From time to time my heart aches. I know that you know what I am talking about because I know that you too feel this way every now and again. It’s an ache that happens when our desire is strong, but the direction in which we are going feels so vague. We walk a straight line but it feels curvy and sometimes like a cliff is looming ahead of us.
So it is in the pursuit of any goal. The desire within us is deep, and the journey is long, so, at the moments in which the journey seems to be adding in miles, we feel disheartened. We lose hope, and in that, our heart aches.
Know that this ache is normal. It’s a key part to the discipline it takes, the faith really, in the pursuit of any goal. Your goal might be fitness or health related, it might be a business and career goal or even hope for some sort of relational alignment in your life, whatever it is, you will feel discouragement somewhere along the way. Arm yourself with confidence in knowing that it is exactly that discouragement that will fuel you to either press onward further or not at all. Discouragement reveals what is really deep in our souls, in our heart of hearts. It tells us that our goal matters to us. By the simple fact that we fear not carrying it out to completion, reveals to us that we are in a good place to be. These secret moments of doubt, of insecurity and of fear can actually propel us forward along our path, for they highlight that we are in fact doing exactly that which we are meant to be doing.
Let the discouragement fuel you forward; let it drive you towards your destiny. It is the fire that will light up your determination. Determination gives growth to a new sense of urgency in our lives; it is an urgency that presses us to move forward no matter what. And when we press on big things happen.
May you continue to believe in the big things that are happening in your life this week. Give thanks for the pangs of discouragement that creep into your mind and use them to ignite a determination and belief that no matter what, you will prevail.