She Believed She Could So She Did

 

For a good long time now, I’ve seen the quote on home décor, jewelry, and T-shirts.  It is encouraging and inspirational.  What we think does indeed have a lot to do with setting and achieving goals. 

I was curious, so I researched the origins of the quote.  The first thing I found said it was written by R.S. Grey in the book Scoring Wilder.   This is a book about a female college soccer player who sets her sights on one of her coaches. 

You guessed it, the “scoring” does not have anything to do with the game of soccer.  I was disappointed when I discovered this. 

Then I found a book by Sam (Samantha) Lacey with this quote as part of its title.  “She Believed She Could So She Did: A Modern Woman’s Guide to Life.”  Really?  I thought that was the Bible. 

 I don’t know either of these women and I haven’t read either book.  But I do know Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new?’  It has already been in the ages before us.”

Now that is something isn’t it?  Even as young as the world was when Ecclesiastes was written, God said nothing was new.  Everything had already been said and done.  I find this truly fascinating! 

But the passage is not speaking of discoveries, inventions and developments in technology.  It refers to the nature and emotions of mankind. It is about the way we think and feel, and the way we treat each other. 

One may ask how is it that “she believed she could, so she did” is not new?  Go all the way back to Eve. 

She saw that fruit.  Satan convinced her she would not surely die.  She believed she could eat it without suffering any consequences – so she did – and with disastrous results! 

What about Sarah who was impatient regarding God’s promise of a son to Abraham?  She believed she could speed things up by giving Hagar as a concubine to Abraham.  So she did – with heartbreaking results!!

There are also positive examples.  Naomi didn’t plan for Ruth to go with her to Bethlehem.  But Ruth thought differently.  She thought she could choose Naomi’s God as her God too.  So she did - and both women were blessed!

There was Shiphrah and Puah, Jochebed and Miriam, Hannah, Esther, Abigail, Mary, the mother of John Mark – and many, many more! 

These are real-life examples of how believing and doing was played out for both bad and good in the Bible.  It is what we choose to think that will guide our words and deeds. 

The line itself conveys the same message Jesus gave to His apostles in Matthew 17:20, but with a twist – “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

That’s it.  Faith.  That is the twist.  What we do, we do through our faith in Christ our Savior. 

Love to all - Robin