I’ve spent more years than I would care to count afraid.
Afraid that I would be judged. And misunderstood.
And right before the pandemic…I went into hiding. Deleted my online presence as completely as someone can…went as far as paying a company to ensure that nothing would ever be found out about me or my story…ever…again.
What took place during three years was nothing short of a miracle. And I found myself itching to share my story once again.
“I won’t do it…” I told myself. “Just keep my head down and keep moving. No one cares or needs to know about me.”
But like the prophet Jeremiah who said:
But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!
I just couldn’t quiet the storm of unshared messages in my soul.
They had to come out.
Maybe you are like me…someone who has a message. Maybe your message has been born out of blood, sweat, tears, and pain. You have so much wisdom you’ve attained through all the heartache, you are DYING to help someone else so they don’t have to experience it alone…maybe they can even avoid the most painful aspects from your mistakes.
In the words of some of the greatest thought leaders of our time: aka the audio from TikTok’s and Instagram Reels: THIS IS YOUR SIGN…TO SHARE YOUR STORY WITH THE WORLD.
The truth is: we need each other. No one has it all figured out. And even if your message has been shared 1000x over…it’s never been shared BY YOU. And there are millions who need to hear it exactly like YOU say it.
Your story matters. Your mess is your message. Your pain reveals your purpose. Everything you’ve experience can be used to help others.
And it’s scary. The internet is a scary place.
But image you are a firefighter rushing towards a burning building. You have the answer to the raging flames in your hands in the form of a hose…but you stop…you hesitate…maybe you look around at the gathering crowd watching the scene…and you wonder if you are running too funny, holding the hose in wrong position…maybe you even think about retreating…
This would be absurd.
But it’s often what we do online. We write the blog. We make the product. We film the video…and then fail to push publish…or worse…we publish only to delete it seconds later because we are scared what others will think of us.
We get so focused on ourselves…we forget about the burning building and the hose of relief we hold in our hands.
Just like a fireman walking away with a hose would not only be an awful display of cowardice…but people will suffer because of our inability to do the very thing we set out to do.
I challenge you (and myself) to focus not on the crowd…but the people you are helping with your experience.
The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. When we truly love those we are called to serve…the fear of judgement, reject and pain will fade into the background.