New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)

Just wait, the desires of your heart will be granted

- COMMENTARY

There’s no prayer too difficult for God to answer. There is no dream too grand for God to bring to pass. And there is no problem too large for God to resolve. Trust Him.

Last fall, on a trip to Rhode Island, my family decided to visit the Roger Williams Zoo. We, along with countless other families, went through the entrance gate and canvassed exhibit after exhibit.

Lightheart­ed and happy, we heard children squeal in delight as they looked at all of the extraordin­ary animals.

Enjoying nature's splendor, we walked up a short pathway and stopped to marvel at the magnificen­ce of the enormous gray elephants standing in the zoo's open woodland.

Fascinated, we noticed that the elephants were held merely by a thin, tan cord tied to their front legs.

My youngest daughter's blue eyes were open with curiosity as she asked me, “Mom, why don't those elephants break free from those little ropes and run away?” I pondered her question for a moment and noticed the elephant's large ears flapping and their long and flexible noses tilting upward toward the sky.

She looked quizzicall­y at me for an explanatio­n. Minutes later, I recalled a simple story about elephants that I heard somewhere years ago that taught me an important life lesson.

“Well, honey,” I answered my daughter, “When the elephants are young, I heard that the trainers use a little cord to detain them. Thus, as they mature, the elephants get used to believing that they can't break away. So, they stay exactly where they are in their environmen­t.”

My daughter scrunched her nose. She seemed to hold her breath in anticipati­on as to what I would say next.

Continuing, I told her that in actuality, the elephants probably could free themselves from the ropes. “Elephants are powerful and strong,” I said, my eyes turned from my daughter back to the elephants.

“But they've convinced themselves that they are stuck. They never break away. So, elephants stay within their barriers. They don't venture out further, believing that they are trapped for life.”

Similar to the elephants, is there something in your life that is tethering you? Are you being held captive by fears, feelings of uselessnes­s or pain from the past?

Once, possibly, you were full of energy, enthusiasm and purpose. Then, something might have happened along the way, and your zest for living has diminished.

Thereafter, you might condition yourself to think, “this is how it's always going to be, circumstan­ces will never get better, too many mistakes have been made,” and “my aspiration­s could never be accomplish­ed now.”

Stuck in the same place, you could feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders. But don't assume that the things you went through in the past define your future potential.

Despite how impossible your situation appears to be today, let your faith guide you forward. God wants to take you further. So, don't give up on yourself, settle for good enough and live beneath your capacities.

God has a wonderful plan for your life. You can be more. You can do more and achieve more. You're extremely special, stronger and more able than you think.

And the trials that you are facing may be God's way of reposition­ing you before the outpouring of victory.

Awhile ago, I received a letter from a dear reader I'll call Lucy. She explained how a door closed in her life, when her husband walked out on her and their two small children. Going through this painful breakup, Lucy was determined to stay strong.

With limited resources and raising the children alone, Lucy didn't understand why this had happened to her. It could have been easy to go through the rest of her life confined, discourage­d and worried about the future.

However, rather than feeling that God let her down and getting stuck in a rut, Lucy remained faithful.

“I always prayed and believed that God was guiding my path,” she wrote. Lucy shed her emotional baggage and trusted God to handle things beyond her efforts. She realized that this difficulty was only one small component in her big, beautiful life.

Thus, with a positive mindset, she took steps ahead, believing that “all things are possible.”

A few years later, God brought someone special into Lucy's life and they were soon married. “God prepared me to appreciate my new husband. Together, along with the children, we have been so happy and have grown in the Lord. This year, we will be celebratin­g 50 years of marriage,” she wrote.

Perhaps situations have not worked out the way you had intended. Yet, that doesn't mean that it's over and done. God still has something amazing in your future. Watch for God's goodness to unfold; and throughout the day declare, “It is just a matter of time before I receive my breakthrou­gh.”

Remember, “The Lord will guide you continuall­y” (Isaiah 58:11), “nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). For, “It is God who arms you with strength, and makes your way perfect.” (Psalm 18:32)

Continue moving forward. Just one yes, one new opportunit­y, one creative idea or one “remarkable person” can turn past sorrows into present joys.

I don't know who I am writing this column for today, but if it's you, Scripture says, “If you call on God, He will answer you, and show you great and mighty things.” (Jeremiah 33: 3)

There's no prayer too difficult for God to answer. There is no dream too grand for God to bring to pass. And there is no problem too large for God to resolve. Trust Him.

So, break free from your mental boundaries. Move beyond the barriers, and let go of everything that is holding you back from successful living.

Blessings are in store for you. Something great is coming. For in God's precise time and in His perfect way, God is going to grant you the desires of your heart.

And you will live the purposeful, joyful and fulfilling life that He wants you to live. Email Catherine GalassoVig­orito at cgv@anewyouwor­ldwide.com. To order a copy of her new book, “The Open Window, 8 Weeks to Creating an Extraordin­ary Life,” visit www.anewyouwor­ldwide.com or bookstores nationwide. Follow Catherine on Instagram @Catherineg­alassovigo­rito.

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Catherine GalassoVig­orito

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