Hey our friend

We hope you had a good week. Ours was a bit frustrating, because it took us longer than planned to get over our sickness. I guess you can never really plan things like that. We also had a meeting this week with all the YWAM Leaders of the bay area. It is so good to hear from all the other ministries and how God is moving in the bay area. Please keep YWAM and all the ministries they are doing in your prayers.

An elephant teaches us about wrong learned things

The other day I read an article on how they train elephants for the circus. It was actually really sad. One thing that stuck out to me was this: As babies the circus ties up the elephant with a chain around the leg that is attached to a rod that they hit in the ground. A big elephant could easily rip out the rod and run away but the little ones aren’t strong enough. So they keep pulling and pulling till they learn that they are not able to get away. Now when they get older and stronger you can tie that strong elephant up with even a small string and the same rod and they will not run away. Why, because they learned as a child that they are not strong enough to break away from the chain and it is so a part of them that they totally believe it.

I think that is also a very true picture for each of us as Christians. At one point in our life we started believing something about ourselves which isn’t true like I’m not good enough, I’m a bad speaker, people don’t want to hear what I have to say etc. . Then we start believing those things. So then if God calls us to do something in that certain area, we tell him we can’t because of the lie we believe. But the truth is that we can do all things through the one who gives us strength.

When I was younger I was bullied for many years and I stopped believing that I have value or that anything I have to say would help and encourage people. With that experience I stopped believing in the gifting of encouragement God has given me. So when he told me in YWAM that he will use me to encourage others and speak value in their life, it seemed impossible since I still believed the lie of my past. After God addressed the lie and broke it of my life, he showed me how to use the gifting in a powerful way by encouraging many people. But I still had to make a choice to believe him. Over the years I grew stronger and stronger in that gifting and I hear almost from every person I meet with how they felt encouraged and loved.

I’m sharing this with you to show you that our God is greater than any stronghold in our life and any lie you might believe. He can use you in mighty ways when you start to break off the lie. I want to challenge you to think and pray about this week which lies you believe about yourself and how you limited yourself from becoming truly who God made you to be. Also ask the question in which area you are already stronger but you don’t believe it because of things you learned in the past (elephant and chain).

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen