Our Declarations Determine Our Destiny

Often times I am brought to tears by the condition I witness that people resolve to live in.

I see it all the time.. political debates attempting to be resolved by hate slurs spewed from one direction to the other. Marital controversies battled out in public platforms in a defeating effort to proclaim your rights and preserve your reputation. We “get mad” and “get even”. We complain when we are even slightly inconvenienced, and we argue when the opinions of others faintly differ from ours. We gossip about those we’re threatened by, and we insult the ones we’re intimidated because of.

I ran into a weary soul a couple weeks ago and I asked her how things were going. And her response impacted me so deeply I went home and wrote it down on a sticky note before placing it on my prayer wall: “I’m just going through the motions… trying to get through one day at a time.”

A part of me wanted to cry out, “Really?”

I mean I get it. I do. I have those days where life is overwhelming and difficult. I understand loss and pain and rejection and fear and grief and loneliness.

I understand.

But I also understand that the attitude I embody testifies to the heart of the God that I serve.

And I think it’s why He keeps graciously bringing me back to the verse… the one that wakes me up in the middle of the night… the one that leapt off the pages and into my heart and now my mouth almost daily… “Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13)

And I find myself declaring it daily.

Because the truth really is that if I don’t declare it, this fallen world will deny it.
And I am found most ready for His goodness when I am actively pursuing it. Making observations daily of the ways He lavishly gives, undeniably protects, and lovingly forgives.

Our focus really does determine our forecast. What we choose to focus on will eventually become the condition we must accept to live in.

And so today I determine to remain conscious of what I say. To be keenly aware of the words that flow so freely from my lips. I will begin declaring His goodness over my life and over the lives of those I love. I will no longer be a slave to the disease of defeat and discouragement. I will say it with confidence that I am victorious over a jaded tongue and speak only words that bring life and increase faith!

Our declarations determine our destiny!