Beat Up or Built Up?

Early mornings can be the hardest for me when it comes to feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy. I think its because my guard is down when I first wake up. It’s easy to let my thoughts bombard me with mental memo of all I need to do, how much time I don’t have, how I’m probably going to let someone down that day…and on and on. In my P31 devotion today I shared something that has really helped me overcome my early morning and all-through-the-day doubts:

One morning I woke up feeling beat up by discouragement. My mind was being bullied by thoughts of doubt: I can’t do it all! I am not cut out to be a wife, a mom, a daughter, a speaker, a writer and all the other things God has called me to.

My thoughts were against me, and my feelings were too.

I was laying in bed feeling completely inadequate when my radio alarm came on. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by Twila Paris singing to me. With confident assurance, she spoke truth to my soul, telling me this was no time for fear, but a time for faith and determination. She challenged me not to lose my vision or be carried away by my emotions, but to hold on to all that I had hidden in my heart, and all I believed to be true. Then she reminded me of the most important truth of all: God is in control.1

As I heard these words, my thoughts aligned with God’s truth. It changed my whole perspective. I went from feeling afraid to feeling determined and from feeling out of control to knowing God is in control.

We have the choice either to let doubt beat us up or to let God’s truth build us up.

If we have Christ in us, we have full access to God’s power and His promises to live with a confident heart. But it won’t just happen because it’s possible. We have to take action.

When my alarm came on that morning, I was so glad I’d set my radio to that station the night before, so I would wake up hearing encouraging music and truth. Just like I tuned into that station, we need to get intentional about tuning our thoughts into God’s thoughts toward us, every day.

In the same way a radio has AM and FM frequencies, so do our thoughts. They are either AM (against me) or FM (for me) thoughts. The truth is, we are often our worst critics and have a lot of AM thoughts.

And if our thoughts are against us, our feelings will be too.

So, the next time you get those feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are thinking that is making you feel that way. Then compare your thoughts about that situation to God’s thoughts, which are reflected in Scripture. Do they match? If not, find a promise in God’s Word to replace the lie that has filled your heart with doubt. Here are few to get your started:

• When doubt comes against me, saying I’m weak and all alone, I will focus on the truth that God is for me! I can be strong and courageous because the Lord my God is with me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV)

• When doubt comes against me, saying I’m not good enough for a certain role or position, I will remember God is for me! He says I am His masterpiece, created to be new in Christ so that I could do good things He planned long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NIV)

Want to pray with me? Lord, Your Word says I am a chosen woman, a royal priest, a holy daughter, a woman belonging to You. Help me remember that You are calling me out of the darkness of my doubts so that I can tell others about the Light I’ve found in You. Thank You that You are with me to fight for me against my enemies of insecurity and inadequacy. In all these things, I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• For more AM/FM thoughts visit my FREE resources page.
• Have you signed up for The 7-day DOUBT Diet? Over 29,000 people have and I’d love for you to join us!
• Also, if you haven’t already seen it, I’d love to share my book trailer video with you.  Please click the arrow to watch.

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Renee Swope – A Confident Heart Book Trailer from SoundPost Productions on Vimeo.

(If you’re reading this post via email, please click here to view my book trailer)

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Last week’s winner of 3 copies of A Confident Heart as well as a gift card and my message, “Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence” on CD or MP3 is Chaille — we’ll be in touch to get your mailing address.

I’m curious about your thoughts. Wondering if there is one doubt that beats you up the most? I’d love to build you up and pray for you this week. Simply “share your thoughts” below.