Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action

Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action

by Nick Vujicic
Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action

Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action

by Nick Vujicic

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

New York Times bestseller

Being unstoppable is about believing and achieving. It’s about having faith in yourself, your talents and your purpose and, most of all, in God’s great love and His divine plan for your life.
 
Millions around the world recognize the smiling face and inspirational message of Nick Vujicic. Despite being born without arms or legs, Nick’s challenges have not kept him from enjoying great adventures, a fulfilling and meaningful career, and loving relationships. Nick has overcome trials and hardships by focusing on the promises that he was created for a unique and specific purpose, that his life has value and is a gift to others, and that no matter the despair and hard times in life, God is always present. Nick credits his success in life to the power that is unleashed when faith takes action.
 
But how does that happen? In Unstoppable Nick addresses adversity and difficult circumstances that many people face today, including:  
 
• Personal crises
• Relationship issues
• Career and job challenges
• Health and disability concerns
• Self-destructive thoughts, emotions, and addictions
• Bullying, persecution, cruelty, and intolerance
• Balance in body, mind, heart, and spirit  
• Service to others

Through stories from his own life and the experiences of many others, Nick explains how anyone wanting a “ridiculously good life” can respond to these issues and more to become unstoppable. What’s standing in your way?  Are you ready to become unstoppable?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780307730893
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Publication date: 12/31/2013
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 521,176
Product dimensions: 5.20(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Nick Vujicic is a motivational speaker and the director of the nonprofit organization, Life Without Limbs. Nick has become a great inspiration to people around the world, regularly speaking to large crowds about overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams. A longtime resident of Australia, he now lives in southern California with his wife, Kanae.

Read an Excerpt

Faith in Action
     Near the end of my 2011 speaking tour in Mexico, an official with the US embassy in Mexico City called to inform me that my US work visa had been put on hold for “a national security investigation.”
     I live in the United States on that visa because I am a native of Australia. I could not return to my California home without it. Since my staff had scheduled an upcoming series of speaking engagements in the United States, this was a serious problem.
     I scrambled to the US embassy with Richie, my caregiver, early the next morning to try to figure out how my visa had anything to do with national security. When we arrived, we found the large reception area packed with people dealing with their own issues. We had to take a number, like in a bakery. The wait was so long I had a nice nap before we finally were called to meet with an official.
     When I’m nervous, I turn to humor. It doesn’t always work. “Is there a problem with my fingerprints on the visa?” I joked. The embassy person glared at me. Then he called his supervisor. (Maybe my sense of humor was posing a threat to American security?)
     The supervisor arrived, also looking quite grim. Visions of being behind bars crept into my head.
     “Your name has been tagged as part of an investigation,” the supervisor stated robotically. “You can’t return to the United States until this is cleared up, and that will take up to a month.”
     The blood drained from my body. This cannot be happening!
     Richie collapsed to the ground. At first I thought he’d fainted, but he had dropped to his knees in prayer in front of two hundred people. Yes, he’s a very caring caregiver. He raised his arms and his hands together, asking God for a miracle to get us home.
     Everything around me seemed to be in fast-forward and slow motion at the same time. As my head whirled, the embassy official added that my name probably was flagged because I travel so much around the world.      Did they suspect me of being an international terrorist? an arms dealer with no arms? Honest, I hadn’t laid a hand on anyone. (See what happens when I’m nervous? Make me stop!)
     “Come on, seriously, how dangerous could I be?” I asked the embassy official. “I’m meeting with Mexico’s  president and his wife at the presidential house tomorrow for a Three Kings Day party, so obviously they don’t see me as a threat.”
     The US official was not moved. “I don’t care if you’re meeting with President Obama, you aren’t reentering the United States until this investigation is completed,” he said.
     The situation might have been funny if my schedule hadn’t been packed with a long list of speaking engagements back in the good old US
of A. I had to get home.
     I was not about to sit around and wait for someone to decide that Americans were safe with Nick in the house. I pleaded with the embassy official for several more minutes, explaining my obligations, dropping the names of important people, stressing that I had employees who counted on me and orphans who looked up to me.
     He checked with someone higher in rank on the phone. “All they can do is try to expedite the process. It will still take at least two weeks,” he said.
     I probably had a dozen appearances scheduled for those two weeks. But the embassy official was not sympathetic. All we could do at that point was return to our hotel, where I frantically began calling everyone I knew for help and prayers.
     I was tapping into the power of faith in action.
     To simply say “I believe” in something is not enough. If you want to have an impact in this world, you must put your beliefs and your faith into action. In this case I tapped into my belief in the power of prayer. I called our team at my nonprofit organization, Life Without Limbs (LWL), in California and asked them to start a prayer chain. “We’re moving up the chain of command—way up!” I told them.
     The staff at LWL made a flurry of phone calls and sent out a flood of e-mails, tweets, and text messages. Within an hour, one hundred fifty people were praying for a quick resolution to my visa challenge. I also put out calls to friends and supporters who might have influence, relatives, neighbors, or former classmates in the US State Department.
     Three hours later, someone from the embassy in Mexico called me. “I can’t believe this, but you’ve been cleared,” the official said. “The investigation is over. You can come pick up your renewed US visa tomorrow morning.”
     That, my friend, is the power of faith in action! It can move mountains, and it can move Nick out of Mexico too.

