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I am a scary cat. I am terrified to talk in pubic. I am petrified to open up about myself to other. I am even more so scared of making people upset with me. Blame it on my need to be a people pleaser. Yet, if it is one thing that I have learned this year it is that you can not be a people pleaser and a follower of Christ. You can not be afraid to share of yourself to others and expect to create an impact on them. When I look back over this year oh man how God has pulled me out of a lot of my comfortable places. Yet while these things were happening I was confused as what He was doing all of this to me for. Yet, I am coming to find out that it has proven to be a valuable lesson to me. It has caused me to find inner courage I was unaware that I had in my possession.
Every time I was asked to reveal something here I felt I was just uncomfortable doing because of fear God kept reminding me of this verse:
Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms 27:1
For far to long I allowed fear to consume me until God kept reminding me over and over again of these words.
The fear was paralyzing.
The fear was well known
The fear was causing me to be stunted in growth.
2nd Timothy says:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
God has provided us with the Holy Spirit to help guide us in the ways that He wants us to go. He has also provided that Holy Spirit to help comfort us in times of doubt and in times that we feel insecure. God gave us the power to do all the things in which He needs from us. He has provided us with gifts and he has provided us with the abilities we need to make these gifts be glorifying to Him!! Those moments of self doubt and those moments when are insecure they are not of God. They are from Satan to cripple us from doing God’s work!
So what do we do in those situations when we need to muster that inner courage:
Mustering up courage sounds good but when it really comes down to it then that is a different story. When I was first asked to speak to a room full of women I was terrified. I had studied all week long, preparing and sweating. I had no clue what was doing to me. I argued with God for a bit. After all I had started this online ministry under His direction what more did He want from me? I was already stepping further out of my comfort zone then I had ever wanted to. Yet, now He wanted me to share outside of a computer screen. I was terrified.
After a long talk with God something became clear to me. God had put me in this place to learn a lesson. I had grown comfortable sharing on the internet about myself. No one could put a face with the lesson I was trying to explain. No one would call me out online except for in the comment section. Yes, speaking to a room full of people meant I was going to have to be extremely prepared. I was going to have to be focus and I was going to have to rely solely on Him to provide wisdom and strength.
Earnestly I sought wisdom.
Earnestly I sought direction.
Earnestly I sought comfort.
What I received was far more. While preparing to teach I had typed out all my notes. I was ready to go until well my printer decided to run out of ink. I thought I was going to fall over. I walked in to the room with my back up plan….Good old evernote to the rescue. Yet as I spoke I noticed something was happening. I was no longer looking at my notes. I was speaking words that were not even written down. God had taken control!! He had provided me with the confidence that I needed to carry on and then some!!
When we are needing to step out of our comfort zone and we are needing to channel our inner confidence…..
We need to simply ask.
We need to trust that God is faith.
We need to know that He is in complete control.
We need to remember that He makes no mistakes.
God puts us in spots to learn a lesson. He allows us to try to handle it on our own but He truly wants us to ask for His help. He is out inner confidence.
So now I ask what is it that you are putting off because you are to scare to attempt it? Have you asked God to step in? If not that is where your inner confidence lays. That is where you find the strength that you never knew you had.
Until Next Time Just Keep Soaring 4 Him,
I would like to invite you to my Facebook group Christian Homemakers in Training where we dive into homemaking, motherhood, marriage and group devotions. After all, we all need a safe place to grow together, right?
Love how the Holy Spirit works! Equipping you at just the moment you needed - not a moment earlier and not a moment too late. You just had to step forward and trust.
Fear often cripples me for a while before I realize what’s happening. I have been getting better and it’s so freeing to push through the fear. Because we really have nothing to fear at all.
Great post!
We are in such similar places! I am slowly (some days slower than others;)) learning to let go of my concerns with what others think of me and resting in the comfort of God’s grace-filled acceptance.
Thank you for the inspiration and reminders from God’s Word that we are in ever capable hands.
I loved how you shared your vulnerable places today. God has called me to many uncomfortable places and looking back they don’t seem so scary now. I have never spoken in public, so that is’nt a fear I have had to deal with.