Awaken, Transform, Renew: The Power of the Wills

While worshipping one morning, I was given a vision that forever reframed how I define success.

I heard the Father whisper, “I am the Potter, and you are My clay.”

He led me to kneel and curl into a tight ball, forehead pressed to the ground. In that posture, I tried to move—but I couldn’t. My fifty-year-old body felt confined, restricted, stuck in the darkness.

In my spirit I cried out, “Abba, I can’t move! I’m not free!”

And He answered.

“I created you to be movable. I formed you perfectly. Sin shattered you into broken pieces—but when you were reborn, I remade you. I did not restore you to be rigid. I restored you to be pliable.”

Then I felt pressure. From every side. From above. The Potter’s hands were firm and intentional.

“This is uncomfortable,” I whispered.

“So start moving,” He replied. “I am holding you.”

Tentatively, I began to move. First a stretch. Then I rose from kneeling to standing, though my head still hung low. And the more I moved, the more room He gave me. The more I responded, the more He shaped.

Freedom didn’t come from escaping His hands.
Freedom came from moving within them.

And He said something that pierced my heart:

“You want freedom. But the freedom you seek can only be found in Me.”

What This Has to Do with Entrepreneurship

Everything.

For years, I lived by one mantra: Willpower equals success.

And by the world’s standards? It worked.

I moved out before I was eighteen.
Worked three jobs to graduate with honors.
Earned a master’s degree.
Taught as a college professor at twenty-five.
Built businesses. Led in ministry. Homeschooled for ten years. Navigated corporate spaces for another ten.

If effort were the measure of righteousness, I would have been crowned.

But eventually, my willpower ran out.

Anxiety.
Depression.
Dark thoughts.

The titles and accolades that once fueled me stopped satisfying me.

“For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world… at the cost of your own life?” — Mark 8:36

I had built success—but had I built surrender?

The Lie of “Willpower Equals Blessing”

Somewhere along the way, I believed this subtle distortion:

Success = God’s blessing.
Blessing = God’s approval.
Therefore, striving harder = more favor.

But Scripture gently dismantles that illusion:

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the work of the builders is wasted.” — Psalm 127:1

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” — Proverbs 16:9

God will bless the real you—not the performing you.

Performance may produce applause.
But intimacy produces fruit.

I had been about my business, not always about the Father’s business.

And like Peter, when Jesus revealed His plan, I resisted.

“Surely not, Lord.”

But Jesus wasn’t asking for my hustle.
He was asking for my will.

The Foundation Test

Entrepreneur, let me lovingly ask you:

Is your business built on faith or fueled by fear?
Is your drive empowered by the Spirit or sustained by adrenaline?
f everything stopped tomorrow, would your joy remain?

Jesus made it clear:

“Apart from Me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5

Not little.
Not less.
Nothing.

When my striving finally collapsed, I realized something holy:

Setbacks are often setups for surrender.

God loved me too much to allow me to succeed outside of Him.

True Success Redefined

True success is not achieving your dreams through grit.

True success is your will falling into the hands of the Almighty Creator of the universe.

When your dreams die in obedience, something greater is born—His dreams.

Faith becomes your fuel.
Trust becomes your strategy.
Surrender becomes your strength.

“Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for.” — Hebrews 11:1

The Shield of Faith protects you from arrows of doubt, comparison, ambition, and unbelief.

Because unbelief—not lack of talent—is the greatest stumbling block of mankind.

Ask the Better Question

Don’t just ask, “What is happening in my business?”

Ask, “What is happening in me?”

If what you are building is not filled with deep joy and unshakeable peace, allow the Holy Spirit to prune it.

Pruning hurts.
But pruning heals.

Fire burns.
But fire purifies.

Awaken. Transform. Renew.

This vision wasn’t just for me.

It’s for you.

God is inviting you out of the world’s mold and into His hands. He is not trying to restrict you—He is trying to reshape you.

He is saying:

“Move. I am holding you.”

When you posture yourself in His presence without agenda, something shifts. You stop performing for blessing and start partnering in purpose.

“Stop imitating the ideals of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit…” — Romans 12:2

Wise builders build differently.

They build with revelation.
They build with counsel.
They build with surrender.

“Wise people are builders… through intelligence and insight their enterprises are established and endure.” — Proverbs 24:3–6

Kingdom entrepreneurship is not about scaling faster.
It’s about surrendering deeper.

A Final Invitation

Will you sacrifice your version of success to experience fullness of joy?

Will you allow the Potter to mold you as you move?

Will you exchange willpower for Spirit power?

Because here is the truth I learned the hard way:

You will find true success when you find Him.

And when your will aligns with His—
You won’t just succeed.

You will endure.
You will overflow.
You will build what heaven backs.

Let us be wise builders together.

Let the Potter shape you.
Hold up your Shield of Faith.
And remember:

True success is defined as our will falling into the hands of the Almighty Creator of the universe.