3 Things That Inspire You to Grow Stronger When Life Is Not Fair

When life seems to be beating up on you, what do you do? Who or where do you turn to? For me:

Great Inspirational Music, and...

A phenomenal contemporary Christian music singer, and a former one-word-name idol contestant, "Mandisa" (blog post), has created a phenomenal song that reflects part of her journey to wholeness from a place of eating disorder (she lost 100 pounds by the time this song was released). I don’t know if she is a survivor like me or not, but eating disorders are very common with survivors … and that happens to be part of my story. Her music has encouraged me in my personal life to help me be reminded of my faith and have perspective about circumstances.

...Great Movies and Books

In addition to, inspirational music, there are also some great movies, like The Matrix (instant view link); and especially EPIC books like "Think and Grow Rich" (kindle download link) and "On Her Own Ground" (review link) - which have helped me to grow my faith stronger beyond the usual church-y cliches and to become more determined. These inspirational things help me because they remind me that "there is no spoon" (movie reference).

To me, that spoon represents failure and this scene (see short movie clip below) contrasts humanized faith versus the untainted faith and trust in God that a little child has before their innocence fades away on its own living daily life in this world (or is taken from them, which happens when there is abuse from a young age). Jesus actually talked about this in his preaching, that we need to believe like little children who have untainted trust in God.

That definitely takes strong faith. And to break it down further, this means that I let go of control and allow myself to see through My Heavenly Father's eyes of faith. It's like He has put special high tech glasses on my eyes so that, like Him, I can see past the illusions. I can see that what is really there are obstacles and barriers I can easily overcome, with the proper strategy, preparation, equipment and maintained focus.

CONSIDER THIS

Failure does not exist in the Kingdom of God because God has never failed, per branding expert Marshawn Evans. Did you know that? Those obstacles, or glitches in life, are all really just illusions and practice exercises for you and me to "work out" with, and just make our faith stronger.

By the way, Mandisa's song is called “Stronger” and is so totally appropriate for this discussion.

Question: What inspires and helps you gain perspective and be reminded about your growing faith? How do you grow stronger inside when the outside looks like you're already defeated?

Thanks for reading.

Hope to see your answers soon.

Sincerely,