Going after your dreams is hard…point…blank…period. 

The comparison killer of social media will mislead you into believing that everyone is getting “there” faster than you. 

Where “there” is…who knows…

Those familiar thoughts of discouragement, frustration, confusion and doubt come to cripple your mind into believing that your time will never come. 

It’s in the seasons of waiting, training, sowing and learning (in which you have no indication of things ever changing any time soon) is where your faith will get tested the most. 

It’s easy to believe that the you’re going to get the job once you got the call that you got it. 

It’s easy to believe that your business is going to land a 6-figure client once you’ve signed the contract. You can see that. 

It’s very easy to believe that you’ve received the promotion once you walked out the meeting with your boss. You’re already thinking about what you’ll do with the extra money on your check. 

It’s easy to believe that the baby you’ve been praying for is on it’s way once you see the huge smile on your OB/GYN’s face as she walks in with the test results. 

It’s easy to believe all of this because you can see it with your natural eyes – there is absolutely no need to use your faith. 

But if you can see something happening for you with your natural eyes, then why in the world would you need faith? 

You have to use your faith to override what you see happening in your natural realm and go into the unseen realm to grab what’s yours, receive it in your heart and believe that you will see it. 

Now that’s faith. 

The other day I had a vision of me doing this. 

Not sure what came over me but I saw myself reaching over something. It was as if I were reaching to the very top-shelf where I had to get on my tippy toes to grab what I wanted. I could not see what I was reaching over, it was invisible. I could only see what I was grabbing. 

I knew this was God. 

I had to ignore what I was seeing and reach over it with my faith to grab what I wanted…the only way I was going to get it was by faith. 

Not by wining, crying, complaining, worrying or giving what I see more power over what I cannot. 

It’s in those “tribulation” years where most of us quit because things are not going as easy as we expected. 

You may say that you have faith but what you say and how you act express differently. 

Circumstances come to literally knock you out. 

Why? 

Because if your opposition can knock you out now then all the lives that you were created to influence by living your purpose will never be transformed. 

It’s evil genius. The circumstances come to steal your faith and kill your destiny…causing you to abort your mission. 

I recall a conversation I had with my pastor – who now leads a congregation of 35,000+ members – where he endured four difficult years of financial hardship after He had the call of God to go into ministry. There was absolutely no indication of what was coming down the line but imagine if He would have given into the temptation to quit? How many lives would have never been impacted? Would you even be reading this post from me today…I highly doubt it. 

Bishop TD Jakes endured 7 years of being an ordained minister and never being asked to preach. As a matter of fact, he recalls having only one suit and driving a car with wholes where he could see the pavement as he drove. 

Steve Harvey was homeless in his car for a while along with Tyler Perry, Jim Carrey and a few others. 

You cannot allow what you see to distract you. 

You continuing forward is not about you. It’s for the lives that are waiting, yes they are waiting to be influenced by whatever it is that you have been created to do. 

It’s up to you to decide to “get on your tippy toes”, override what you see with your faith and grab what’s rightfully yours. 

How? By simply believing and trusting the One who sent you. 

Don’t you dare give up – you’ve come to far! 

XOXO, 

Maria I. Melendez
Founder & CEO 
Embrace Her Legacy