It’s March already?
Yyyyaaayyyy!!! Why the celebration? It’s my birth month, that why. March comes
as a reminder to me of God’s faithfulness and love for me. It’s a month of
reflection, a month of reconciliation, of re-determination, of re-dedication.
Simply put, March is a month of deliberate ‘Going
back to Zero’ for me. It’s a time to more intentionally than ever before,
revisit my original design and see how much further I have progressed in
alignment with God’s mandate and purpose for my life.
Yyyyaaayyyy!!! Why the celebration? It’s my birth month, that why. March comes
as a reminder to me of God’s faithfulness and love for me. It’s a month of
reflection, a month of reconciliation, of re-determination, of re-dedication.
Simply put, March is a month of deliberate ‘Going
back to Zero’ for me. It’s a time to more intentionally than ever before,
revisit my original design and see how much further I have progressed in
alignment with God’s mandate and purpose for my life.
True, many years ago I couldn’t
have said this… but I have grown and I am growing. And as I mature as a person
and as a son of God, intentionality of purpose is my passionate pursuit. That
simply means I can’t sit back and let life happen. No sis, I have to happen to
life the way God would have it be. No better time than the period counting down
to the completion of one more earthly year to do this, as I see it.
have said this… but I have grown and I am growing. And as I mature as a person
and as a son of God, intentionality of purpose is my passionate pursuit. That
simply means I can’t sit back and let life happen. No sis, I have to happen to
life the way God would have it be. No better time than the period counting down
to the completion of one more earthly year to do this, as I see it.
I hope I didn’t lose you at the ‘Going back to Zero’ phrase. Those who
have followed me over the years will be familiar with this, but if you are a
new enough reader, let me explain. The Zero principle was taught me by my
Coach, sister and friend Anna McCoy – entrepreneur extraordinaire, author of
the amazing book Woman Act Now, minister of the gospel, life coach and
all-round wonderful sista-pillar! Clearly I love this woman, lol. You would too
sis, I assure you. If she’s got your back, she’s GOT your back. An amazing
template for womanhood, Anna McCoy is for sure!
have followed me over the years will be familiar with this, but if you are a
new enough reader, let me explain. The Zero principle was taught me by my
Coach, sister and friend Anna McCoy – entrepreneur extraordinaire, author of
the amazing book Woman Act Now, minister of the gospel, life coach and
all-round wonderful sista-pillar! Clearly I love this woman, lol. You would too
sis, I assure you. If she’s got your back, she’s GOT your back. An amazing
template for womanhood, Anna McCoy is for sure!
Coach taught us that anything
that has a zero added to it increases. When you add a zero to 1, you get 10 and
when you add another zero to that, you get 100…etc, ad infinitum. The Scripture in John 3 v 30 – 31 says ‘He must increase, but I must decrease. He
(the Holy Spirit) that comes from above is above all’. The Holy Spirit is
infinite and boundless in His wisdom, power, and might…you know this right
sis? Going back to Zero is therefore you and I saying ‘Lord, I choose to decrease, that Your Holy Spirit might increase in
me’. Going back to Zero is recognizing that our power comes from the God in
us, and that each time we allow more of Him to hold sway in us, we are more
powerful, more knowledgeable, more ‘more’
of any and everything than we can be and do in Christ!
that has a zero added to it increases. When you add a zero to 1, you get 10 and
when you add another zero to that, you get 100…etc, ad infinitum. The Scripture in John 3 v 30 – 31 says ‘He must increase, but I must decrease. He
(the Holy Spirit) that comes from above is above all’. The Holy Spirit is
infinite and boundless in His wisdom, power, and might…you know this right
sis? Going back to Zero is therefore you and I saying ‘Lord, I choose to decrease, that Your Holy Spirit might increase in
me’. Going back to Zero is recognizing that our power comes from the God in
us, and that each time we allow more of Him to hold sway in us, we are more
powerful, more knowledgeable, more ‘more’
of any and everything than we can be and do in Christ!
