Do you remember growing up as a child and feeling insecure? I remember a moment in time when I was 13 years old and played basketball for my local town in the community league. At the end of each year, they would pick an “all-star” team to play other communities. For me, this was a big deal. I had made the team the year before and did well. This particular year, we had a new coach and a new system. I tried out and misunderstood what the coach had said to everyone. I didn’t receive a phone call but thought it meant I made the team. The opposite was true, though. I walked up to the gym with the guys and waited for the coach to arrive. When he came, I remember him looking at me with a curious but frustrated look. He asked me to step aside as everyone else walked into the gym, and he told me that I had not made the team.
As my friends walked in and I did not, I felt insecure in my ability as a basketball player. This moment in my life fueled my passion to play high school and then college basketball.
My performance was wrapped up in my identity.
I entered the ministry, and the urge to continue to find security in my performance still exists. This in turn reveals my insecurity.
One of my struggles has always been feeling insecure. I have a type A personality with a relentless desire to improve and lead others. My weakness is relying more upon what I do and less upon God’s strength in me.
You might feel this way too. We worry about our reputation, rejection and failure. I’m in a daily learning process of finding confidence in God and not in my performance.
5 Ways to Find Confidence in God:
1. Realize you are a child of God. There is nothing that we can do to make God love us MORE or love us LESS. Let that sink into your heart. He is our Heavenly Father, and He defines us.
2. Serve God out of gratefulness. We shouldn’t be lazy but instead should be diligent to fulfill His calling. We need to relentlessly rely upon the Holy Spirit. I try to maintain this throughout the day by praying about everything. I work FROM gratitude and not FOR His worth.
3. Focus upon God’s blessings. Instead of worrying about what we cannot control, focus upon His blessings. Write a list of ways that God has answered prayer. Talk about the people who have began a relationship with Jesus.
4. Stop comparing and start encouraging. You are not that person and they are not you. God made YOU unique and for a specific purpose of glorifying Him. Focus upon God’s calling for your life and live that out with passion. Comparison kills peace. Comparison kills joy. Contentment builds both peace and joy. The next time you start comparing your salary, home, church size and vehicle, start thanking God for His blessings.
5. Trust God with the results. We are not responsible to change people. We are simply given the opportunity to imitate Jesus and influence others with Jesus. God is God; we are not.
What is it in your life that makes you feel insecure? What would you add to the conversation?
Good stuff, Josh! 🙂