Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week (39 page)

I read about this young boy raised by a single-parent mom in the hills of Tennessee. Back then, especially in that area, children born to unwed mothers were subject to extreme discrimination. In fact, when this boy was just three years old, the neighbors wouldn’t allow him to play with their children. They said things like, “What’s he doing in our town? And who is his father, anyway?”

They treated him like he had some kind of plague. On Saturdays he would go with his mom to the local store and invariably people would make disparaging comments. They would say hurtful things loud enough on purpose so they could hear: “There they are again. Did you ever figure out who his dad is?”

This little boy grew up insecure, ridiculed, always feeling that there was something wrong with him. When the boy turned twelve, a new minister moved into the town. He was a young man, very gifted and very passionate. He created quite a stir. People were excited.

The boy had never been to church a day in his life, but one Sunday he decided to go hear a sermon by this new minister everybody was talking about. He got there late, snuck in, and sat toward the back so no one would notice him. As the boy listened that day, he felt a love and an accep
tance that he had never felt before. He had planned to leave early, but he was so engrossed in what the minister was saying that the service was over before he knew it.

The boy was caught up in the crowd. As the young minister greeted everyone who was leaving, he saw the boy. He had never met him, and he didn’t know anything about him. But the minister noticed the boy wasn’t with anyone. He was by himself.

The minister said to him in a very friendly tone, “Young man, whose child are you?”

The room grew completely silent. The minister had asked the question everybody else wanted to ask. The boy didn’t know what to say. He had heard all the talk that he was the outcast and a child with no dad. So he just put his head down.

The minister noticed something was wrong, something he obviously didn’t know anything about. But God gave him wisdom. He was quick on his feet. He looked at the boy and said, “Oh, I know who your Father is. I can see the resemblance so strongly; why, you’re a child of almighty God.”

That day was a turning point in the boy’s life. Those who had been talking about him put their heads down and walked out of the room. The stronghold of insecurity and inferiority was broken. He began to see himself not as the inferior outcast people said he was but as a child of almighty God.

The boy went on to become very successful and live a blessed and happy life. Many people grow up without fathers. I wish it were not so, but if that’s the case for you, let me tell you what the young minister told the boy. Your Father is almighty God. You have been chosen and set apart before the foundation of the world. You didn’t get here by accident. You didn’t just happen to show up. God breathed His life into you. He put seeds of greatness on the inside. You have a destiny to fulfill, an assignment, something that no one else can accomplish.

Don’t let what people say about you or what they don’t say about you cause you to feel less than whole. Your earthly father may not be around as much as he should; maybe you don’t even know him. But your heavenly
Father says, “I am proud of you. You have a bright future. You will do great things.”

I remember after the service a couple of years ago this young lady came up with two small children, a girl and a boy. They were so loving. The little boy hung on to me and didn’t want to go. He was about five years old. I hugged him back and we talked for a little while and finally we high-fived and they walked away.

A couple of minutes later, the boy came back and said he wanted to whisper something in my ear. I leaned down, and I’ll never forget what he said.

“I wish you were my dad.”

That almost broke my heart. I told him what I’m telling you: Every morning, look up and just imagine your heavenly Father is smiling down on you. He’s saying, “You’re the apple of My eye. You’re My most prized possession.”

The Scripture says God is “a father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5
NIV
). Many people are not reaching their full potential because of a lack of identity. Their minds are full of thoughts that say,
You’re not from the right family
, or
You don’t even have a father. No wonder you can’t succeed.

Don’t believe those lies. Those thoughts are not on your program. Stick with your diet. It’s found right here: “I am who God says I am. I may not have an earthly father, but I have a heavenly Father. People may have spoken negative things over me, but I know before anybody could curse me, God put a blessing on me. That’s what I’m dwelling on.”

If you have had these negative things spoken over you and they are poisoning your future, go back to the roots of those thoughts. Who said you were not smart enough to go to college? Who said you would never be successful? Who told you that you don’t have what it takes? Who said you would never be married? Who told you that you would never overcome this obstacle? Who said your best days are behind you?

I can promise you it was not God who put those thoughts in your mind. Detox that garbage. Detox what your ex-husband said about you. Detox
what that teacher said you couldn’t do. Detox what that manager said you would never become. Detox what those critics said about your ability.

I’m putting you on a new diet today. This diet will clear out all the toxins. It will free you from all the negativity, all the
can’t do it
thoughts, all the
not good enough
thoughts. This is faith food. When you eat this food, it’s like Popeye eating spinach. It’s like Clark Kent stepping into the phone booth and coming out as Superman. A transformation takes place when you get rid of negative condemning thoughts and feed your mind what God says about you.

We have a couple of rabbits at home, and awhile back we noticed one of them looked like he wasn’t feeling well. He kept rubbing the side of his face like something was bothering him. We checked it out and didn’t see anything. He looked fine. A few days later that area had really swollen up. It looked like he had a big growth on his face.

So we took the rabbit to the vet. They gave him some antibiotics and said he should get better. We tried that for a week, but he didn’t improve. In fact, he looked really bad. We took him back and they examined him again. This time they discovered the real problem was that a fly egg had somehow entered the rabbit’s nasal passage. The fly larva was growing and about to hatch. That’s why the rabbit’s face was so infected.

No matter how many antibiotics the vet gave the rabbit, they didn’t work. They had to get to the root of the problem. Once they found the source of the infection and removed it, the rabbit was fine.