So yes, March is that month for
me when I re-calibrate and allow myself zero-out again fully. Nothing like a
birthday to remind you how blessed you are to be alive, how graced you are to
still have the opportunity to be used of God and for His glory. But…. this actually
isn’t my subject today. As the Lord has led though, I trust that what I have
said so far has been a word for someone, but let me get to what I originally
planned to share shall I? Lol
me when I re-calibrate and allow myself zero-out again fully. Nothing like a
birthday to remind you how blessed you are to be alive, how graced you are to
still have the opportunity to be used of God and for His glory. But…. this actually
isn’t my subject today. As the Lord has led though, I trust that what I have
said so far has been a word for someone, but let me get to what I originally
planned to share shall I? Lol
I was listening to a sermon by
Steven Furtick and he said ‘The shoe
should never tell the foot how big it can become’. I thought this was
pretty profound and I wrote it on a Post-it slip on my son’s reading desk where
I’d been working on something while listening in. I didn’t give it much more
thought until a couple of days later when my son came to me and said ‘Mum, what does that quote you penned down
mean really? And we then had a conversation about it.
Steven Furtick and he said ‘The shoe
should never tell the foot how big it can become’. I thought this was
pretty profound and I wrote it on a Post-it slip on my son’s reading desk where
I’d been working on something while listening in. I didn’t give it much more
thought until a couple of days later when my son came to me and said ‘Mum, what does that quote you penned down
mean really? And we then had a conversation about it.
I started by reminding him how
when he was much younger he had loved to put his feet into his father’s shoes,
and oversized as they were, he devised a technology with which he could not
only walk, but also run around in them – albeit providing us with quite an
amusing spectacle in the process. His same father’s shoes stuffed with tissues
up-front would be his saving grace at a school event years later where he
needed to wear a suit, but didn’t have formal shoes to go with them. As long as
there was room enough, the size 44 shoes worked well for him. I reminded him
that he was exactly 11 years old when his own feet became size 44, the shoes
fit just right and he entered direct competition with his father for who could
get to which shoes faster. By the time
he was 13 though, he was a size 45 and today he is a size 46…. two clear sizes larger than the very shoes that once were ‘room
enough’ and ‘just right’. And
this dear sis is what I believe the Lord wants me to speak to you today – the
twin challenges of ‘room enough’ and ‘just right’.
when he was much younger he had loved to put his feet into his father’s shoes,
and oversized as they were, he devised a technology with which he could not
only walk, but also run around in them – albeit providing us with quite an
amusing spectacle in the process. His same father’s shoes stuffed with tissues
up-front would be his saving grace at a school event years later where he
needed to wear a suit, but didn’t have formal shoes to go with them. As long as
there was room enough, the size 44 shoes worked well for him. I reminded him
that he was exactly 11 years old when his own feet became size 44, the shoes
fit just right and he entered direct competition with his father for who could
get to which shoes faster. By the time
he was 13 though, he was a size 45 and today he is a size 46…. two clear sizes larger than the very shoes that once were ‘room
enough’ and ‘just right’. And
this dear sis is what I believe the Lord wants me to speak to you today – the
twin challenges of ‘room enough’ and ‘just right’.
The challenge with ‘room enough’:
As I explained to my son, once we
are in shoes that seem to have room enough, if we are not careful, those very
shoes tell us just how far we can grow and we might not stop to think that
there are sizes beyond that. I mean, when you are a size 20, then size 44 shoes
seem to you like a great leap right? More than double where you are right? If
you could grow into them, that would be remarkable right? The world would and
should clap for you if you were able to double your business, the reach of your
ministry, your wealth, etc right? And hey, let’s face it…. Given the odds you
would definitely have to overcome to get to double, you should also applaud
yourself right? And you should bless God for establishing you right? Yes sis,
you well should. Certainly, you should and the world should! But…. there is so
much ‘more’ out there, sis. There is!
are in shoes that seem to have room enough, if we are not careful, those very
shoes tell us just how far we can grow and we might not stop to think that
there are sizes beyond that. I mean, when you are a size 20, then size 44 shoes
seem to you like a great leap right? More than double where you are right? If
you could grow into them, that would be remarkable right? The world would and
should clap for you if you were able to double your business, the reach of your
ministry, your wealth, etc right? And hey, let’s face it…. Given the odds you
would definitely have to overcome to get to double, you should also applaud
yourself right? And you should bless God for establishing you right? Yes sis,
you well should. Certainly, you should and the world should! But…. there is so
much ‘more’ out there, sis. There is!
