You Have A New Destiny

I was 22 at the time.

I was standing up teaching choir rehearsal when one of the worst pains I had ever felt in my life shot through my stomach and wrapped all the way around my back. It felt like someone was tightening a belt around my waste, only a hundred times more painful.

Suddenly, I couldn’t stand.

Then, I felt nauseous.

Shortly thereafter, things worsened. I couldn’t keep any food down and just when I thought it couldn’t hurt any more, the pain intensified.

I thought I must have had food poisoning from the McDonald’s meal I had consumed a little earlier. But when I called my doctor, sweating profusely, doubling over, crying, telling him I had vomited multiple times, and describing the painful sensation, he said, “It sounds like you’re having a gall stone attack.”

Me? Gall stones? At 22?

But he was right.

I was surprised, but maybe I should not have been.

Both my mother and father suffered with gall stones also. And at that moment, I knew exactly how they felt: horrible!

My specialists told me my gall bladder was completely diseased and had to be taken out immediately. I was so bad off they didn’t want to risk another attack, because the one I suffered resulted in gall stones actually being lodged in my pancreas, thus causing internal damage and bruising.

They told me another attack could be even more severe, potentially doing more harm to another major organ, and I didn’t want that.

I couldn’t believe this was happening to me, but it was hereditary.

So, as I sobbed, my I remember my dad praying with me and reassuring me I would be alright. I was scared out of my wits being wheeled back to the operating room by the surgeons to have my gall bladder taken out. It was my first surgery and my tears were mostly because I was fearful of the unknown.

Thank God everything went well.

Now fast forward to 2011.

That whole gall stone ordeal came rushing right back to my memory after my mother’s Oncologist who treated her breast cancer told her some bad news.

He said that since one of my aunts (my mom’s sister) had died from the disease, which, by the grace of God, my mother survived, the reality that breast cancer was in our family line was undeniable.

So the Oncologist proceeded to deliver a stern warning about the future family implications, guaranteeing that at least one out of 7 sisters in our family would get breast cancer. Based on reliable research findings and solid statistics, he said, it was not a matter of if, but when the disease would manifest in one of us.

Hearing those words stirred up a bevy of emotions—fear among them. I had to really talk to myself, especially because my family history had come back to bite me once before with the gall stones situation.

I had to pray and trust God immediately.

It took all the faith I could muster to combat the belief that it would be me, just like it was before with my previous medical condition.

I cried out to the Lord. I told Him I didn’t want to go through life wondering if each day would be the day when breast cancer would come knocking on my door, or that of one of my dear sisters.

Well, in late 2011, it looked as if my prayers had bounced off the sky when I discovered a hard, painless lump in my left breast. My heart sank.

My doctors were instantly concerned.

A mammogram revealed two masses—one that was definitely benign and the other, well, they said it was questionable. Thus began the cycle of tests.

I was sent to a leading specialist in Buffalo to determine whether I would have to fight the disease my mother and my aunt had faced.

Thankfully, when it was all said and done, both lumps were benign. I was okay and told my condition was something much less serious and completely treatable.

Even before receiving the good news, though, God had already comforted me and reminded me that I am not defined by my history.

And neither are you.

Though breast cancer or gall stones may not run in your family, there is inevitably something that does—some sort of pattern or cycle—that you don’t want to see repeated in your own life.

It might be high blood pressure, sugar diabetes, obesity, or some other health challenge. It could be poverty, career stagnancy, or failure to attain formal education. It might be domestic abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, or eating disorders. You might want to avoid the stronghold of mental illness or emotional turmoil like depression, rage, or low self-esteem. Perhaps there is a history of divorce, infidelity, incest or some sort of perversion looming over your family.

Whatever the issue, obstacle, or challenge is, remember, the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to overcome whatever stronghold threatens to bind you up.

That doesn’t mean Satan won’t try you or that you will never be challenged in this flesh. You will have to confront certain things head on. But, because you have been engrafted into the family of God, you have already overcome.

You have been adopted and your destiny has been transformed.

You are new.

To remind you of this, I’m adding Romans 8:15 NIV to your cup of inspiration today, which says, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"

When you drink down and digest the contents of your cup, you will resist fear and worry. You won’t be shackled by negative experiences, facts, or issues surrounding your history. Rather, you will be emboldened and empowered to declare victory over every stronghold.

Whatever comes your way, by His stripes you are already healed.

You have a new bloodline; a new heritage; and a new legacy. You are what Galatians 4:7 says you are: an heir of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

Let 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV cause you to rejoice right now: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Let’s pray.

God, I had no control over what I was born into and many of the things that are in my family line. But I believe that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, every stronghold is broken off my life. I speak victory over my health, my mind, my family, my personal endeavors, and my destiny. Whatever the enemy has assigned to destroy me, by the blood of Jesus Christ, I declare that I am loosed and set free. Right now, I thank you for engrafting me into Your family and giving me a new legacy. I declare by the authority of Your precious Son that I am not my family history. I am a new creature. I am who You say I am: an overcomer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!

If you need prayer, don't hesitate to request it. I would be honored to stand in faith with you. I know that prayer works. CLICK HERE to learn how to submit your prayer request.