Christ is Risen!
Praying your bodies and hearts are well today.
So, I clearly am not great at posting every day haha. What I will promise is that, for a week’s time, there will be a number of posts on the same topic. I’m just not sure what the number will be.
Today, we begin a new theme: CHOOSING COURAGE.
In the face of loneliness, illness, persecution, etc., we are presented with COURAGE. Courage is not the opposite of any other emotion or response. It is what we are invited to choose when we are at the brink of letting ourselves be overcome by fear.
Courage is the vehicle that often takes us towards the light of Christ. Courage accepts the Lord’s love and His calling. Courage allows us to struggle in community instead of isolation. It allows us to grow instead of remaining stagnant. Courage also might allow us to fail and grow. Courage is a turning point.
Let’s begin with: TRUST YOURSELF.
As life evolves, our roles will evolve. In new and challenging situations, it’s common to be faced with a lack of trust in yourself. You may have been faced with a general lack of trust in your decisions during different relationships or phases of life. You may even have a day or week when you question yourself to the point of not being able to make necessary decisions or do crucial work. When you become aware of this struggle, it’s important to take a step back and consider how to gain the courage to trust in yourself. The choices in front of you are yours to make.
Every person has been given the freedom to choose. Our choices are what make us who we are and what take us where we go. They are a manifestation of our hearts and minds and they bring to life, our beliefs and essence. Our choices can also betray who we are and display a lack of clarity or extreme confusion. This is one of the reasons that we may fall into a fear of choosing. We may be afraid of making the wrong choice or making a choice that leads to failure.
The reality of living comes with the reality of failure. My choice today may lead to redirection tomorrow. It’s inevitable. But owning your own life and roles means fully participating. If you are given something to do, put time and effort into doing your best. One way that lack of trust in yourself shows up is when doable tasks seem daunting. You may ask for guidance beyond what you need because you don’t trust yourself to jump in and get it done. This lack of trust and ability to act may cause you to be even more off task than a wrong choice would. Once you have the tools to do it, own the things that are yours to do and be ok with learning along the way. Prolonged inactivity and over dependency on the guidance of others may cause others to lack trust in you as well.
Trust in yourself is crucial to living life as an active participant. We do our best with what we have in the moment, and trust that God will enter in and give us peace in our decision or guide us towards another way. Others will guide, teach, and support us, but one person cannot take on the life of another. It is through relationships, discipleship, and mentorship that we are continuously being formed into our true selves who choose, on our own, to move towards Christ and others. And choose to look back at Christ when we’ve gone off on our own way.
Make scary choices. Own your work. Come up with creative solutions. Be open to redirection. The most helpful way to work on trusting yourself more is to trust yourself more.