I feel that so many of us are faced with daily obstacles that seemingly create such an utter impasse in their presence that we start to feel the fabric of our dreams unraveling. I know even in my own life, daily bombardments of discouragement can feel an ever present stumbling block. Yet I have seen how imperative it is to fight back against these discouragements. I think that often, our inner being starts to convince us that IF we would just get in to agreement with the discouragement more than we are in agreement with our dreams that life would become easier. While this thought might give a temporary, at best, reprieve to the fight you feel within to stay positive, do you realize what you are giving up when you agree with discouragement? You leave in your wake your dreams. To live in belief that your dreams will in fact come to fruition is not easy. Honestly, it’s not. Each of us that have dreams deeply imbedded with our hearts are in a constant battle to look more at the trust that God will bring them about than our current realities. But really, when you allow yourself to step back from this struggle long enough to assess if you are truly willing to GIVE UP… I think most of us would objectively answer---“NO!” Every one of us is afforded the chance to refuse discouragement entry into our thinking. The next time you are facing discouragement, please take a minute to ask yourself if you truly want to allow the words spoken or the actions taken entry in to your thinking. Ask yourself if the statement the person made, or the action done towards you has warrant in your life or not. Ask yourself if you are honestly willing to give up on a dream that has meant so much to you in life… all for the sake of another person’s opinion over you. I think that when we allow ourselves permission to see question the true weight of the discouragement in our lives, we start understanding that we in fact aren’t willing to give up. We start seeing that we are in fact more determined to move forward. We being to give more validity to the dream than we do the discouragement. I pray this is a blessing to you in your life this evening. Pastor Daniella