THE CLIMB

By Jill Nutter

I’m doing a study with my church called, FREE. It’s a six week series and I couldn’t wait to dive into it. The first chapter is about following your dreams. How blessed I am to have lived long enough to see the beginning of my dreams coming true. I have a three-book contract! Amazing. Simply, and perfectly, amazing. It’s been a long climb, and I persevered, not knowing if I would ever achieve publication.

I want you to hear this as a message of encouragement. That no matter what your dream is you can begin it now, not knowing the outcome, but maintaining the hope and enjoying the journey; the climb. I think you've all heard Miley Cyrus sing, The Climb. Have you listened carefully to the lyrics? The first line of the song is: "I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreamin, but there's a voice inside my head sayin, you'll never reach it."

Don't listen to those negative voices inside your head. Those are lies staight from the pit of hell. Satan does not want you to succeed, especially if you are following the path God wants you on. He will tempt you, taunt you, torture you with self-doubt and self-loathing.

This is when you must climb into the Word and wrap it around you like a warm blanket.

Now week two of "FREE" was not easy. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this digging up of old wounds. It didn't surprise me at all that I like to escape. I didn't have the easiest of childhoods, but I felt like I'd dealt with it and moved on and I believe that. BUT, there's always a but isn't there? Now I've completed week two where I discovered that it's still possible that I may feel rejected and unloved. Rejected?I'm a writer! I've been rejected for years. Most of us writers are at one time or another, and for a long time. BUT I can't help but wonder if experiences from childhood, of feeling rejected or not good enough, have led me to the writing life. Weird, huh? Has anything like this happened to you?

As a counselor I think there are healthy and unhealthy ways of dealing with lifes disappointments and hardships. We can allow rejection, fear, and self-doubt beat us up and then give up, OR we can find ways of coping, like writing, that can not only help us cope BUT allow us to thrive.



Be aware that if you've ever been deeply hurt or rejected by people througout your life or at a particularly vulnerable time, that you don't start feeling rejected by God. That's what I uncovered in week 2 of "FREE." I still harbor fears of rejection in this life, not the writing rejection so much, but the rejection that leads to feelings of abandonment. Jesus overcame difficult circumstances and so can we if we will only wrap ourselves in the blanket of his love and of his Word and listen.

The scripture that's been speaking to me lately is Psalm 34:4, I sought the Lord, and he answered me; HE DELIVERED ME FROM ALL MY FEARS.

So what scripture has been calling to you lately? Do you have a former belief or behavior from which God has freed you?