Our Deepest Fear
Read this post carefully and then share your thoughts...I am very interested to hear your thoughts about this. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? I will not say what I think till after you have all had a chance to comment so please share!
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be me?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
posted by Crystal @ 12:19 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Okay, my very first reaction, was diagreeance, some of the lines more so than others though.
While not my deepest fear perhaps, I would say that inadequacy frightens me far more than any power I might have,...and as for our "light frightening us more than our darkness"...well, I don't belive I have any "light" in and of myself anyways. I would stumble hopelessly in my very fearsome (frightening) darkness if it were not for the light of Christ.....Hmmmmm, I'll stop there, I should probablly think about them a little more anyways :)
Interesting stuff!
Ok so what if you think of your light as your influence? Shouldn't your influence be a light that used rightly will light up those around you? Just a thought...
What if your "light" is in being humble, or meek, or gentle?
What if your "light" happens to come from the general direction of the kitchen?
Or, perhaps your "light" shines most brightly when given illumination by consideration of the talents of others?
Just some ideas.
Interesting ideas Rebekah.
Can't say that I completely understand your last comment...could you please explain your idea a little more. It sounds interesting but I don't want to misunderstand it and right now I think I am in danger of doing that!
Thanks.
I'm not sure what you mean by "power" but yes, as a Christian, I look over my life and see how much more I could have done, how much more I could have been, if I had used the gifts God gave me to their potential... I'm not sure my fear is "inadequacy" but more "laziness or procrastination" or as you say, "shrinking back" God has given us gifts to use and my fear is... have I used those gifts well? I definitely fall so short. What we do in our younger years... carries us through our older years. How we've lived our lives, what we've filled our minds with, how we've served Him. A lot has been given to us and how I've failed in my tasks is my greatest fear! Thankfully, my Savior is my hope!!
Ok so I do have a few thoughts on this which I will share now...
I some respects I kind of do think that we do fear our power. I say this because I have known many people who have not lived their dreams or used their talents because they either feared making other people feel bad or they feared the increased responisbilty that might come their way if they were succesful.
I have been guilty of mistaking the feeling of playing small as humility and it has only been of late that I am really seeing how selfish this is. What good am I doing by not improving my talents or by not sharing knowledge when the opportunity arises, all under the guise of not making other people feel bad? The answer is none. I am not exploring God's purpose for me and I am not helping anyone else to grow either. Sort of the principle of giving to recieve. Pouring out to be filled.
I have come to believe that people react to your personal preception of yourself much more than we realize. If you are insecure and shrinking you might be brilliant and talented but often you will not have the sphere of influence that you could have because you do not inspire trust, enthusiasm, etc. in those around you. Conversely you might not be the most talented or the smartest person but if you are always seeking to serve, be a blessing, share and inspire you will find yourself surrounded by people of many different backgrounds and levels. Some of them you will learn from and others you will be able to teach or mentor in different ways.
So in a nut shell, I don't know that we all fear that we are powerful beyond measure but I do want to encourage everyone to strive to be the best they can be, improve your talents, and shine the light of God's love to all those with whom you are in contact.
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