The problem with ‘room enough’ is that it can limit your
ability to see your truest potential in its grandest form according to God’s purpose
and design. Room enough is comfortable; it has ample space; it allows you revel
in movement no matter how small, to celebrate victories that are actually below
your best. Room enough limits your vision. It frames acceptable borders for you
…acceptable particularly because you haven’t yet begun to realize that those
borders exist to confine and constrain you. The biggest problem with room
enough is that you have an end-point in view at which you can define that you
have ‘arrived’ at your maximum best,
and that is one of the most dangerous places to be as far as God’s purpose is
concerned. Does this make sense, sis? I pray so.
ability to see your truest potential in its grandest form according to God’s purpose
and design. Room enough is comfortable; it has ample space; it allows you revel
in movement no matter how small, to celebrate victories that are actually below
your best. Room enough limits your vision. It frames acceptable borders for you
…acceptable particularly because you haven’t yet begun to realize that those
borders exist to confine and constrain you. The biggest problem with room
enough is that you have an end-point in view at which you can define that you
have ‘arrived’ at your maximum best,
and that is one of the most dangerous places to be as far as God’s purpose is
concerned. Does this make sense, sis? I pray so.
The challenge with ‘Just right’:
So, eventually, my son grew into
a 44-size shoe. The same shoe size his father had been long before my son was born. 44
was the shoe size he had aspired to fill even as a young boy running around in
his father’s oversized shoes…it was his subconscious self-limiting border. As his own feet hit size 44, ‘just right’ happened! And don’t get me
wrong sis…‘just right’ is great. It really is! But therein lays the problem in
itself! Just right is an affirmation that all your efforts, all the growing and
stretching have been worth it in the end. Just right is ‘arriving’… it’s a
place of victory. ‘Just right’ works sis. It does! Think about it. My son suddenly had
access to several dozen pairs of shoes. And what a variety of shoes he then had
access to – formal, casual, sports, slip-on’s, etc. He had access to red shoes,
black shoes, grey shoes, blue shoes, shoes with a combination of colors. He
could choose between pure leather shoes, patent leather, suede shoes, etc. I
mean, he literally had it going on at the point of size 44… at his ‘just
right’. So yeah, just right works! But, it’s only meant to work for a season
sis…that is God’s way! So why do so many of us tend to settle at ‘just right’?
a 44-size shoe. The same shoe size his father had been long before my son was born. 44
was the shoe size he had aspired to fill even as a young boy running around in
his father’s oversized shoes…it was his subconscious self-limiting border. As his own feet hit size 44, ‘just right’ happened! And don’t get me
wrong sis…‘just right’ is great. It really is! But therein lays the problem in
itself! Just right is an affirmation that all your efforts, all the growing and
stretching have been worth it in the end. Just right is ‘arriving’… it’s a
place of victory. ‘Just right’ works sis. It does! Think about it. My son suddenly had
access to several dozen pairs of shoes. And what a variety of shoes he then had
access to – formal, casual, sports, slip-on’s, etc. He had access to red shoes,
black shoes, grey shoes, blue shoes, shoes with a combination of colors. He
could choose between pure leather shoes, patent leather, suede shoes, etc. I
mean, he literally had it going on at the point of size 44… at his ‘just
right’. So yeah, just right works! But, it’s only meant to work for a season
sis…that is God’s way! So why do so many of us tend to settle at ‘just right’?
Sis, translate this to your life.