Acting in Faith
     In my travels around the world, people faced with challenges ask me for my advice and my prayers. Often, they know what they need to do, but they are afraid to make a change or to take the first step by asking for help or trusting in God. You, too, may be facing challenges that have you feeling helpless, scared, stuck, paralyzed, uncertain, and unable to act. I understand. I’ve been there. When teens and young adults come to me and tell me they are being bullied, that they feel lost and alone in the world, or that they are scared because of disabilities, illness, or self-destructive thoughts, I know exactly where they are coming from.
     My physical challenges are easy to see, yet people only have to talk to me or hear me speak for a few minutes to understand how much joy I have in spite of that. So they often ask me how I stay positive and where I find the strength to overcome my disabilities. My answer, always, is, “I pray for God’s help, and then I put my faith in action.” I have faith. I believe in certain things that I have no tangible proof of—things I cannot see, taste, touch, smell, or hear. Most of all, I have faith in God. Though I can’t see or touch Him, I believe He created me for a purpose, and I believe that when I put my faith and my beliefs into action, I put myself in a position for God’s blessings.
     Will I always get what I want? No! But I will always get what God wants. The same is true for you. Whether you are a Christian or not, you must never think that simply believing in something is enough. You can believe in your dreams, but you have to take action to make them happen. You can believe in your talents and have faith in your abilities, but if you don’t develop them and put them to use, what good are they? You can believe that you are a good and caring person, but if you don’t treat others with goodness and care, where is the proof? 
     You have a choice. You can believe or not believe. But if you believe—whatever you believe—you must act upon it. Otherwise, why believe? You may have had challenges in your career, your relationships, or your health. Maybe you have been mistreated, abused, or discriminated against. All those things that have happened to you do define you or your life if you fail to take action to define yourself. You can believe in your talents. You can believe that you have love to give. You can believe that you can overcome your illness or disability. But that belief on its own won’t bring positive change in your life.
     You must put it into action.
     If you believe you can change your life for the better or make a positive mark in your town or your state or your world, act upon those beliefs. If you think you have a great idea for starting your own business, you must invest your time, money, and talents and make that business happen. Otherwise, what good is just having the idea? If you have identified someone whom you’d like to spend the rest of your life with, why not act upon that belief? What have you got to lose?

