I wanted to speak to your heart about who you are.

In case you were uncertain, you decide who you are. You decide who you will become. You make the decisions that affect the course of your life. This is the power of choice given to us by God. He has even given us the freedom to choose to live life by His principles (of which I personally would have preferred that God had made this decision on my behalf – I mean come on Jesus! I could have avoided some of this nonsense I had to go through had you just MADE us follow you).

Even after consulting and confiding in a friend, loved one, or mentor, you STILL have to make the ultimate decision that you were consulting about.

Since we have the authority to make decisions, we must learn to make them based upon who we are, who God purposed us to be, and not on the opinions of others.

If you are afraid of criticism, you will die doing nothing.

What does that mean? You will always be concerned about what someone says about you. Remember this: When someone does not believe in you, your passion, or your God-given vision, before they had an opinion, God gave you a vision, which is His purpose to be fulfilled through you.

This discussion reminds me of a man named Noah. We are personally introduced to him at the age of 500 years old (Genesis 5:32). God was infuriated with the world and how His children began following the customs of worldly people, intermingling, and marrying them. Insomuch that God had purposed in His heart to destroy the ENTIRE world and everything within it; but then, someone touched His heart. The Bible says (Genesis 6:8) that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Notice here that there was nothing Noah did to earn grace. Grace is undeserving favor. Noah did absolutely nothing to earn his salvation, but he found grace – both Noah and his family. In exchange for God being “lenient” on Noah, Noah had to fulfill a God-given purpose. In exchange for God’s grace Noah obtained faith.

Noah obtained faith as a result of grace. THAT IS SO POWERFUL!

• Noah trusted God.
• Noah walked with God.
• Noah believed in God.

God trusted Noah to the point of giving him a responsibility to build a boat to save Noah and the world. Noah changed God’s heart. Oh that is so beautiful. Don’t you want to walk so close to God that when evil devices are plotted against you to destroy you and your family, you can change God’s heart to remove the hand of the enemy completely off of you and save you? Well – that did occur. When God sent His precious Son, Jesus, to save us from the the sentence of death, God said NO! But that is only if we choose to accept Jesus as our Savior (see there; there’s that choice thing again).

God gave Noah the purpose of building a boat that took 100 years to complete. No doubt, Noah’s friends thought that he was crazy. No doubt his wife was praying for his mental wellness. No doubt people passed by this mammoth of a thing and laughed, when Noah explained what He was doing, but Noah did not care. Noah would have died doing nothing along with the world and everyone else in it. The criticism of others did not dictate or adjust Noah’s focus on God’s plan for His life. He remembered the grace and He trusted His Father’s plan.

What about you? Do you trust God’s plan. As a result of the grace extended to you, has your faith grown? You do realize that your funeral services could’ve been arranged when you had the car accident, right. You do know that you could have died giving birth to life. Do you not realize that the carbon monoxide leak and smell of gas in your home could have taken out everyone? Your plane could have been the plane driven into the towers in New York City. Was this not enough of an extension of grace to give up your desires God’s purpose? Know who you are and whose you are. Know what you are purposed to do and do it.

I had the privilege of visiting a place entitled the Ark Encounter with my girls and my mom last April, just 2 months before her passing. It is a family-oriented tourist attraction in Williamstown, Kentucky where a replica of the Ark, using the measurements from the Bible, was created. It was fascinating to imagine the types of animals that were prevalent back then – dinosaurs and animals that are now distinct were all on this boat – simply amazing.

There are two voices speaking to you: One says you can’t; the other says you can with God (Philippians 4:13). You are made on purpose, for a purpose, during a time such as this.

There is something that you do that no one else can do. If you do nothing, both you and it will die. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. If you do nothing, you will receive criticism. If you do something, you’ll receive criticism. Either way, you’ll be criticized.

So here is what I propose: Commit your works to the Lord; allow your paths to be established by Him. He will grant you favor first with Him, and then with man.

Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Proverbs 3:4 (NLT)