Believe In Yourself

Believe in yourself. This is not that kind of inspirational writeup or pep talk about how to prop yourself up.  This is a writeup on how knowing who you are in Christ is more than all the prop you need.

We often struggle with assertion when it comes to who we are and who we want to be. We worry about asserting who we hope to be because of fear of the backlash that comes with openly declaring, with nothing tangible in sight, the future we dream of.

First things first, in order for what I’m about to say to you to make any sense or resonate with you, you need to figure out what you want to do and who you are called to be. Not in and of yourself, but in terms of who God has called you to be in line with His divine purpose and plan for your life. This can be full time ministry but more often than not it is a medical calling, a creative calling or a calling to be a network programmer. It is possible to be called to any career path, industry or walk of life. Remember, "Through Him all things were made and without Him, nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3).  Our prescence in any sphere of influence is the major way God rules in the affairs of men (Daniel 4:17). If we are yielded to the will of God and a leading of the Holy Spirit, wherever we are, no matter what industry or sector of society, God will use us to enact His perfect plan. 

Ok so now that we've established that, back to the gist of things. If I’m being honest, I’ve never really been one to be easily discouraged by people’s words or doubts. This is not because I'm just naturally confident, it is because God is His kindness blessed me with a lot of nurturing, support and words of affirmation from the people around me since I was a child. The constant encouragement I've received over the years has helped me develop a very strong sense of self and confidence in my ability to accomplish whatever I set out to accomplish.

However, when I started taking my walk with God seriously, the self-part got a much needed overhaul.  God really opened my eyes to see that all those years even though I thought “I” was of my own accord accomplishing great feats, I had always been riding on the grace of God. The difference was,  I was just too terribly ignorant to know it. What's also humbling and relaxing for me is that  as I learn to trust God more, it's becoming less about relying on my own strength and more about relying on the grace of the One who never fails. 

However, while I never let anyone talk me down or lead me to believe I couldn’t achieve the things I had put my mind to; I didn’t always have the courage to tell people without prompting that I could accomplish certain things. Many times, I would hold back and not say certain things for fear that I would seem obnoxious or arrogant or just downright ridiculous.

The Irony was once I understood that it was Christ working through me, it gave me the courage to boldly say things I wouldn’t ordinarily have said of my own accord. For instance, in my heart, I’ve known for ages that I am a designer but I can probably count the number of people before this year I’ve said that to boldly that I wasn’t very close to. I would always say “I design” or “I like freelance design” but the courage to boldly and assertively call myself a designer out loud because of all the boxes I felt I needed to  tick before earning the right to say so, I just wouldn't.

But here is the truth, I am a designer, not because I'm Parsons or Central Saint Martins certified but because it happens to be one of the natural gifts God has given me. Really understanding this has helped me embrace the truth that in areas I feel not so sufficient, His grace is more than sufficient for me.

Now I’m not saying you just stand boldly and declare you are something without training, educating yourself and upping your skill level. What I’m saying is if you are responsibly and actively chasing a dream that you know is God’s plan for your life you don’t need to be waiting around hoping for validation from people. Know who God has called you to be and declare it believing, that it is exactly who you are.

You are not resting on your abilities or qualifications, you are resting on the undying mercy and grace of God to help you do valiantly that which He’s called you to do. This is very important because who you are called to be is much bigger than just you. Our individual callings are all a part of God's grand design. What this means is that if we spend all our time being plagued by doubt and insecurities as opposed to just believeing the word of God and the Holy Spirit, we are getting in the way of God's big plan. This is really helpful to understand because then it helps us focus less on us and more on how to live out our purpose and glorify God in the process. It is time to start walking in the confidence of who God has called us to be, not because of self gratification but because in the end, everything we do and everything we become is geared towards giving glory to God and edifying humanity.

So yeah, I take back what I said earlier, this is an inspirational talk. It's simply the word (biblical) edition of that talk. So believe in yourself; the version of you backed up by the word of God and God's unique calling upon your life.