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I have always loved Wonder Woman, and as a child, I used to pretend to be her. I would put a scarf around my waist and another one around my head and twirl around and imagine myself transforming into my favorite superhero. When I turned into Wonder Woman, I felt beautiful and powerful. As a child, I had a vivid imagination, and it was easy to transport my mind to that of a superhero. However, as I have gotten older, it has become more difficult to see myself as beautiful, powerful, resilient, and tough. Although that little girl who used to play dress up is now much older, I am determined to reclaim my inner Wonder Woman, and I am on a mission to help other women reclaim theirs too. Together, we will transform from wondering about our worth to walking in God's truth.
Wondering
When we are wondering, we think, deliberate, speculate, and ponder. As children, we might say, “I wonder what I should do when I grow up.” “I wonder when I’ll get married.” “I wonder who I will marry.” As adults, we might say, “I wonder how I am going to pay these bills.” “I wonder how and when I am going to make it out of this difficult situation." "I wonder if I am good enough for this job, relationship, organization or ________ (fill in the blank)." In the wondering stage, we try to navigate through this life on our own, but the Lord wants us to stop wondering so much and start worshiping more. If we want God to open a door or provide a way out of a situation, we should stand on God’s promises and worship during our struggles like Paul and Silas did in Acts 16:25-26.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
In this scripture, we see how Paul and Silas sang praises while they were imprisoned. They did not wait until their situation improved. They did not wait until after they were released from prison. Over the past few years, I have been trying to follow their example by worshiping more and wondering and worrying less. We can stop wondering “when” and “how” we are going to be delivered from our valleys or prisons as soon as we decide to transform our mindset from a “worrier” to a “worshiper.”
Often we get stuck in the wondering stage of life when we either try to figure things out on our own, try to understand a situation through our human eyes and mind, or get preoccupied looking down at our problems. When our wondering escalates to worrying, we are telling God that we do not trust Him. However, if we really want God’s best for our lives, we will trust God’s plans and His timing. I know this is not easy, but I hope that this article and my book, Look Up, Step Up, and Soar, will encourage readers to ask the Lord to direct their path because God’s plans for us are far greater than our own.
Working
Throughout my life, I have heard people say, “You can achieve anything you want, as long as you work hard.” While it is important to work hard, I believe that anything I achieve in life is not just the result of my hard work, but it is also the result of God’s grace, mercy, faithfulness, and favor. One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me." The key phrase is “who strengthens me.” This is an acknowledgement that we should not rely on our own strength to do things, but rather we should rely on God. If we think about Wonder Woman, she is both the mortal, Dianna Prince, and the superhero, Wonder Woman. When Dianna transforms to Wonder Woman, she is activating her powers. I am Lawrencina, an imperfect human, who makes mistakes and has flaws, but I serve a perfect God that has a perfect plan for my life. When I seek God and ask Him to activate my superpowers and God-given potential, He will transform and empower me to achieve goals that ultimately give Him glory.
Over the years, I have learned that working hard to achieve the world’s idea of success, does not necessarily guarantee happiness. After years of working hard to be successful in my career, I had to transform my thinking. When I had a working mindset, I had to work hard to “earn” things. I had to earn a degree. I had to earn the job. I had to earn people’s approval. I had to earn the promotion. I had to earn people's trust. However, when I am trusting and believing in God, I do not have to stress about earning things because God blesses me with unconditional gifts. He gives us the gift of salvation. He gives us the gift of love, grace, and mercy. He gives us the gift of favor. He gives us the gift of serenity and contentment. These gifts are available to all of us; we just need to seek God and ask.
Recently I left my traditional 9 to 5 job so I could finish writing a book and seek God’s will for my life. During this season of transition, I have decided that whether I go back to a traditional job or continue to work on my own, I want to make sure that I am able to share God’s love, light, grace, and goodness. I want people to know the freedom, joy, love, and peace that only comes from God and not necessarily from a job. I do not just want to be a goal-setter, job seeker, and ladder climber. I want to be a life changer, peace maker, spirit lifter, and potential builder. I want to nurture and develop believing achievers - people that believe in God and believe that their identity and worth comes from God.
