We made it! This is our last day together. I hope you have learned much in this process of Doing Hard Things and I trust you’ve grown in confidence. The fact that you have been willing to go through this study and lean into God during this season will reap great benefits. He sees it all! It all counts!
Today, we will conclude with our story of David and Goliath. Let’s look at our last characteristic of Doing Hard Things well, which leads to spiritual promotion. Please review 1 Samuel 17:35-37.
I want us to take note that we can’t have or expect a victory if we don’t have it germinating inside of us. If we have an unbelieving heart, a critical spirit, or we are overwhelmed with self-pity, we can’t expect God to respond. If you do the work on the inside, you will see it on the outside. The Bible says, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.”
When David communicated he could kill this Philistine, I would suggest that those around him saw a faith they couldn’t deny. They hadn’t seen any other warrior with such confidence. They saw David’s supernatural faith because once they heard this, they believed and immediately began to prepare him, even though he was not a trained warrior.
I believe this exact thing happens to each of us! When we begin to really believe the God who did it before will do it again, others will see what we have been building on the inside. And once they see our strong faith and confidence in God, they will mirror that same faith and confidence as well.
Our whole study has been about understanding you are anointed to do Hard Things well! You may not have realized, but you are growing in such a way that others will be able to see a change in you. They have been watching you do your Hard Things and have grown in courage to do their own. They will grow in confidence as they watch you respond to the Holy Spirit and determine to have faith. They will find their own personal limitations and boundaries as they watch you operate and manage your own yard well. They will see you define your life by your faith and not just your failure. They will watch you believe your God is bigger than the enemy and his weapons of fear and unbelief will not hinder you. They will take hope in your diligence to sow seeds and look for a harvest. They will watch a person who believes God, takes incredible initiative, and declares the God who has done it, will do it again!
Growing up, I had many learning disabilities. Just the fact that each of you are holding this book is an incredible miracle. I could never have written or published a book on my own but it was the grace of God and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit enabling me to do what I could not do on my own. At the age of 17, the Holy Spirit got ahold of my life and began to challenge me to believe for greater things. What the world had said over me was not the truth: that I would never be able to read and write in a strong way. So, I started small and began to write and share teachings. When I felt defeated, I would go after those lies and destroy them with the Word of God. I did not allow the devil to lie to me for very long.
As the years went by, victories would come and so would defeats. Yet, I continued to expect success because I had seen it before.
Years later, I had a dream to write a study that would help many people. The study was called “Keep Calm and Finish Strong.” This study was my Goliath. It was the biggest battle I had ever faced. Each day, as I sat down to write, it took everything I had. It did not come naturally for me. It was not easy. It was excruciatingly hard. But, like a hiker who climbs a great mountain, I held onto my backpack and put one foot in front of the other. On the day the book was complete, I felt a huge triumph in my heart. I had killed my Goliath!!! I’ve had learned to DO HARD THINGS.
And now, as we finish I Do Hard Things, I’m struck with the reality that the God who did it before, has done it again…and He will do the same in your life. This is not the end of the story. You have bigger mountains to climb and greater heights to conquer. There are many people waiting for you on the other side of your obedience as you climb out of your pit of pain and into your promised land.
