You know that phrase, “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them”? That’s how I feel about feelings! Though I can’t imagine life without them, feelings can also majorly mess us up, yes?
Hi, everybody! Katrina Wylie back with you again, to wrap up Week 2!
When I read Habit Two, “She follows through with her commitments despite how she feels,” I instantly went, “Oooh.” And not the same “Oooh” I had when I discovered allergy-free brownies at the store the other day. Nope. It was more of an “Oooh” that’s followed by a shudder, because Habit Two taps into an inner battle way down in the depths of my heart.
Yes, I guess you could say I’ve struggled to be the “she” referred to in Habit Two … sigh. Perhaps you, too?
But what I’m loving about 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit is that not only is Nicki Koziarz completely real with her struggles; she also provides practical application for REAL LIFE.
Cue the celebrations!!!
We’re not alone, friend, and like Nicki says,
“Feelings don’t have to be what fuels our faith.”
With God, through this study, we CAN and ARE learning ways to overcome.
I don’t know about you, but THAT gives me hope. And, friend, THERE’S POWER IN HOPE!
As Nicki puts it:
“Hope is a confidence that faith will give us the strength to push through every hard and trying circumstance.”
Could you use a little more of that confidence-filled hope, too? Here are just a few practical, “can-do” steps from Chapter 4 that are hope builders for me:
- Continually pause, asking God for strength
- Turn to the hope others can help us find
- Use the “Filter of Hope” to change our perspective (Discontent + Disorder =
Despair Hope)
- Identify the little moments that trip us up
Friend, every time you read your #5HabitsBook, can I encourage you to go on a hope quest of your own? To pray to God, asking Him to reveal just the right applications YOU need to build up hope in YOUR heart? And to jot those things down, asking for His help to apply them?
God wants to give you a confident hope that leads to a strength-filled faith. He wants YOU to experience victory!
Confident Hope –> Strength-Filled Faith –> Victory!
Reflect and Respond:
Observe — To help change your perspective from despair to hope, list 5 things that are a blessing to you right now in an area where you feel like quitting.
Bible — Read Romans 15:13. How can we remain in hope when we feel like quitting? Read Zephaniah 3:17. How does this verse help fill your hope with confidence that you can see your commitments through?
Stretch — Go on a hope quest through Chapter 4! List in your journal the applications that speak hope into YOUR heart. Pick one to apply and determine how you’re going to apply it.