1 Samuel 15:17,  Samuel then said, “You may be small in your own sight, but you are head of the tribes of Israel ~ the Lord anointed you king over Israel!

Wow!  So, here we have Samuel calling King Saul out because the Lord had told him to completely destroy the Amalekites but instead, they pounced on the plunder.  Saul didn’t fully obey and he put the people in a position of sinning against God.  Saul was King of the land!  He had God-given authority over the people but he didn’t have the confidence in who God said he was.  On the outside it may have looked like he did, after all, he had just taken it into his own hands to do his own thing.  If you read 1 Samuel you can see over and over that Saul had no confidence in God’s confidence in him, you see him jealous of what other people could do or their call, and he got all worked up over what other people had to say. The more you read about him the more obvious it is that at the end of the day, it was because Saul really didn’t follow God with his whole heart.  

You cannot worry about whether or not anyone else believes in you and what you believe God has given you to do.  The Almighty God believes He did a great job creating you and He knows what you are capable of.  Whatever you do, don’t allow anyone to keep you boxed in.  God moves forward constantly and there are very few people who are just called to something and they do that one thing for the rest of their lives and part of the reason fr that is because if you are open, God is teaching you something with every different task He gives you.  The most successful people in life are those who can move forward when God says, stop doing that because I am moving you into something new.  I struggle with that at times because I not only have my personal finances I have to take care of the finances for the ministry as well, so I have to try different things, if something isn’t working then just like any store you may go to, or restaurant, or company, if something isn’t working for them, they know they have to change and find something that will.  Satan will use other people to try to tell you that if you try something new then you aren’t trustworthy, but if God is showing you that He has something different or maybe a new way to do what you are already doing, follow Him.  He knows!  Other people don’t know what God has in store for you.  

If you are struggling with a decision or with your confidence in what you believe God is calling you to do ~ spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word!  Don’t jump the gun ~ I am a bit ADD and that would be part of my problem because satan loves to distract us with something new and shiny so ask God to give you a “double confirmation”.  That may come with a verse, or a sermon, or maybe a trusted friend or mentor confirming it after spending time in prayer as well.  Go to Him.  Don’t be desperate.  Trust Him and allow Him to guide you.  You don’t need other people’s approval on something God has put His stamp of approval on in your life!  Go after it ~ don’t be afraid.  As He commanded Joshua, “Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you” when you are following His lead! Be careful what you say to yourself about yourself. Remember ~ with God you are capable of doing anything He puts in front of you to do, it just takes the determination to set aside what other people may say, or how you feel and just do it anyway!

Quote of the day:  “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.