Let’s Talk About Discouragement In The Path Of Purpose + Video Of Me Speaking At A School

Hello everybody!
I hope your week’s winding down smoothly?
Mine has been awesome (not going to say stressful because yesterday’s #OnlineBibleStudy took care of that mindset).
I’m also winding down from NYSC things. And so my work in secondary schools as a corper is coming to an end… but it would continue even after now by God’s grace.
I wrote this post some months back but didn’t get around to posting it.
But then I thought, instead of writing on this lesson on discouragement and then updating on the school runs that it stemmed from, why don’t I just post the video from that day and share the lesson all in one post?
Brilliant yes?

Teens are a handful and I am thankful I wasn’t posted to a school, I am always drained on days I have to speak at seminars… drained but full and fulfilled.
So watch the video of me speaking at the school on my youtube channel here or below:

And here’s the lesson I got on being discouraged in the path of purpose God has set us on..

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I held #AwakeningYouths seminar for the month of July last week tuesday at a girls only school.
And as usual I invited 2 other persons to take the other sessions.
The lady I invited to take the skill acquisition session (she taught them how to make bleach-hypo), made a statement immediately she came in that I didn’t dwell on but afterwards knew that this is a lesson for me (and you) on the walk in purpose!
So she came in and asked me “what classes will we be speaking to?”
And I said J.S 1, J.S 2 and S.S 1.
The J.S 3 and S.S 3 students were writing exams.
And she was like “how will we be teaching those younger classes this skill, will they use it for anything?
And I said they may not need it now but will definitely use it in the future.
I didn’t dwell on her words but after the seminar was all done, I remembered another incident that happened at the school I held a seminar at in the month of March.
I knew a corper who worked there and when I told him what I wanted to do, the first thing he said was “are you sure they would appreciate it? This school doesn’t even do such things…”
He generally just made statements that would have discouraged me from going ahead if I dwelt on them.
And I believe that I just may even see more of those kind of statements even as I continue to walk in what God has placed in my heart to do.
The funny thing is that these people don’t even think that they are saying anything wrong. It’s just words.
But they are words that can discourage you if you let them sink into your heart.

 
I am thankful that I was so wrapped up in what I was doing at the school, so much so that the statements didn’t even shake me.
Infact, I am grateful to God for getting the word into my heart that morning before I went to the school.
I woke up and had Joshua 1:8 ringing in me.
But I read the entire Joshua 1 and also Jeremiah 1.
I have mentioned that I don’t write notes when I speak at the seminars because the words just come pouring out so what I do is that I just pray and speak that God has placed His words in my mouth to overcome fear.
And here’s something that struck me when I read Joshua 1.
Joshua 1.9
“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God actually repeated “Be strong and courageous” about 3 times to Joshua.
Same way He told Jeremiah not to be afraid of anything.
Why?
Because I am with you.
And He is also for us, He is not only with us, He is in us.

And the words that struck me in relation to the discouraging statements I heard was “Do not be discouraged”.
Oh thank God for His word.
Can you imagine the disastrous seminar we would have had if I let those words penetrate into my heart?
I would have been thinking “all these work and stress is achieving nothing in the lives of these kids”.
But God had given me the lesson on this before…

I am the sower, so I simply sow the seeds.
Someone else will build on the seeds later but ultimately, it is God that gives the increase.
Why should I be worried about whether teaching the young kids would make any impact?
That’s not my sphere of duty. That’s God’s duty.
My duty is what I have done.
Organize the seminar…
Bring the kids together…
Speak to them…
Shikena.

Do not be discouraged.
Keep your eyes fixed on what God has told you to do and worry not about man’s words or mind sets.
This walk in purpose we are on can only be done by maintaining a close walk with God.
Otherwise, the words we let filter into us from other sources will cripple God’s work before it even gets started (God forbid).

 
So to myself and everyone who is currently walking in purpose/desirous to walk in purpose…
Know this and let it sink in.
Do not be discouraged, no matter what you hear, see or feel.
God is with you.
God is in you.
God is for you.
And that is the only thing that matters.

Have you subscribed to my Youtube channel yet?
Again, the video of me speaking at the school this lesson sprung up from can be watched below…
And subscribe to my Youtube channel here.

Till next time on lessons learnt from walking in purpose,
Love,
Frances.

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