I was listening to a leadership podcast on being confident when you are in a room filled with people who you think have more to offer than you. The guest who was on said this, “You belong in the room that you are in because there is no other you. What you’re bringing into that space is valuable because you’re the only one that has what you have, and it’s not there without you”. Let’s pause and reread that again.
Wow! A simple truth that will destroy the consistent lies of insecurity that are always telling us that we don’t belong.
The guest was speaking from a corporate perspective, but we often encounter this same trap spiritually within our church circles. Have you ever walked into a church, Bible study, prayer gathering, or even your college theological classroom wanting to contribute but not doing so? You wanted to pray, but that little voice whispered, ‘You don’t sound like (insert the person you admire)’, so you remain silent. During bible studies or class conversations, you wanted to contribute, but as quickly as the thought came, you pushed it down because doubt said, ‘you don’t have enough knowledge to share on this topic’. Or maybe you are trapped in a thought pattern of thinking, ‘my life is too messy for God to use, and I’m an embarrassment to Him, so I will just show up, and that’s enough. He can use someone who is far more qualified than I am. Although I am grateful, we are all at least showing up in rooms, my desire is for us to do more than show up. It is for each of us to arrive knowing we belong just as much as the other people there.
The Gospel is a work that we all have a responsibility in sharing. But our circle of influences from family, friends, church, work, and even where we live will be specific to each one of us to walk out. Same message, different circles. God is clear that there is a work for each of us to do that has been prepared ahead of us. This is why our enemy attacks our confidence and tries to convince us that we have no value. I grew up hearing that value is in the eye of the beholder. That one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What does this mean? It means there is value in everything, it just depends on who is holding and loving it. You and I have value because God is holding and loving us with all that He is and has. Satan is the one throwing us away like garbage, but God is always there to remind us that we are worthy, beautiful, captivating and belong both in His kingdom and in whatever room He chooses to place us in.
Let me let you in on a little secret. No one ever feels like they have arrived, have it all together, or is fully confident. Not even the one person you admire the most, whether they admit it or not. So, you may be asking yourself, if no one has it all together, then why do some people appear to be so confident? These individuals have learned and decided that if God has opened the opportunity (whatever it is) and placed them in certain rooms, then this is where they belong. Their confidence is fully reliant on trusting God to navigate their spaces and to always direct them to exactly where they need to be. If God finds value in having you where you are right now, then you belong there. So, my dear friends, whatever room you find yourself walking into today, remember that there is no one else who can bring what you have into that space. So, fill it well, we need you!
Let me leave you with some encouraging scriptures:
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) – For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Colossians 3:23 (NLT) – Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working
for the Lord rather than for people.
1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) – God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual
gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
By, Erica Wilkening