Do a quick self-assessment and ask yourself where you have hit ‘just right’….and where you may have
settled. If my son had settled at just
right, his shoes would have continued to pinch as his feet grew larger. But you
know what? If he didn’t realize there was a ‘more’, he could simply have taken the pinch on his toes as the pain
that goes with the territory of ‘I’ve arrived
at the max shoe size… which I can
also restate as ‘I’ve attained the
self-imposed limit of my growth and success’. He could have made excuses
for the ‘cut’ of the shoes being the cause of the pain. He could have started
to rationalize that pure leather shoes didn’t hurt as much as the others, and
he could then have constrained himself to wearing painful pure leather size 44
shoes for the rest of his life. He could have found many ways to justify the
discomfort of settling with size 44 shoes, whereas in truth the discomfort was God
calling him to stretch to the size 46 God had ahead of him.
Do a quick self-assessment and ask yourself where you have hit ‘just right’….and where you may have
settled. If my son had settled at just
right, his shoes would have continued to pinch as his feet grew larger. But you
know what? If he didn’t realize there was a ‘more’, he could simply have taken the pinch on his toes as the pain
that goes with the territory of ‘I’ve arrived
at the max shoe size… which I can
also restate as ‘I’ve attained the
self-imposed limit of my growth and success’. He could have made excuses
for the ‘cut’ of the shoes being the cause of the pain. He could have started
to rationalize that pure leather shoes didn’t hurt as much as the others, and
he could then have constrained himself to wearing painful pure leather size 44
shoes for the rest of his life. He could have found many ways to justify the
discomfort of settling with size 44 shoes, whereas in truth the discomfort was God
calling him to stretch to the size 46 God had ahead of him.
Sis, what are the pains in your
life that you are making adjustments and accommodations for because you feel
you have arrived at your ‘just right’?
What excuses are you making for not stretching? What are the ‘perks’ of your
arrival at ‘just right’ that are
blinding you to seeing the ‘more’
that is up ahead, the more that you were designed for in the first place? Sis, from
as simple a belief that you are not even qualified to have arrived at size 44
in the first place… from as simple a mindset of ‘let me just be grateful that I made it this far’, you can settle at
way below your potential and God’s purpose for your life. Sis, what do you know
that you know that you know, that God is calling you to come up higher in?
life that you are making adjustments and accommodations for because you feel
you have arrived at your ‘just right’?
What excuses are you making for not stretching? What are the ‘perks’ of your
arrival at ‘just right’ that are
blinding you to seeing the ‘more’
that is up ahead, the more that you were designed for in the first place? Sis, from
as simple a belief that you are not even qualified to have arrived at size 44
in the first place… from as simple a mindset of ‘let me just be grateful that I made it this far’, you can settle at
way below your potential and God’s purpose for your life. Sis, what do you know
that you know that you know, that God is calling you to come up higher in?
I have used the analogy of a
simple phrase about shoes translated in near literal form, to also try to speak
God’s heart to you, sis. Today, the Lord is asking you to take a good look at
your life, at what you have done, at what you are doing… and He is asking you
to compare it with what you have the potential to do, to be and to achieve. But
here is the thing, sis… God is not asking you to make this comparison based on
your own strengths. No! Rather, He is asking you to look at your potential from
the point of view of the breath that He breathed into you, the gifts and
abilities that He imputed into you at creation, the ‘more’ that He has for you if you would go back to Zero and allow His
power in you truly avail for you.
simple phrase about shoes translated in near literal form, to also try to speak
God’s heart to you, sis. Today, the Lord is asking you to take a good look at
your life, at what you have done, at what you are doing… and He is asking you
to compare it with what you have the potential to do, to be and to achieve. But
here is the thing, sis… God is not asking you to make this comparison based on
your own strengths. No! Rather, He is asking you to look at your potential from
the point of view of the breath that He breathed into you, the gifts and
abilities that He imputed into you at creation, the ‘more’ that He has for you if you would go back to Zero and allow His
power in you truly avail for you.
