My heart was racing. My palms were sweating. I was sitting at my desk staring at the send button, and contemplating the irrational thought of hitting it. Who was I to ask them to write for this ministry?
The words of defeat, rejection, and insecurities were trying to drown out the gentle words just click send, Beth.
What happens if they say no, what happens if they say nothing, what happens if it is all an epic fail? The unknown and anticipation of rejection was paralyzing me! What if I am asking for too much? What if I say something wrong? What if I unintentionally offend them? Oh, WHAT IF!!!!
The childhood feelings of never being good enough began to dominate my mind in order to silence the whispers that were telling me to just do it afraid, Beth.
The open door never looked so terrifying!
How can I walk through that door? Who am I to be standing before the door? Who am I to even consider them? Jabbing at any sense of confidence I was trying to muster, were the inferior, unworthy, and shameful lies surrounding the one taunting question, who do you think you are, Beth?
I took a deep breath, mentally glared at those lies, and rebelliously hit send!
Over the next few days I reached out to bloggers and authors I respected and admired to see if they’d guest post, in spite of knowing I had no leg to stand on. Oh, I was acutely aware that ONLY God could bring about a yes, but I would not let my fear override my faith. I was standing before a door, and it was open!
Then it happened, the thing that can only happen when you obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit. That thing that can only happen when you step out in faith over your fear. That thing that happens when we walk through open doors – the yeses began to come in!
It’s a myth to think that those who do, do it without fear. It is a myth to believe that those who have walked, walk without insecurities. It is a myth to conclude that those carrying out your dreams, are doing it minus the doubts you wrestle with.
What’s the difference?
They’re Rebels!
They defy the false authority of their insecurities!
They allow their faith to carry them across, and they leave their fear on the other side.
They allow their confidence in God to lift them above their attachment to their fear!
They stomp their foot, they point their fingers, they glare, they get mad, and they say NO to their fears and YES to their God!
Those rebels may pause at the threshold of their open door, but eventually they test how wide that door will swing simply by walking through it no matter the outcome.
YES, THEY JUST WALK THROUGH – AFRAID and ALL!!
Crossing the threshold is the only difference between someone who did it and someone who did not.
{NOW YOUR TURN} What doors are you standing at? What are you afraid of? Let’s continue the conversation below in our comment section. Share with me your fears, and share with me your just do it afraid moments!
Come on, will you walk through with me?
Love this post! I guess you could say I’m a bit of a “rebel” too. Although I’m still a “work-in-progress,” my God-given motto has always been, “what’s the worse thing that can happen; they say ‘no?!'” I’d rather hear “no” than live with constantly wondering, “what if?” Its a DAILY struggle to push through my fears, but the pain of regret is worse to me than the pain of rejection. I don’t want to stand before my King, the One who gave His Life for mine, and have to tell Him that I didn’t trust that He would see me through it… and as I type this I am thinking of the many times I’ve failed at being brave. God, help me to have an even greater capacity to have “faith over fear!” Amen!