A Tale of Three Kings: Two Lessons To Inspire Growth in You

Personally I have been working on an area of my life that needs growth, and that is my heart. You might ask: what does the heart have to do with personal growth? I would say everything! Why? Because if I don’t examine my heart toward God, me, and others I will never be able to understand and love God, myself and others more than I am currently doing.

Over the years, I have had really good people who have brought the best out of me and others who have been really annoying. You would say such is life, right? But I always wondered why some people made me happy and others, sad!

Most people would recommend for me to stay away from those who made me sad and cling to those who made me happy. Why? Because life is too short.

But I wanted to know why someone has the power to annoy me and make me really sad. Is it something in me or in them that brings this awkward emotion? Is there something that I am missing? Could I be blind toward certain areas of my life that someone else sees? Are they helping me outgrow some negative vibes am unaware of ? Is there something in my life that is stopping me from achieving my true potential that needs to be cutoff? Were they divinely positioned by God to help me grow? Were they sent to purify and prepare me for my destiny? These and many more questions raced through my mind and in the quest to find answers, a friend and a disciple of Christ recommended a book titled “A Tale of Three Kings”. This book is about three kings: Saul, David, and Absalom. I have not finished reading the book but it has being very impactful and I thought that I should share some of the insights that I have found very helpful to my cause.

  1. The author highlighted three things David learned that prevented him from been hit by Saul’s spear.

    One, never learn anything about the fashionable, easily mastered art of spear throwing. Two, stay out of the company of all spear throwers. And three, keep your mouth tightly closed.

    I think that these three points are so true if you don’t want to be like your adversary but your best self. If you choose to revenge or do to your enemies what they have done to you then you are just like them, David not desiring to be like Saul, chose the hardest way out…he walked away without saying a word!

  2. As time passes, the behavior of your adversary reveals a great deal about him/her. And the passing of time, and the way you react to him/her reveals a great deal about you.

I found the latter part very interesting because it is true. Our reactions are a revelation of our true selves. Do I like my reactions to those who annoy me?

Looking at the story of Saul and David, I believe that God put Saul in his life to help him see how not to be a king in the order of Saul. God used Saul to purge David of any Saulness in him lol.

In conclusion, God might have put certain people in our lives to help us become who we were born to be rather than be influenced by them and become like them. I am now focusing on what has been said and not on the one who said it, if there is any truth in it, I simply change my ways and grow up. If I see a bad attitude and/or attribute in someone, I check myself and if I find that same thing in me I cut it off.

Change takes place in a split second, it is the decision to change that takes forever.

Take a look at all your tormentors and adversaries and ask yourself this simple question: what is God trying to teach me?

I will come back with lessons from the concluding part. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Bibobra.

Are You Resourceful?

One day a rancher’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the rancher endeavored to make sense of what to do. At long last, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth the hassle to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to scoop dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried frightfully. At that point, surprisingly, he calmed down.
A couple of scoop stacks later, the rancher at long last looked down the well and was astounded at what he saw. With each scoop of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was accomplishing something stunning. He would shake it off and make a stride up. As his neighbors kept on scooping soil over the animal, he would shake it off and make a stride up.
Pretty soon, everybody was astonished as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and jogged off!

Moral Lesson: Life is always going to scoop dirt on you. It is almost inevitable but to succeed and live the lifestyle you desire, you must choose to never give up and be resourceful. Shake It Off and Step Up!

 

 

10 Inspiring Quotes To Overcome Self-Doubt

But for self-doubt most of us would have been at the pinnacle of our lives living productive and fulfilling lifestyles. We have the potential to excel and become all that we want to become but fear of attempting holds us back.

Here is a collection of powerful quotes to inspire you to overcome self-doubt, conquer your fears, and live life to the best of your abilities.

  1. “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare
  2. “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt” – Sylvia Plath
  3. “If you hear a voice within you say you cannot pain, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gosh
  4. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Suzy Kassem
  5. You do not need to pay attention to those voices within you that create pain, or make you feel less competent, smart or able.” – Sanaya Roman
  6. “Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.” – Dan Millman
  7. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie
  8. “Erase self-doubt by working to build your strengths instead of focusing on your weaknesses.” – Rodolfo Costa
  9. “Don’t let others tell you what you cant do. Don’t let the limitations of others limit your vision. If you can remove your self-doubt and believe in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible.” – Roy T. Bennett
  10. “Belief in oneself is incredibly infectious. It generates momentum, the collective force of which far outweighs any kernel of self-doubt that may creep in.” – Aimee Mullins

 

 

Are You A Quitter or A Fighter?

Feelings of disappointment, lack of fulfillment, self-doubt, depression, and general sadness flood our minds when our expectations are not met. That awkward feeling of inadequacy, when we know that we are capable to get more out of life but can’t just seem to get it right, that moment when we begin to ask those depressing questions like why is my situation always different? Why can’t I just do incredible things and enjoy life just like every other person? Why am I so unlucky? Am I biting more than I can chew?

Negative thoughts like maybe I am not just destined for greatness, maybe I expect too much from myself, maybe I was not destined for success, maybe I should just settle for the little that I have, well in life there are two kinds of people the haves and the have-nots so maybe I belong to the have-nots since it is not working out for me; flood our minds constantly.

The debate continues within your inner-self…look at Jay, Jacinta, and Jake, we all graduated high school or college at the same time but they are all successful, it is not just gonna work out for me, come to think of it, I have worked so hard even more than them but I am just a failure, all those who looked up to me have now surpassed me, l can’t even pay my bills because I am investing so much in myself yet nothing to show for all my hard work, I wish I wasn’t born.

The truth is that we are all traveling through different paths, but are heading to a common destination. It is a fact that all streams flow into the sea, but they never take the same path; some may take longer but eventually end up in the sea. Be patient and continue to do your part and just as Proverbs 3:6 says, if you commit all your ways to God, He will make your path straight.

If at any point you feel like quitting and giving up, remember why you started in the first place.

Here is a short story to inspire you:

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “

Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

Source: rishikajain.com

 

 

Inspirational Short Stories #04

It is sometimes very difficult to believe that our struggles are deliberately put there to prepare us for the challenges ahead but looking back I can connect the dots.

The butterfly was supposed to go through that struggle to prepare for the future, unknowing to the man he aborted the destiny of that butterfly thinking he was being helpful.

Is there any struggle you are going through right now? I bet there are many. Look for the silver lining, what is it trying to teach you? what are you learning from it? If you don’t pick the vital lessons now, you will struggle even more in the future.

Best believe it, these struggles are a stepping stone to your next big accomplishment.

Read the full story below reblogged from rêveuse