Wrestling
As a superhero, Wonder Woman wrestles against evil forces. During my life’s journey, I have found myself wrestling against evil forces that have tried to keep me in the valley of sadness, unworthiness, regrets, insecurity, fear, and self-doubt. These internal and external forces seek to defeat, demoralize, and destroy us. They seek to fill our mind with the lies of the enemy. In John 10:10, the Bible warns us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Christ came to give us life, and we can combat Satan’s lies with Biblical truth. In her song, “You Say,” Lauren Dangle talks about the negative voices she hears that tell her that she is not enough and does not measure up. Like Lauren Dangle, we need to believe what God says about us. If we are going to win this battle and wrestle against these evil forces, we need to believe the truth about who we are in Christ and who we are fighting against. Wonder Woman had to physically fight people, and sometimes we may think our battles are against the people who say or do things that hurt us, but in Ephesians 6:12, the Bible tells us that our battle is not against people, but it is “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
As I seek to reclaim my inner Wonder Woman, I need to make sure I am equipped to fight the battle in my mind. Ephesians 6 tells us that we need to put on the full armor of God so we can stand against the devil’s schemes. The belt of truth discussed in Ephesians 6 is similar to Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth. We need to put on this belt, as well as the other pieces of armor listed in Ephesians. Sometimes if we fail to put on the armor of God, life's battles can cause us to suffer emotional, spiritual, and mental wounds, but we should not be ashamed of our scars. Instead of being embarrassed, we can use our wounds to encourage and empower others on their journey.
Most superheroes received their powers after going through a painful experience. Spider Man was bitten by a spider. Batman started fighting evil after his parents were tragically killed. Jesus Christ, our savior, was crucified on the cross. Hence, we should not feel deflated, demoralized, or dejected when we get wounded in life’s battles. We are in good company because the wounding experience is sometimes part of the transformation process. In Isaiah 53:5, the Bible says:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
As we see in this scripture, Jesus experienced the ultimate pain on the cross. He was bruised for our iniquities, and by His wounds, we are healed. So even though we might get cut, crushed, or bruised by the world, Jesus is able to heal our broken hearts.
Walking
Sometimes it might feel scary when we walk through the valley of doubt, uncertainty, unemployment, broken relationships, depression, anxiety, loneliness, or sadness, but when we walk through these valleys, we should not walk alone. One of the most well-known chapters in the Bible, Psalm 23, instructs us to allow the shepherd to guide us.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- Psalm 23:1-4 (NIV)
On life’s journey, our flesh might get tired, but if we are allowing God to be the shepherd of our lives, then God will give us rest and He will restore our souls.
Since I have transformed my mindset and made a conscious decision to walk more closely with the Lord, I believe God is allowing me to start walking in my purpose. As a result, I am reclaiming my Wonder Woman superpower of using the Lasso of Truth. I plan to use my Lasso of Truth to remind myself and others about how God sees. Everyday, we need to tell ourselves:
You are beautiful.
You are precious.
You are loved.
You are forgiven.
You are redeemed.
You are worthy.
You are enough.
You are capable.
You are strong.
You are resilient.
Do you need to be more intentional about speaking God’s truth over your life? Are you working towards some personal goals but want to make sure you are not working in your own strength but instead working and walking with God? If you answered yes, then I invite you to check out some of the personal growth and leadership development programs offered by Soar2BMore such as the upcoming mastermind on The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth starting in July 2020.
Do you want to make sure you are walking with God and learning the lessons He wants to teach you along your journey? If so, I encourage you to consider purchasing a copy of my forthcoming book, Look Up, Step Up, and Soar: Lessons of Hope, Restoration, and Transformation. In this book, I talk about how I decided to stop wandering around in the wilderness alone and started trusting and walking with God. I talk about the lessons I have learned and how I am reclaiming what I lost along life’s journey. I discuss how during my valley experiences, I was able to hold on to my hope in God. I also share how God transformed my mindset and restored my confidence so I can walk confidently in my calling and purpose to educate, empower, and equip people to achieve their God-given potential. Learn more at www.soar2bmore.com.