Have you been encountering all kinds of difficulties, problems, setbacks or down right disgusting situations? Have you wondered what in the world could possibly be going on? Your problems may not have been allowed in your life randomly. What if, Jesus, in His Sovereignty has seen fit to allow your problems for a time to serve as His assistants to provoke you to be empowered? What if the exact problems, trials, setbacks, afflictions, hurts, or pains that have been allowed in your life are the exact prescription that Jesus has allowed and ordered in your life not to kill you, hurt you or embarrass you but to empower you? You see, some folks have been stuck for years with less that God’s highest and best for their lives, some folks are gifted, talented, smart, wise, strong and deserve so much more than what they are currently experiencing, but instead of experiencing God’s abundant supply, God’s abundant health and God’s abundant resources, this group of folks are broke, disgusted, tired, fed up, sick, hurting, in pain, troubled or perplexed. So in an effort to facilitate God’s better and higher plans for this certain group of people, Jesus has been allowing for a time problems, setbacks, afflictions, troubles, lack, disgust, low, barren and disgusting places and peculiar and bizarre behavior. What could all of this mean for you, you might wonder, it means that If you are one of the folks that Jesus is allowing this to be happening to you will know if it’s you because right about now, you might feel dissatisfied, stuck, tired, fed up, anxious, depressed, unfulfilled or unhappy. But be encouraged, if you find yourself in any of these categories, Jesus has done you a marvelous favor, He’s allowed “some really bad” situations to occur to propel you forward to be empowered so that you can experience God’s higher and better plans for your life.

By now, you might be wondering but What does it mean to be empowered and where do you begin? Well first of all when you’re empowered,  you feel in control of your life. You’re able to set a goal or intention and believe that you have a good to great chance at achieving it. You feel good about yourself. Your self-esteem and self-confidence is high. You may experience difficulties and setbacks — everyone does — but you view them as learning experiences that ultimately make you stronger. You take each day as it comes and appreciate all that you have – whether it’s your health  your friends, a job or simply an inner peace and contentment – no matter what happens. Empowerment is also about being authentic, honest and true to yourself. It’s recognizing your skills, talents and abilities and putting them to use in the world. Does this Sound like something you’d like to achieve? If so, please take a few moments to thank Jesus for doing you such a great favor in letting your life be a mess for a time, You can say, something simple like, “Dear Jesus, thank you for allowing my problems, afflictions, troubles, setbacks or barren and low places to serve as your assistants so that they can propel me forward to reach for and claim the empowerment that is available to me”. I invite you to come in my life and empower me. Help me dear Jesus I humbly pray. I do want to be empowered and I want God’s higher and better plans for my life, please help me Jesus, Please help me become empowered, in your name I ask and pray, Amen”!

So if you are ready to be empowered, allow Jesus to begin His work in you to become empowered and in the meantime, the  Following are some ideas about how to empower yourself today as you wait on Jesus to do this new work in you.

Give Yourself a Period of Exploration

You might be feeling dis empowered because you’re stuck in a rut. You don’t like your job, but don’t have a clear idea about what else you could do. Or, perhaps you’re just bored with life in general and need a jump-start. Try giving yourself permission to take a period of time, say six months to a year, to try some new things. These don’t need to be related to your area of discontent. You just want to get some energy moving in your life and challenge yourself a little. Ideas might include taking a class, volunteering for a community cause, hiring a personal coach or taking a break on a long weekend to explore someplace new.

Focus on What You Enjoy

Intuition is like our inner GPS. It’s always pointing us towards success, joy and greater happiness. There are many ways to hear its wisdom. One way is to pay attention when something feels draining, boring or uninteresting. That’s your intuition saying “do less of this.” Conversely, when you feel curious, energized or excited, that’s your inner wisdom telling you “go in that direction!” Again, just explore for now. You don’t have to figure out a big new goal or how you’re going to achieve it through exploring this interest. Just keep taking next steps in this new direction.

Move Your Body

Interested in learning a few more tips about how to empower yourself? Read on! Before you groan about the word EXERCISE, think about how you could make it fun. Perhaps the idea of working out with a bunch of rugged, in-shape people at your local gym makes you want to crawl back under the covers. If that’s the case, what do you enjoy? You might like something simpler, like a leisurely stroll, a bike ride or a beginner yoga class. Start where you are. Getting stronger and having more stamina and energy is a great way to feel good about yourself.