Tag Archives: insecurity

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Work Week Devotion 03.26.2017

Deuteronomy 31:8

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NLT): Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Being a leader is hard! (who am I kidding? LIFE is hard!) It’s so much easier when we remember we don’t go it alone. Nothing surprises God. Isn’t there so much comfort in that? Isn’t there so much comfort in the promises of this passage?

He goes before you to make a way.
He will be with you.
He will not abandon you.
He will not fail you.
Therefore – Don’t be afraid or discouraged.

We all have moments when we feel weak, scared, discouraged and alone. Picture Jesus entering a room, situation or conversation before you and find strength and guidance in that!

Faithful Father, We thank You that we never have to face anything alone. Help us to remember that You go before us and that nothing surprises You. Please forgive us when we let our fear be louder than our faith. Amen.

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Work Week Devotion 01.22.2017

Matthew 5:43-45a

Matthew 5:43-45a (NLT): “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.

Many of us would be hard – pressed to say we have “enemies,” but, deep down, most of us have what we might consider “Competition.” Maybe it’s the teacher who always has the most perfect bulletin boards or the other dad who’s better at sports or hunting than you. Maybe a new business has opened and they offer the same services as you – at a lower price.

Whether you’re an employee, parent, business owner or running for public office, most of us can catch ourselves seeing someone else as the competition. You can’t always control the thoughts that pop into your head but you can control what you do with those thoughts. I challenge you to take those thoughts captive and pray blessings over those you might secretly like to see fail. You might be praying through clenched teeth at first but that’s so much better than keeping a clenched fist!

Patient Father, thank you for creating us uniquely and giving us each a special place in this world. Please forgive us when we compare ourselves to others. Help us to keep our thoughts captive and pray blessings over others rather than secretly hoping to see failure. Amen.

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The Multi-headed Fear Monster

What do perfectionism, procrastination, comparison and insecurity have in common? They are all heads of the fear monster! They have all kept me from making this first “real” blog post. Oh, it’s not the writing. I enjoy that. (I’ll tell you a secret: I have a notebook full of potential blog posts.) I am a perfectionist when it comes to many things. Some other things…not so much…but if it’s important I want it to be good. I don’t want others to look better than I do. So, I’ve been trying to figure this blog site thing out. Of course, I compare everything to blogs that have been around for a long time or have been professionally done. I want mine to be perfect so I procrastinate. Fear keeps me from just jumping in and doing it. I am insecure *gulp* and don’t want anyone to think I’m stupid or silly or…worse…not worth reading.

This morning, when I was awake at 4:00 am. for absolutely no reason, it just hit me. If I wait for it to be perfect it will never happen. I have so many things I want to share. I can’t let the facts that I’m not sure I have a real “home page” and I can’t figure out how to put my picture where I want it keep me from sharing ideas that could help other people. So…here I go. Posting on a blog site that is not yet perfect. Realizing that it is, like life in general, a work in progress. Realizing that insecurity can paralyze me or I can choose to be empowered in spite of it.  If I wait for perfection it will never happen. And that’s ok. In fact…I think it’s more than ok.