I’m not sure if I have mentioned this in my blog before. But I have been attending Bethel School of Ministry since the fall. It has been radically transforming my life. When I got here I was so unsure of why God brought me to the other side of the country so abruptly (I’ll leave that story for another day) but every day I am realizing this was exactly where I needed to be for this season of life. I figured I need to do something with the things that I am learning so I am going to try and share some of my knowledge with you all through the week…
One of the most important things I’ve have learned since being here at school is about being a powerful person. One of the first week’s I was here someone told me, “You know you are a powerful person right?” I had an immediate revelation–It’s not that I haven’t thought of myself as a powerless person, it’s just that up until that point I had never thought of myself as powerful before either. I had never thought of it before period. I immediately realized that I am powerful but I’ve been living as someone who is powerless.
Before I knew it, a speaker named Danny Silk (I highly recommend his books) came and spoke to our class on the subject of being a powerful person and it rocked my world. Here are some of the major thoughts and revelations that I’ve had since then about being a powerful person;
The first one was that we decided if we want to be powerful or not. End of story. If we do choose to be powerful that sets us up for responsibility in your relationships and life. We love to make other people and situations responsible for our problems but at the end of the day we are in control of our part. The sad reality is that no one else is ever going to take control of, or care more about your life then you do so you have to be powerful in order to make the decisions in life that you need to in order to succeed.
A lot of us live with the victim mentality, but when you realize that no one has the ability to affect you and your mood apart from yourself, it starts to give you real power. I’m not sure why, but when a person in a bad mood walks into the room, we immediately shift into a bad mood as well. Allowing others to shift your own personal mood and eco system is giving them power.
We have the power and capability of taking our personal eco system into our own hands and choosing how we want the respond to another person’s attitude. No one can affect me or change my mood unless I give him or her the power to do so. This point really changed my life. Now when someone is in a bad mood or treating me poorly, I don’t even have to respond. Just because someone is in a bad mood doesn’t mean that I have to be.
Powerful people have the ability to manage themselves regardless of what other people do while powerless people live as victims. I have to to choose to manage myself well regardless of the situation or what other people are doing.
One of my favorite parts about this is in regards to my relationship with Christ. When Jesus came to earth He was the ultimate example of a person walking in power. He made the most powerful decision 2,000 years ago to die on the cross and He chose me. We don’t ever have to worry about taking care of Jesus’ part of our relationship. He proves Himself and His affections for us daily. On the other hand my half of the relationship is 100% my job 100% of the time.
All of this to say, I think most people are in the same boat of never considering the power (or lack thereof) that they individually hold. This is a dangerous place to be because, when you don’t ever consider this, it probably means you are not taking advantage of your power and are most likely living a powerless lifestyle.
Let’s not live as powerless anymore, let’s realize the power we each individually hold and take full advantage of it.
ELLIE LACEY 