Cultivating a Confident Heart

What would you do if Jesus was walking in your neighborhood preaching the gospel? Would you run toward him for healing or would you cower in a corner because you were ashamed?

For a season I would have turned away from him, fleeing from the Son of God who would easily see what lined my heart, would see these wrong places of refuge that this deep wound led me to believe were safe.

There were times when I knew what I was doing was wrong. A pattern of destruction snowballed into a large lie, one where I believed my life had flat lined and there was nothing I could do to revive it.

When you feel helpless the world tempts you to take back the power at whatever cost.

But my choices overwhelmed me and soon it all became too much, the emptiness crying out to be purged.

At a time I felt change was impossible, I somehow managed to lay out the weakness in front of those that might be able to help.

My husband.

My friends.

My family.

My God.

Feelings were hurt and confusion pierced certain relationships. But God was there to pick up the pieces, His hand holding me the whole time while we established new boundaries.

Slowly the muddy water sifted clean. The story emerging from my heart was not one of a woman damaged for life but one that was being redeemed and made new. Jesus took my sin to the cross long ago, and these past 13 months I have watched God’s plan for my life intricately unfold.

In Ch. 7 of When a Woman Finds Her Voice, Jo Ann explains ten things NOT to do when finding your voice. I’m putting my own spin on that list and sharing ten things I’m doing to help me cultivate the confident heart God desires for me.

I’m giving my voice the authenticity it deserves.

I’ve begun living my life for the One who created me.

I’m learning to forgive those who hurt me in order to heal my own heart.

I’m beginning each day with the realization that I am loved through my imperfection.

I’m making a conscious effort to handle situations differently than before (think proactive instead of reactive).

I’m accepting that I cannot control everything (girls, this is a tough one for me).

I’m continuing to set healthy boundaries in relationships.

I’m recognizing that I need to dream—God can take me further than I ever thought possible.

I’m processing that even in sorrow there is joy but it’s my job to seek it out.

I understand how sharing my story can help other people heal from life’s painful circumstances; my voice holds hope.

 

Each of these steps are a work in progress and with God’s help I am overcoming so many things. Won’t you take that step too?

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Together a group of us have been walking through the book, When A Woman Finds Her Voice: Overcoming Life’s Hurts & Using Your Story to Make a Difference. We join hands and hearts here to paint a wide hope. {We’d like to think it’s wide enough to tempt you to your own healing journey.} We invite you to join us.

This week’s link up is about how to take our pain and turn it into the healing that will project us into a future of hope and healing. How are you cultivating a confident heart? What positive changes are you making to heal life’s wounds? How are you moving toward a new life in Christ? 

Consider joining us? Link up your blog with us by listing it below {Please be sure that JoAnnFore.com is somewhere in your post to link up}? If you aren’t a blogger, be sure to leave a comment and join the conversation. We want to know how God is stirring in your heart. And be sure to stop in on some of the other bloggers, you never know the heart-connection that might be waiting.