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Found:
A New Source of Strength
What I've Learned About Self Sufficiency
by Barbara Brabec
When my mother—my greatest motivator—died in mid-1992, I felt as
though a part of me had died, too. The following summer,
I learned I had breast cancer.
Caught early, I took it in
stride, but the experience (which I viewed as a wake-up call from
God) took a lot out of me. I made some changes to reduce my business
stress, but my spirits continued to sag until the fall of 1994 when
I finally admitted for the first time in my life that I lacked
confidence and a sense of direction. I was tired, restless, insecure
and totally burned out, a woman whose previous ambition and spirit
had fled.
What do you do when you realize you've used the last ounce of your
personal strength resources and don't know how to replenish them? In
discussing this with a good friend, she said, "Have you tried
praying? To get help, you must ask for it."
In thinking about this, I saw that I had always taken great pride in
the fact that I could "do it myself." I've always been so
self-sufficient that I've never asked anyone for help, even when I
needed it. Certainly I'd never thought of asking God for help for He
was surely too busy with the important things of the world to be
concerned about my little problems.
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One night, however, unable to sleep because of all my cares and worries,
I got down on my knees and ardently prayed for the first time in
thirty years. I said, "Lord, I really need some help here!" Then I
told Him in detail what was bothering me and asked Him to give me
strength, courage and guidance.
My prayer was answered the next night in a way
that to me was both miraculous and glorious: my whole life began to change in exciting
ways as soon as I plugged myself into God's power. (For more information on this topic,
read my Christian testimony. |
It's now clear to me that we can go a long way under our own steam
and much farther when others are behind us offering motivational
support and encouragement. But sooner or later, with or without
emotional and motivational support, we're all going to run out of
ourselves someday. The problem today is that there are so many books
and so many humanists out there saying "You can do it! All you have
to do is believe in yourself." As many before me have learned,
that's not enough.
There is a limit to the number of times you can pull
yourself up by the bootstraps. Unless you plug into a source of
power greater than yourself, one day you may discover as I did
that, without God, you're as dead and useless as a light bulb
without electricity.
So remember to thank God for the special skills, talents and
abilities He has given you, and don't hesitate to lean on the LORD
when you need help or encouragement in either your personal or
home-business life. From experience I have learned that if we will
simply put our faith in God and give Him an opportunity to work in
our lives, He will lead us in surprising new directions and reveal
wondrous things we never could have discovered on our own. As the
Bible confirms:
"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and
your plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16.3).
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© 2003 by Barbara Brabec.
An excerpt from
Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks.
Barbara Brabec is the author of several
home-business books. Her personal domain
includes information on her books and a wide
variety of articles on business, writing, publishing,
computers, crafts, and personal interests.
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