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Faith in Action 5

2 Rising from a Fall 29

3 Matters of the Heart 49

4 A Life of Passion and Purpose 77

5 Body Weak, Spirit Strong 101

6 Winning the Battles Within 127

7 Fighting Injustice 149

8 Letting Go to Reach Higher 177

9 Sow Good Seeds 197

10 Living in Balance 223

Acknowledgments 239

Interviews

Q&A With Nick Vujicic


Author of Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action

1. You came to Christ at a young age; have you ever felt despondent enough (as a Christian) to consider taking your own life?

I gave my life to Jesus at age fifteen when I read in the Bible that Jesus knew that the works of God would be displayed through the blind man in John 9. However, before having faith in Jesus, I was angry at God and blamed Him for my lack of limbs and the fact He didn't seem to care. I thought He'd forgotten me or wasn't real at all was because He didn't answer me when I asked with much faith for limbs miraculously. Neither did He answer me when I asked why He had done this. Because of being bullied at school, experiencing a lot of negative attention, feeling like I was a burden to my parents, and not seeing a right future, I attempted to commit suicide by drowning myself in a bath tub. As I was in the process, the thought of leaving my parents with much grief helped me to not go through with the suicide. It was by God's grace that I am still here, and I can hear the words ring true in Jeremiah 29: 11-14.

2. What advice can you offer to other people who are mentally or physically disabled, and feel like their life is "over" and worthless?

Any negative lies and thoughts that come in are not from God if the statements are not in-sync with the Word, the heart of God. Every day, we must pray that the Lord guards our hearts and minds as we battle with principalities and powers of darkness. We have the truth. Remind yourself of the truth of your identity, purpose and destiny in Christ. Put on the full armor of God. Ask God for the gift of faith to believe every loving word of the Bible and the discipline to have time in worship or prayer or reading of the Scriptures to further the growth of your faith. Take one day at a time. We all have a fear of being lonely. Some have been abandoned, but Jesus is with you. Trust Him, and if you don't know Him, seek Him.

3. Describe an average day for Nick? How long it takes to get ready in the mornings?

As a teenager, I wanted to prove to myself that I could be independent, and it would take me an hour to get ready, brush my teeth, go to the restroom, shower and dress myself. These days I like to focus on what gives me more joy and save my energy for the things that are truly rewarding after proving to myself that I could be independent. So, I have caregivers who take care of me and get me ready especially when traveling.

4. How did you meet your wife?

My wife Kanae and I fell in love at the top of a Bell Tower in McKinney, Texas at the "Adriatica.” The fully story is in my book, but it was at a night where I only spoke to 16 people, and we watched the Butterfly Circus. I shared about the ministry's goals and heart in reaching the world. Fireworks were in our minds and hearts when our eyes connected that night... and for the rest of the story, get the book.

5. What qualities or characteristics attracted you to her? Do you plan to have children soon?

She is my best friend, and I adore her. She has unimaginable grace, love, patience and meekness. She is such a focused and gentle giver. We are hoping to have children in a few years, but you never know what the Lord wants.

6. Where do you live/attend church?

With living in Southern California but traveling quite a lot over the years, it has been difficult to find a home church that we truly see our children growing up in long term. But we genuinely enjoy the fellowship of the Apostolic Christian Church in Pasadena and love their hearts in valuing the family-style congregation.

7. You minister around the world to children, churches and businessmen. What message is on your heart at the moment?

In such a world and generation, there is so much information and entertainment and vicious pressure to be someone you're not yet or to get something you don't have yet. The message to preach is the truth. To know our true worth, knowing that we are all loved, and we are here for a greater purpose.

8. Tell us about your book - what inspired you to write it, what do you hope it will achieve, who is it for?

Before writing Unstoppable, I personally went through two major life-changing experiences that I learnt so much in and through. I went through a personal crisis in December 2010. Then I met my wife and started courting her at the end of 2010. That's why I wrote Unstoppable. I love how God lets us go through difficult challenges to help each other and encourage one another. That's what family is for. I also speak, write, sing on YouTube "Something More" and act in the short film "Butterfly Circus." I want to communicate a message of hope and love that continues to evolve as I walk closer to Jesus.

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