Motivation Monday - Finding the Confidence to Use Your Voice Part 1
“You are meant, as a woman called to have impact, called to multiply influence, flourish and rule with God’s authority, to transform your environment, to define and shape them to come under God’s design for human flourishing.
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“There’s a deep and wide blue ocean—or an open space free of competition - that’s waiting to be filled with the stories of women who chose, and are choosing, to be culture shapers, definers, and transformers. That blue ocean is waiting for your unique story. You alone are the best qualified to speak of the faithfulness of God amid your most formidable battles. Perhaps the brave move awaiting you isn’t launching a national ministry or preaching to a crowd. It could very well be having the courage to share your personal story, one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time, for the glory of God.” ~ Cathie Ostapchuk, Brave Women Bold Moves
I wrote these words at a time when I was struggling with confidence. Was I enough for the call God had placed in my heart? Were there others more qualified? Younger? More educated? More well-positioned? More networked? In the right church? In the right denomination? With the right leadership gifts? With the right influence on social media? Cool enough? Hip enough? Relevant enough? I compared myself with anyone and everyone and, tragically, still do in my weakest moments.
So often the voices of opposition that rise like Goliath’s with taunting refrains come not from external origins, but right from inside our very souls. We know we were made to be a gospel presence, co-revealers (along with men) of the image of God in this world, but if anyone is surprised that we have what it takes, it is usually us!
How do you respond to the opposition to your voice?
The taunts that seek to tell you are not and never were enough?
The whispers of doubt that that stealthily lodge themselves in your daily self-talk and have the power to paralyze you from doing the next right thing?
Here are four ways that you, as a woman, might tend to respond to the opposition. Perhaps you resonate with one or more of them. Here are the first two. (Join us next week for the last two!)
Response #1 - You Respond by Self-Silencing
“If a woman internalizes the message asking her to limit her voice, and she self-silences, everyone is ultimately affected. It is dangerous for anyone to feel she is living on the periphery when engaging issues of theology and of knowing God. If a woman feels silenced, she is also likely to choose a posture of learned helplessness and dependence. Women who fall into theological dependency may also tend to be self-conscious and insecure when considering how to use their spiritual gifts, doubting the value of their contribution.”
Dr. Pam MacRae, Professor at Moody Bible Institute, from Seduced and Unshaken
Have you doubted the value of your contribution? Have you felt self-conscious and insecure when considering just how to use your gifts? If so, you will turn down the volume or even silence your voice entirely, giving your space away to those you feel are more learned, or more capable.
Response #2 - You Respond by Becoming Invisible
There are two kinds of invisible. The kind you agree to, and the kind you initiate. Both render you powerless and diminish your impact. Your ability to do great things rests almost entirely on your ability to push through fear. You have to be willing to produce visible work. To find good work, no matter what path you have chosen, means coming out of hiding. Good work means visibility. It means obedience to what God has called you to.
I think of Abraham’s wife Sarah. She was called to give birth to a child that would launch a nation of God’s chosen people. And yet she hid from the promise, doubted it, laughed at it even. Until Sarah came out of the tent and received the promise in full light, Sarah could not believe in the dark shadows and gray doubt of the tent, where she was isolated with her own fear, until she came out of the tent and received the promise of a future legacy in the full light.
Do you hide and become invisible when you feel you have been waiting too long or when the promise you have heard over your life is too magnificent to comprehend?
You have been called to respond to the opposition, even if the opposition is your own voice! and lead with purpose.
Not to prove yourself.
Not to please others.
Not to look for a platform.
Not to fear your next failure.
But…to lead and respond to the opposition with purpose.
You are not meant to be squeezed into the opinions of the voices opposed to your voice.
You are meant, as a woman called to have impact, called to multiply influence, flourish and rule with God’s authority, to transform your environment, to define and shape them to come under God’s design for human flourishing.
And that means you must flourish first.
I pray for you, dear friend, that this weak you will find the confidence to use your voice. I pray you will resist the urge to silence your voice, or to stay invisible. Speak up. Come out of hiding. I need to hear and see the revelation of God in you, His image imprinted on you, His gospel on your lips. And so does a waiting world.
I believe in you!
Cathie