Here’s a question for you; what “I can’t ” do you regularly say to yourself?

Well, if  you’re anything like me, you probably have a list of things that you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do. One of my biggest ones to date has been that I simply can’t ride a bike. And the saddest thing has been that because I have believed that for so long, I simply haven’t tried; until today.

Over the past few months, I have embarked on a challenge that has literally began to transform nearly everything in my life. Through this challenge I have seen my personal journey with God impacted in a way i could never have imagined. This challenge has even began to have an effect on my emotional and physical well being, which has spilled over into my parenting and has even positively affected my marriage.
It is a challenge that I am hoping that by the end of this blog, you, too, will take up with me.
Over the past few months, I have simply began to consciously challenged my long list of “I can’t”.

And as I did so, I have began to grow in courage, in confidence and in fearlessness. And while I’m still on this journey, because for me, it’s probably one that I’m going to be on for  a little a lwhile longer, I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned so far.
For me, it began when one night I felt really challenged to begin ordering my home. I have always really struggled to stay on top of this throughout juggling home, full time work and a young family and would admire friends who could find time to keep on top of their houses but I had began to accept that for me, It probably wasn’t ever going to happen without the help of a regular cleaner.

But as I prayed with my husband one night, I really felt strongly that I should challenge that in me. Why had I been so ready to accept that I could never do it? so armed with a good book about how to have an orderly house and a week off work, my husband, children and I finally sorted out house out. It was the first time in a long time that I was happy with everything about my house. And I had shifted a huge mindset in my life that I had never thought would ever be possible. And even though I  was slightly doubtful about how long this change would last, I was nevertheless proud of myself for making a start. Six months later and our home is still well ordered, and the standards have stuck. The belief system I held about myself and my ability to be tidy at home was simply not true. Nor were the many excuses that I gave over the years, including being busy or having young children. When I began to challenge that mindset, so too, came the ideas to help me in tackling the obstacles.

Now you might be reading this and for you, this has never been an issue that you’ve struggled with- but perhaps there’s another like it- perhaps yours is that you have said to yourself that you could never lose weight- or that you could never get up early in the morning- or that you might never be able to eat healthily or exercise- the list is endless- but the issues are the same.

Let me ask you this- who told you that you can’t? Is that really the truth?

In the Bible, there is a similar scenario right at the beginning when Adam and Eve, the original man and woman are approached in the garden of Eden by the devil in the form of a serpent, questioning the truth of what God had told them. God had given Adam and eve full authority over everything in the garden and they could come and go as they pleased and could eat from any tree in there except from one- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had kept them from eating from it because he knew that it wouldn’t be good for them. But when the serpent questions them about it, they swallow the lie that they are actually being kept from the tree by God for a sinister reason and as a result they end up in a whole lot of trouble. They end up losing their place in the garden of Eden, sin enters the world And humankind begin a war with an enemy whose primary weapon against us is lies. And he loves nothing more than to tell you that you can’t do anything. That you are powerless and that you will always be the way you are now, without question.

The good news is that he is nothing but a liar and actually, the truth is, that through Jesus, who fought and won against this liar of an enemy, you can do ALL things; because unlike the devil, who is here to question whether you really can do it- I mean, you? Really? Jesus came, not only to help you to do anything that you were unable to do, including to turn your life around and begin to live a full life, which you absolutely CAN, he came to lend you a hand, to give you his strength and to help you to turn whatever you feel you can’t into “I can”.

After my success with the house I began to make a list of things that I have told myself that I couldn’t do and began to work through it. And little by little, I have seen some huge mountains begin to move. I have began to recover my voice and regain my confidence. And as I began to filter this list through the lenses of truth, the truth being that actually, I can do ALL things through Christ, it began to positively affect my marriage, my parenting and my self worth. So armed with that truth, today I went to learn how to ride a bike for the first time. It was beautiful- and although I am not fully there, I no longer believe that I can’t do it. And that goes for many things still on my list.

My question to you now is, what have you believed for so long that you simply cannot do? What would you attempt if you simply couldn’t fail? And finally, what is stopping you? Today, make a decision to challenge the lie that you can’t. because the truth is- that you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. And if you don’t know Jesus, make a decision today to get to know him. Because He is waiting to give you strength today to begin to say, I can.

Want to know God?

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Mark 9:23- “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”