We’ve all had opposition in our lives right?  I think that is pretty much a given… So, moving onto the next question.  How do you let opposition affect you when you are on the path in life?  I’m here to tell you, I’ve not always done so well with opposition.  I’ve always been a people pleaser, if you will.  I want to make a good impression and not “rock the boat”.  However, life has changed an awful lot for me in recent years and I no longer feel the same.  This is my story, my goal and I hope and pray it will move and affect you in your journey!

I always had it in my mind that if I wanted to be a good Christian gal that it somehow meant pleasing everyone, not getting others upset and going with the flow as if not to cause disruption in someone else’s life.  Let me tell you, that is likely some of what caused me to go in the wrong directions I went in as I grew up and was able to start making choices for my own life.  Adulthood that is.  What I just described is not easy to live up to and so I ran in the opposite direction to try to “find myself”.  Thankfully, I eventually learned what I needed to and that the choices I was making weren’t any easier either.  I finally hit the bottom and realized I needed Jesus in my life to get things going in the right direction…but not on the terms I once understood to be His…instead learning His terms and a little secret called “Boundaries.” 

See, Jesus knew all along that He wasn’t about pleasing others.  He had a mission in life and He was determined to follow the path regardless of if and who it might offend.  He knew the path He needed to take and if people got in the way, He kept walking to His goal.  If others opposed what He was on His way to do, He simply dealt with it and moved onward.  And I thank the Lord each day that He lived just in this manner.  For it He had not, He likely would have never made it to the cross and never would have died for my sins that I might have eternal life in Heaven with Him someday!  Because He followed the path He was called to regardless of what others thought, supported Him or not, I am FREE today and the hurts and harms that I have had and have in my life no longer have to stand in the way if I so choose.

So today I ask of you…What is it in life that you are sensing, feeling, hearing from God in your spirit and in your soul that you need to press on toward?  Let me give you a word that you may need to hear.  Stay the path!  Do not steer off the path you need to follow.  Let Him be your guide and do not allow any opposition to stand in your way!  Others may question you, even doubt what you dream.  Do not let them determine your destiny for you!  If you feel that you right in line with what God has directed and you know that you are sensing His Holy Spirit with you…do not allow others to challenge it.  He has a plan for you and expects you to allow no others to stand in the way.  If you are destined to greatness, it will take this type of action to get there.  And friends, I tell you this…if you are destined for greatness, I guarantee you have others in the path all along the way that need you to make to the end goal!  There will be lives changed, lives Unchained and lives that will be called to greatness all along the way!  I’ve never known a story of God to work in any less than the multitudes and if you are called to greatness…you are just the same!

Now for the scriptures:

“A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here.  (There is also mushrooming opposition.) ”

 I Cor. 16:9 MSG

“Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size–abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks.  I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”

2 Cor. 12:10 MSG

“We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down.  We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting Gods’ Message to you, defiant of the opposition.”

2 Thessalonians 2: 2 MSG

“Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off.  Don’t give the opposition a second thought.”

1 Peter 3:14 MSG

“

Be prepared…There will be opposition in your path, on the journey.  You’ve got to be crazy to think that anything so great of an outcome would be so easy…just because God called you to it doesn’t mean the road will be smooth sailing!  It means it will be tougher than any other road you choose in life…because the outcome is devastating to the enemy and He will put up every roadblock possible to get you to stop!  Do not retreat…do not give up! 

Stay the path and the Lord is sure to be by your side.  It may not seem He is there but He is there every step of the way.  Do not allow fear or what looks to be failure set a stone in your way…if it does, start working on moving the stone aside that you may continue on the path.  Be prepared!  Take humility, pride, and even weapons for defense along the way.  If you are not prepared in your mind and heart that they will be there, you will be shocked and surprised when they pop up.  But, if you are prepared to defeat them, they will be of no surprise and although it may take you some new strategy here and there, you will recognize the battle and be ready to fight it as necessary!  Remember, friend or foe, no matter what the reasoning to oppose you (jealousy, fear of defeat, questioning of your motives and so on) it is not their journey…they are not called to it.  Stay the path and you will be blessed!

I have to tell you…there is a lot of conversation to be had about the topic of success. First of all, everyone seems to have their own opinions of how they define success. What is success to you? Is it making a certain amount of money, living in a certain house, driving a certain type of vehicle, keeping up with all the latest and most expensive fashions? I can tell you that all of these things can be a result of success but they do not actually define success or make you a success.

Interesting enough even the dictionary defines success much like what I have just described…here’s what is outlines:

success

1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.

2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

3. a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.

4. a person or thing that is successful: She was a great success on the talk show.

5. Obs. OUTCOME.

Now that we’ve got all the “facts” about success out there…let’s talk more in-depth. I want to be successful. I’d say for the most part, we all have a drive in us to be successful and at some point in life, whether large or small, we’ve likely all experienced success. This success I would like to discuss however is not the success that is described in the above definitions. The success I want to discuss is what I consider to be above and beyond all of that.

Success to me is something so much bigger than how it is defined. It is not simply a meeting of a goal or the completion of a task. It is not just winning the game or getting the job. It’s not getting married, having a family and moving into the house you’ve wanted. The success I’m talking about is the type that you live out in your life. The deep-rooted success system that takes you to all those mini successes and short goals in your life, and where you get that type of success and develop it.

True success is a lifestyle. It’s the realization that when something works as a result of a change, you take recognition, and implement it into your life…you do not go back to the old way of doing things or you will likely no longer stay on the path of success. Success is about discipline, follow through and the desire to be more than you believe you could be. So why don’t we all have success and why does it appear that some have success but truly aren’t happy? Not all of us have been able to tap into the power to bring us into that type of existence. Here’s why:

“True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for. If he tears something down, it’s down for good; if he locks people up, they’re locked up for good. If he holds back the rain, there’s a drought; if he lets it loose, there’s a flood. Strength and success belong to God; both deceived and deceiver must answer to him. He strips experts of their vaunted credentials, exposes judges as witless fools. He divests kings of their royal garments, then ties a rag around their waists. He strips priests or their robes, and fires high officials from their jobs. He forces trusted sages to keep silence, deprives elders of their good sense of wisdom. He dumps contempt on famous people, disarms the strong and mighty. He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness, hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun. He makes nations rise and then fall, builds up some and abandons others. He robs world leaders of their reason, and sends them off into no man’s land. They grope in the dark without a clue, lurching and staggering like drunks. (Job 12:13-25 MSG)

I think this says it all. We have no power, no strength and no success without God! I don’t know about you but God is the one who has given me the hope for success. The hope to know that even though things sometimes look like failure, people don’t always support me and sometimes even get in the way to my path of success…I know that the Lord will provide for me and I will continue to follow the path He has laid out for my life. Only He can give dreams and visions like what I have. Only He can give me the freedom from myself to live out what He has planned. Only He can give me the passion I have for others and the drive to keep the pedal to the metal to reach each and every goal and desire He has laid in front of me. He is the answer to success. He is the answer to being happy when you find true success. If you seem to keep missing the piece that brings it all together for you in life…perhaps this is your answer.

Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.
- Erma Bombeck

“Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”
- Abraham Lincoln

Case in point…Success truly is about WHO you are, not WHAT you are. – Missy