Ever had a nagging voice over your shoulder as you write?
You know the one. The one that comes up with all the unflattering reasons why you should just give up. ‘You’re unoriginal. You’re reinventing the wheel, and not well. It’s Been Done. You’re mediocre. This isn’t coming together. You don’t have what it takes.’ And so on.
Impostor syndrome isn’t new, but listen, sib, you’re not an impostor. You’re called to this. And the gifts and call of God are ‘no backsies’. He knows what He’s doing.
Very seldom is the voice telling you to quit the voice of God. So … why should you bother? What have you got to offer?
One: Your Story
Nobody has exactly your story – neither in the sense of your personal history, nor in the sense of the narratives and ideas you dream up, or are given by God. The fertile imagination is like the fertile body: it produces custom material. And since we ourselves are sprung form God’s words, ‘Let us make humanity in Our image,’ bespoke is the perfect word to describe it. Your makeup, your lifespan, your decades, your experiences, your outlook, your unique style, and especially your walk with the Lord: these tributaries come together to form a mighty river.
Two: Your Anointing
Each of us has an anointing. 1 John 2:20-21 BSB says, ‘You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth.’
We are not interchangeable cogs in a machine. We may be similar but, like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. My mother once gave me a plaque which began, ‘You are special …’ Yes, God can bless others through someone else singing your song and so forth. But it will not be the same. Your ministry is entrusted to you.
What is your point of difference? Ask Him.
Three: Yourself
With the Holy Spirit living in you, you are walking through this world, and interacting with it, as Jesus-flavoured-you and you-flavoured-Jesus. Without your voice, the discourse is poorer. Without your presence, the crowd is duller. And without the hundreds of tiny, sacred things the Lord has whispered to your soul over the years, revelations are missing. All is gift and all comes from Him – but these particular presents come through you.
So ignore the voice. What does it know? Only that it wants you silenced. Don’t be an easy mark. Nobody has heard your take on your topic, or heard it in your tone. Be true to what God is doing through you in this world. Show up, and say, ‘Here am I.’