This is the way the enemy works. He tries to plant these lies in your mind that infect your thinking. So often we deal with the surface problem and try to have a good attitude and a good self-image, but it’s a constant struggle, like we’re always going uphill.

Could you be like our vet and the rabbit, treating the symptoms but not dealing with the real issue? Are you treating the outside but missing the root cause, a negative mind-set toward yourself? Your thinking in some area may be infected.

Maybe you are trying to break an addiction, but deep down you still
hear the words,
You’ll be an alcoholic just like your father
. Maybe you are trying to make your marriage work, but that thought keeps playing:
You’ll get a divorce just like your parents
.

Maybe you want to step out and start a new business, or you want to take a promotion, but something inside you says,
You don’t have what it takes. You will fail. You remember what the high school counselor told you. You remember what those ladies said about you.

Those are lies, and they are infecting your thinking. The way to get rid of those thoughts is to meditate on what God says about you. The Scripture says to “meditate on [God’s Word] day and night” (Joshua 1:8
NIV
). In other words,
continuously
have positive thoughts playing in your mind:
I am talented. I am creative. I am anointed. I am equipped. I am empowered. I am blessed. I am prosperous. I am disciplined. I am free from every addiction. I walk in divine health. I have the favor of God.

When you play thoughts like that, the toxins can’t stay. Your mind is being renewed. Imagine a glass of cloudy water with all kinds of dirt and sand particles in it. If I pour clean water in it continuously and just keep letting it overflow and overflow with this new clean water, eventually all the dirty water will be gone and the water will be perfectly clear.

I didn’t have to try to get rid of the dirty water. I simply had to keep putting the right thing in, and before long the wrong thing was gone. It’s the same way in our thinking. If you’ll develop a habit of putting the right thoughts in, thoughts of faith, thoughts of hope, encouraging thoughts,
can do
thoughts, eventually your mind will be transformed. You will find yourself positive, hopeful, strong, and courageous.

I just read about this child whose parents moved from Germany to the United States a few years before he was born. The father was an interna
tional businessman and very successful. He wanted the boy to join him in business one day.

But the boy struggled terribly in school. He tried and tried, but he had great difficulty in reading and writing and arithmetic. His mother and father were hard on him. In German, they called him a “
dumm hund
,” which translates to “dumb dog.”

The boy, whose severe dyslexia would not be diagnosed until he was in his thirties, was devastated by their harsh words. He grew up insecure, thinking he was stupid. The only thing that saved him in school was a sense of humor. He was good at making the other kids laugh.

He told jokes about himself. He became popular with the other kids. He really shone in his speech and drama classes so he pursued those subjects, much to the horror of his parents.

They thought he’d never amount to anything. Of course, they changed their minds when their son Henry became a huge television star. They couldn’t believe it when their insecure boy, a graduate of Yale Drama School, became the star of a hit television show by playing a tough high school dropout.

It was ironic that the name of his first big show was
Happy Days
, because Henry Winkler, now a famous actor, writer, director, and producer, really does remember those days on his first hit television show as some of the happiest of his life.

Those were the days when he finally rejected the toxic thoughts of others and became the talented and creative man that his heavenly Father intended him to be. He focused on God’s best within him, not on what others said about him.

In the Bible, God called Gideon a mighty man of (fearless) courage.

Gideon looked around and said, “Who’s He talking to? That’s not me.” God had an assignment for Gideon, something great for him to accomplish, but Gideon had not renewed his mind. He had these toxic thoughts. God saw him as strong, but Gideon saw himself as weak, defeated, not able to.

God wanted him to lead the people of Israel and to defeat an opposing army, but Gideon said, “God, I can’t do that. I’m the least one in my
father’s house. I come from the poorest family. I don’t have the education, the skills, the courage.”

Notice how Gideon perceived himself compared to how God saw him. God said he was a mighty man of fearless courage. If God were to call your name today, He wouldn’t say, “Hello, you weak worm of the dust. Hello, you failure. Hello, you ol’ sinner. How’s My loser doing today?”

God would say the same sort of thing to you that He said to Gideon: “Hello, Mary, you mighty woman of fearless courage.” Or “Hello, Bob, you mighty man of fearless courage.”

I wonder if you would be like Gideon and say, “God, who are You talking to? Don’t You know what family I come from? Haven’t You seen the mistakes I’ve made? Let me remind You of some of them. God, You know I’m not that talented. Why are You calling me a mighty man?”

The problem is, you have allowed these wrong thoughts to infect your thinking. But thank God this is a new day. You are beginning a new diet. You are starting a fast by cutting out every negative, discouraging,
can’t do it
thought.

When those wrong thoughts come up, instead of saying like Gideon, “I’m not able. Who am I?” Turn it around and say, “I know who I am. I am well able. I’m ready for my assignment. God, I am who You say I am.”

I believe in the coming days God will present you with new opportunities. New doors will open. New people will come across your path. Maybe there will even be a new career opportunity. If you are to reach a new level, you must have a new way of thinking. You have to clean out the old so you’ll have room for the new. I’m asking you to detox all the garbage telling you what you’re not and what you can’t do. Remove all those strongholds. Detox little dreams. Detox low self-esteem. Detox the negative words. Stay on your diet.

Every morning go through a good cleanse. Start the day off in faith. If you’ll guard your mind and instead of letting it get toxic keep it full of faith-filled thoughts, God promises you’ll overcome every obstacle, you’ll defeat every enemy, and every dream and every desire God has put in your heart will come to pass.