is God’s plan and purpose for our life.
To experience the abundant life Christ came to give us, we must obtain and maintain Christ’s attributes. Patience is one of the many attributes we must seek to possess and works closely with faith. Having these two attributes working within our thought life helps us see God’s presence in and throughout our life. Patience allows us to develop the confidence we need to wait on God. In doing so, we will know God is with us and is willing to help us overcome whatever obstacles Satan sets in our path.
Have you become so engulfed in completing your responsibilities that you are often left wondering, “Where did the time go?” “Why haven’t I been able to [insert dream not achieved]?
You might feel like you’re stuck in a valley. Valleys are circumstances that make us feel like we’re carrying the whole world on our shoulders. But, unfortunately, these are times in our lives when nothing seems to be going right.
You may feel like you have been walking miles and miles for days, months, or even years without seeing a path that will take you to the mountaintop. I know we all hate going through valleys. However, valleys are just as important as making it to the mountaintop. God uses this “downtime” as an opportunity to teach us lessons in life that will prepare us for our blessings. If we spend our time in the valley obtaining Christ’s attributes, our obstacles are worth the struggle.
Once we ascend to the top of the mountain, we have the privilege of looking down on our valleys. We can see and understand why God told us to take a specific path in life. Looking down at my valleys, I can see the unnecessary harm or delays I would have caused myself had I disobeyed God’s word.
God will always leverage our good and bad situations to teach us lessons He knows we need to learn to live an extraordinary life. My valleys motivated me to deepen my relationship with Christ by trusting Him. I know that I can do all things through Christ (Phil 4:13). There’s no more incredible feeling in the world than conquering your problems with God.
When you align your plans with God, a life full of would’ve, could’ve, or should’ve can easily be avoided. However, if you fail to think about what you want to accomplish, you will feel like you missed out on life.
Regardless; of how busy you are, you must take time to decide which film you want to play next. You have to make sure your imagination will not hinder you from enjoying one of the most sought-after films many should and need to add to their collection—success.
