Put Your Name On It

For a long time now I have struggled with recognition.  It actually cracks me up when I give it enough time to think on it because it is an extremely bi-polar-ish struggle!  Sometimes when I do not get recognized for something I did or I do not get recognized by the "right" people, I get all petty and whiney about it!  It's so stupid because, if I really think about it, those moments have been the times in which I've operated inconspicuously. For real! Even if someone wanted to give credit for it, they wouldn't even know to whom.  In those moments I feel like I am an angry backstage manager at a famous Broadway play indignant at the fact that I am not being applauded!  Dude! You chose that job! Its a BACK-stage job!  In the back! Anyway, I have struggled with that and I truly believe it has to do with having low self-esteem and the unhealthy desire to strive to be accepted and of being approved by man.  But that's NOT what I am writing about today!  Ha! I guess I preface this post with that example to demonstrate how ridiculous my mind can be at times!  With as much as I want to be recognized in those moments, you would think that I would have no issue at all putting my name on something I conjured, invented or created.  I am floored at the fact that I have day dreams where I envision a song I wrote or a drawing I made being used for something greater and yet thinking to myself, "I will not attribute that work to me, it will be done anonymously."  Now I get it, people do things anonymously all the time, and that is not a bad thing.  Even Jesus said to not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.  Or to not do things like praying and worshipping for show.  But I am not talking about that.  I am talking about allowing a spirit of fear and inferiority to dictate how I present myself.  That is not the same spirit with which Jesus intended for me to live by when he asked for us, through his word, to do things in private.  Jesus was talking about humility, which is rooted in LOVE.  Not putting your name on, figuratively speaking, something you've created or have worked hard on out of a sense of shame is rooted in FEAR.  And if I remember correctly, God has said that, in Christ,  we do not have a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and a sound, self-disciplined mind! (2 Timothy 1:7)


It's interesting that when the Apostle Paul wrote that to Timothy, immediately before it, he said, "I remind you to FAN THE FLAMES OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFT God gave you.  I believe Paul was stressing the importance of walking without shame in the calling God gave each of us.  Timothy was called to preach the gospel.  And here he is being encouraged to walk in it without fear or timidity.  Why?  Because when we do, the person to which credit is ultimately being given to is God Himself!! You may not be called to be a pastor, but you are definitely called to preach the gospel.  And maybe your way of preaching the gospel is through song, art, parenting with excellence, business ventures, construction...you name it!  Whatever it is, I really believe God gives us permission to put our name on it because when people see how human we really are and yet something so amazing came from us, there is no way one can mistake who the credit truly goes to...God!


I went to a girls night recently where we were all being creative and crafting things...conversations flowed freely.  Women were openly sharing thoughts, feelings, poems and prophetic words!  Encouragement and love were abounding as we applauded each other.  In that moment I thought, "God, what an amazing church life we would have if we all felt free enough to share how God is using us. Even more amazing if we all recognized that we each had a part in it and did not feel threatened when one of us would shine!"


Kris Vallotton, a Pastor at Bethel Church, said it this way..."when we become everything we were meant to be, it actually GIVES the glory to God."  He is implying that when we create from the place of one of our callings, accepting with pride (the good kind) and joy that we were the vessel God chose in that instant, it doesn't TAKE the Glory from God at all!!!  It attributes all glory to Him who put it there in the first place!  God in the flesh, Jesus himself, said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your good deeds shine for all to see, SO THAT EVERYONE WILL PRAISE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER!"


What can I say then???  Hold your head up! Yes, you are a child of God used for His purposes! Wear it with pride and accept the praise for the good things you've done or created.  Go ahead! Put your name on it because in reality they are honoring the Jesus in you!!!!  Praise be to God!

She/He Poops Too!

I'm sure you've heard of imagining people naked in the audience in order to calm the nerves before speaking publicly.  I'm not too sure it works, but I recently came across something similar that did!  More importantly it made me crack up laughing and helped to lighten-up my heart's load.  I was sharing, with an amazing man of God, my fears of cold calling and walking into places to offer my product not knowing a single soul from Adam.  I also shared the paralyzing intimidation I feel when sharing God's word with people (which I believe is my calling.)  I assume they are far better than me.  My thoughts run along the line of, "they don't need to hear anything from me!  Surely God talks to them...who do I think I am!?" To this he says jokingly and yet so matter-of-fact-ly,  "Just remember, "He/She poops too!"  HAHAHA! It worked! If I can just think of how they poop too, I won't feel so intimidated right??? LOL


Now of course this strategy is really one that I would only cling to when I am found in a place cynicism and fear, not able to remember what God says about it all.  I don't know about you but sometimes I just don't feel like the godly daughter of the king with the sword in her hand ready to conquer the world!  I just don't.  And to be honest with you, most of the time when I walk in my calling its out of reverence and fear of the Lord that he has given me something to say and I would be wrong not to say it.  Other times I literally get sick to my stomach when I hold something in that I am supposed to share.  So I wish I could tell you that in this season of my life I am full of God confidence and that's why I operate in my gifting, but really its a compulsion to simply be right with God.


Your calling in life might be different than mine.  But the same rules apply.  When you know God has given you a gift to do something you should just do it, unapologetically!  Don't fear others will look at you saying, "Dude, who does she/he think she/he is?" Let's say my dentist...He has the gift of understanding dentistry with excellence.  I have NEVER heard him apologize to me for doing a job well done!!!  I have also never thought, "Who does he think he is for fixing my teeth so efficiently?"  Sounds funny when I put it that way but it is true!!! For you, getting up on stage and speaking publicly might be a gift and you can probably knock the ball right out of the park each time you do it!  How insane would it be if immediately afterwards you apologized to your audience for really rockin' it???  Why do I feel the need to apologize for fear that people might think I'm just being arrogant for walking in my gifting?  Now please know that I am not suggesting that we become proud and arrogant for there is a fine line and it is a slippery slope.  But with God it is completely possible to be 100% effective in your calling and yet stay humble, provided that we abide in Him.


I love how the message bible sums it up in Galatians 6:4-5: "make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.  Don't be impressed with yourself.  Don't compare yourself to others.  Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."  How cool is that?  God wants us to walk in confidence of who He has called us to be, and leave behind who He has not called us to be.  For me to be sad that I can't fix teeth like my dentist is ludicrous!  Through this scripture God gives you and me permission to walk in our calling, humbly, always acknowledging where the strength and power comes from, and not fearing man and their approval or rejection of our gift!


I hope I am talking to somebody.  I hope that someone struggling, like me, to be confident in who God says they are is reading this post!  I long to encourage you!  The world NEEDS YOU!  I heard someone recently say something like, "if God created only one 'me' then it stands to reason that I am the best 'me' that there is!"  Ok I probably butchered that quote but I pray you catch my drift! Dag nabbit!!! BE YOU! Stop being afraid of others judging you for being good at what you do!  Walk in it, God made you that way because the buck doesn't stop with you! You are to spread whatever He gave you into everything you say and do.  The empowerment of others lies in your hands too! One person at a time you can change the world!  I really believe it!


So, if you find yourself today in this predicament, I hope you can take my words to heart.  I pray that you begin to have an awareness of the importance of walking in His calling for you!  And shoot, if you find yourself on a cynical day, like sometimes I have, and everything I have written here fails to come to memory, then hopefully you can move beyond intimidation by in the very least remembering that she and he poops too!  ;)