Maybe today you are struggling with doubt. Perhaps you took a huge step of faith and you feel as if you failed. It didn’t work out the way you hoped, or even as you took that step you felt inadequate. Or perhaps, no matter how you succeed, you still feel it.

So, let’s get to the heart of self doubt together.

Is there a valid reason that you are doubting?

Are there gaps that need to be filled?

As a new mom I needed to fill many gaps. At each stage of life there were gaps. While I might instinctively know what to do in some areas, there were others that needed more. Sometimes we need a mentor in an area, whether through books, through a friend, a program. Knowledge shifts your perspective from what you don’t know to excitement over what you are gaining as you learn and grow.

Is your doubt due to the past?

My friend, Lysa TerKeurst, describes twirling around as a child, her dress fanning out around her, to capture her father’s attention. He didn’t see her. So Lysa kept twirling in other ways, trying to fill that place where a father’s words and hugs didn’t. How often do we doubt because we are twirling around, hoping that someone might notice? Do we come up empty if they don’t—for no one person, no matter how much they love you, can meet your every need.

In Genesis 16:13, we find Hagar talking directly to God. She was a woman who had been overlooked, abused. Listen to these powerful words as she realized who God is: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13 (NIV) 

El-Roi is one name of many that God called Himself. It means the “God-who-sees”. God can fill the gaps that no human ever could. Stop twirling for others, for someone to care, because the God who created you cares deeply for you and he hasn’t missed a beat of your life.

Is self doubt from the enemy?

The Bible describes and enemy who desires to steal, to take away, to wound by distracting us from God’s grace. Are you so intently focused on the things you didn’t do “right” or well and fail to see the good that took place? You took a step of faith. You are running after God. Give grace to yourself for God gives it freely. Self-doubt can either riddle you and I today or we honestly assess why it’s there, which allows us to give it to God. It’s not yours to carry. It never was.

Father, I pray today that each of us who are struggling with self-doubt will honestly look at it, and then move forward. Leaving self-doubt behind, for it’s a useless emotion, and replace it with knowledge, with action, but most importantly with You. Thank you that You know each of us, and what we need, and so graciously give it. In your powerful, precious name. Amen.

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A resource just for you

In the More Than Small Talk podcast conversation, Identify Theft, we discuss what might cause us to struggle and what that might look like. We discuss how it impacts us spiritually and emotionally, and what we can do about it. Listen here!  I pray it encourages you.