Be Bold
2022 was such a full year! I did some personal reflection and realized I wasn’t too happy with my year-end review. Not because it wasn’t a good year but because I walked in a shadow of myself in many ways. I’m sure a lot of y’all can relate to this…
Honestly, I had a good reason. Coming into a new year, I realized that I did not ever want to feel how I felt at the end of last year - fully overcome by my circumstances and giving way to life’s ups and downs without a fight. Hardships and constant trials are very real — emotions are very real. We all know that life’s troubles are inevitable. Jesus himself is even aware of this and gives us the reassurance we need in times like this - John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
All my reflections led me to one resolution…BE BOLD!
John 16:33 is the bold reassurance I need to walk through seasons where emotions and mental health feel like the heaviest weight in the world. I am pretty tired of living a scared life; a life too concerned about what people will think. If I’m talented enough, If I simply am enough, or being caught in the comparison trap of what the next person is doing.
God created me the way He wanted me. Every vision, dream, and talent was hand-picked when I was created. So why do I keep questioning the worth of what is in my hands?
Life is too short to not pour out what He has filled your heart with.
“Confidence isn’t walking into a room thinking you’re better than everyone, it’s walking in not having to compare yourself to anyone at all.” - Unknown
Imagine not having the impact God desires to mark the earth with because you’re too busy looking at what’s in someone else’s hand or you let fear hold you back? God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit that exudes power, love, and self-discipline.
To be bold, you must be unafraid of man because you are fully aware of the authority and confidence you have through Christ.
Jeremiah 17 explains this perfectly - Verse 5 “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns from the Lord.”
Jump to verse 7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
What more needs to be said? Go in the strength God has given you.