I just saw a tweet that said ‘Your life is too small to be the purpose of
your life’, to which I had responded ‘Absolutely’,
for really that is just it, sis. Our lives are way beyond us! And if this is
true (which I assure you it is), then we must reach for that ‘more’ that God has for us. We must reach
for more because there are more lives that God has purposed to be blessed
because we fulfill the fullness of our potential. Do you get this, sis? God is
calling you today to revisit what size you think you are, sis. He is telling
you and I expressly that we are at least two sizes larger than where we have
settled. He is asking us to stretch, sis…. to take the limiting shoes off and
allow our feet grow into ‘more’. He
is assuring us that we can do it because of the greater One that is in us. He
is asking us to put away that ultimately false ‘humility’ that keeps us from
wanting to be more, and He is saying ‘more is who I called you to be. Don’t settle!’.
your life’, to which I had responded ‘Absolutely’,
for really that is just it, sis. Our lives are way beyond us! And if this is
true (which I assure you it is), then we must reach for that ‘more’ that God has for us. We must reach
for more because there are more lives that God has purposed to be blessed
because we fulfill the fullness of our potential. Do you get this, sis? God is
calling you today to revisit what size you think you are, sis. He is telling
you and I expressly that we are at least two sizes larger than where we have
settled. He is asking us to stretch, sis…. to take the limiting shoes off and
allow our feet grow into ‘more’. He
is assuring us that we can do it because of the greater One that is in us. He
is asking us to put away that ultimately false ‘humility’ that keeps us from
wanting to be more, and He is saying ‘more is who I called you to be. Don’t settle!’.
Our God is limitless, sis. And we
who are created in His very image and likeness, we in whom He lives, we
shouldn’t be the ones placing limits on the purpose of creation, and of the
Creator. God is asking you and I to take some time today to seek His face, in
the quietness of worship to seek to hear His voice as He speaks to us what He
needs us to deliver on. It in one of such quiet encounters, seeking His face, that
God said to me that He has ‘graced me to
deliver specifics in my latter years’. For me that clearly means that I
need to be attentive and always listening out for what He would have me do next…
for instructions concerning my ‘more’,
especially as He also said to me that this year He would speak to me more ‘on the go’.
who are created in His very image and likeness, we in whom He lives, we
shouldn’t be the ones placing limits on the purpose of creation, and of the
Creator. God is asking you and I to take some time today to seek His face, in
the quietness of worship to seek to hear His voice as He speaks to us what He
needs us to deliver on. It in one of such quiet encounters, seeking His face, that
God said to me that He has ‘graced me to
deliver specifics in my latter years’. For me that clearly means that I
need to be attentive and always listening out for what He would have me do next…
for instructions concerning my ‘more’,
especially as He also said to me that this year He would speak to me more ‘on the go’.
Sis, you need your own word from
God so you can push through to the next phase of growth He has for you. He is
here and He hears. He loves you and He is willing to help you. Please take off
whatever comfy-sized shoes you have on today and allow God stretch you, sis.
And can I tell you something? Stretching never ends! You never arrive as far as
God is concerned. When you do, then that is the day of your calling to the
other side of eternity. And you and I know our hearts cry is to hear ‘Well done’ right, sis? By the grace and
power of God, we will die empty of all the Lord has purposed for us to deliver
on this earth. The Holy Spirit will help you sis. He is certainly helping me!
God so you can push through to the next phase of growth He has for you. He is
here and He hears. He loves you and He is willing to help you. Please take off
whatever comfy-sized shoes you have on today and allow God stretch you, sis.
And can I tell you something? Stretching never ends! You never arrive as far as
God is concerned. When you do, then that is the day of your calling to the
other side of eternity. And you and I know our hearts cry is to hear ‘Well done’ right, sis? By the grace and
power of God, we will die empty of all the Lord has purposed for us to deliver
on this earth. The Holy Spirit will help you sis. He is certainly helping me!
Be blessed sis… for you surely
are!
are!
Great shoe analogy. God help us to yearn for more and never be contented with just enough.
Amen and Amen sis.
No limits to what God will do with our us. Why limit God?