Purpose over Pressure
You cannot, and should not ever try to be all things to all people.
If you, like me, have found yourself stuck because of lack of clarity on just what it is you should be doing, don’t worry – if you wait long enough others will make the decision for you!
The pressure to conform, perform, be invited in, be liked, and be one of the crowd, can be an insidious distraction that only serves to take your eyes off of your own unique path.
Recently, a friend shared that she felt like she was trying to fit into a perceived inner circle and wanted to know how she could crack that barrier. So many times we feel the pain of trying to be ‘in’ whether we have small or large spheres of influence. A voice we hear in the dark reminds us that the world doesn’t want what we have to offer, and so we plateau or fall off the grid from fear of never finding our place. So we try and be what we sense others want us to be.
You cannot, and should not ever try to be all things to all people.
When you try to be relevant - change a little here, a little there to fit in to the ‘group,’ to speak the speak you think people want to hear, to sound wiser, or look younger, hipper, or more profound, you actually diminish your impact, and your ability to offer your unique gifts of service is watered down.
You become irrelevant when you are not authentic.
Purpose flows out of authenticity.
Your relevance comes from your relationship with your Creator because He tells you who you are and whose you are. His Triune Circle is the only place you will ever truly be at home anyway. Just be yourself. Mind your business. Keep your head down and your hope anchored up. Maybe He is calling you to invite others into your circle. The misfits. The marginalized. The unlovelies. The beautifully broken. Decide where you will plant your feet and cultivate the soil there. Stop waiting to ask for permission before you forge ahead and take the first step of faith
Jesus Himself became one of us without asking us to clean ourselves up and be better version of ourselves before He said “Come, follow me.”
He also felt the pressure to fit in, to conform, to do the things people wanted Him to do: to go here, to go there, to heal everyone all of the time, and even turn the children away so He could focus on bigger platforms.
His clarity of purpose and identity was heard in His words from John 12:49 -
“For I’m not speaking as someone who is self-appointed, but I speak by the authority of the Father himself who sent me, and who instructed me what to say.”
There was never any question in Jesus’ mind as to what to say and how to say it so He would be accepted. His relevant ‘speak’ came from His relationship with His Heavenly Father.
He reminds His followers in John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will”…and perhaps we could imagine the added words, “and not to do what people expect me to do.”
Just be yourself. Some will love you. Some will hate you. But everyone else is already taken, so embrace the call and crafting on your life. There will be times you need to go solo but if you are not concerned with everyone liking you all of the time, it will free them up to follow you. Head down. Hope anchored up. Go well.
You are loved!
Cathie