3 Words You Need To Embrace

When Michelle Pier of Creative Indeed invited me to appear on her radio show two things happened: 1) I told God how super awesome He was without skipping a beat during my conversation w/ Michelle and 2) I had a minor stroke as I thought, “What if she asks me a question I don’t have the answer to???”

That would have been a deal breaker for me a few years ago. I would have used that moment to ask myself, “Who am I to be the guest on a radio show?” I would have convinced myself that I didn’t know enough, wasn’t worthy enough, or popular enough. What if I don’t know something?!! *insert stabbing music*

I don’t know are 3 words that can carry some negative connotations with them that can back peddle you right back to the starting line. Those feelings of I’m stupid, I’m a failure, and I’m not ready rise to the surface of your heart and just like that you abandon your dream. But, I don’t know can also mean you are right where you need to be.

I don’t know can mean you are walking by faith and not by sight.

I don’t know can mean you’re not chasing the dream, but you’re chasing God.

I don’t know can mean that you trust God 100%.

Can you imagine if you were Moses and charged with freeing the Israelites from Pharaoh?

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “But if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me,’ then the people will ask, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13)

Because I can’t say I don’t know, God! They’ll laugh me out of Egypt!

Y’all know that’s what Moses wanted to say! Lord, you have got to give me some more details! How are you going to do this? What day? What time?

Some of us won’t even share the gospel with others for fear of being asked a question we can’t answer. Some of us know exactly what we were born to do, but we won’t move because we don’t have all of the details. Some of us have a desire, a yearning that just pulls at our heart strings every now and again but it doesn’t fit into our plan and doesn’t make sense when we say it out loud so we stuff it back into its little corner. Sometimes you’ve felt prompted to say something to someone, but didn’t because you were afraid they’d inquire more and you’d have to say those 3 little words…I don’t know.

I may not know a lot, but I know 3 things: (1) God honors obedience, (2) He is pleased with faith and (3) He loves to do the unexpected.

True Story:

A year ago, after being bullied at my job and going to HR to report my co-worker and my supervisor’s refusal to act, I was forced to resign. When I first got this job, I knew God was in all the details. And, here I was…unemployed. What’s the deal, God? My hours were 9-6 Monday through Friday and I grew to loathe that job, but it was income that we needed so quitting would have never been an option. But, when I was let go, I didn’t feel panic and my husband, the budgeting guru, didn’t panic either. (Sign #1)

During this time, I figured I should start to work on my dream of life coaching. A few months later, I was hired for an on-call position at another pharmacy which worked out perfectly because I had started attending a public speaking class, hosting a monthly tweet chat, blogging regularly, and looking for opportunities to gain experience as a speaker and life coach so I needed a very flexible schedule. When the opportunity to attend a class at a women’s empowerment center presented itself, I was free to say yes. When I was asked to teach a class one day a week, I was free to say yes. A few months later, when I was offered a fulltime position and told that becoming a certified life coach was a part of the job requirement, I was free to say yes.

Getting fired didn’t make sense. In fact, in the beginning I felt some shame, guilt, and feelings of failure. But, God was positioning me for something better, something he created me for.

I didn’t always have an answer for what was happening but would you like to know what I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt? I knew that God created me with a plan in mind, a plan to prosper me and not harm me, a plan to give me a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) We’re not supposed to have all of the answers. We are only asked to spend quality time walking with the one who does.

The next time someone asks you a question you don’t know, simple smile and say, “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s going to be spectacular!”

What are you avoiding because you don’t have all of the details?

With Love,