Be it name brand or the stuff you make with your mom when you’re a kid and she finds a cheap recipe online, Play-doh taught us how to create and how to think. Within the structure that is the dough or rather the lack of structure, Play-doh could be whatever you wanted it to be. It could be anything and do anything.

You can even form Play-doh into stalk of corn, and as corny as it may be, we too are like Play-doh in the hands of the Lord.

Philippians 4:3 says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” As Play-doh, we are God’s creation in which we can be and do anything when He forms us. In the hands of God, we are strong and given purpose.

I wanted to talk about this because doubt can be a very toxic thing in our life that constantly tells us that we are not worthy, we are not good enough and can never be or do that one thing. It’s a crippling affliction that takes us out at the knees and makes it hard to get back up. Coupled with thoughts of inadequacy, doubt tells us that we aren’t capable of doing things. Be it making new friends, scoring in a soccer match or stepping out of your comfort zone, there are no boundaries to what doubt tells us we cannot do. That might be why in elementary school our teachers told us we can be an astronaut or the president of the United States, because doubt can come in any way, shape or size and it takes encouragement to overcome.

The great philosopher Plato, fashioned a concept which I want to share for encouragement. In Plato’s epistemological and psychological theory, there is a concept called Anamnesis. The gist of this concept is that we as humans already know everything and that learning is actually the process of rediscovering the knowledge that was already inside of us. I want to take this idea a little further.

Knowing from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” we can understand that there is nothing we cannot do as long as God is on our side. This may be a bit tricky to fully pick up, but if you use Plato’s concept to expand on this, you can infer that we can do anything because we have already been empowered to do it or know it.

God can empower you to do great things, so when it comes down to you doubting yourself, either reflect on Philippian 4:13 or just take Plato’s concept if you need to, but understand that you already contain the power to do whatever it is you want to do because you have been empowered to do so. As the Play-doh being sculpted by God, you possess the ability to do or be whatever it is you want, because your creator has made it so.

So the next time you feel too afraid to make new friends, know that you can do it. You have the ability to do so because, as Play-doh, all it takes is a little flexibility to make it so. The next time you doubt your ability to score a goal in a soccer match, know that you possess the strength and skill to do it because you, as creation, have been created to do so. Your comfort zone is really just in the formation of the Play-doh that you had been previously formed into, but with the right guidance from your Creator you can expand upon that to do so much more.

You have the ability to do anything when God strengthens you and empowers you. Don’t let darkness creep in on your light. Keep your head up high, smile and take the weight off your own shoulders because there is no room for doubt to perch on the shoulders of a confident creation.