Have you been thinking about doing a DTS, but feel like something is holding you back from taking the step to actually sign up and go for it? In today’s blog we are going to explore these 3 lies that could be stopping you from taking that step to do a DTS:
- “I’m not good enough.”
- “I will never have enough money to do it.”
- “What if I take a step and it was the wrong one?”
1. “I’m not good enough.”
It’s a funny thing. Somehow in Christian culture, whether it’s church, a Bible study, or something like a DTS, we have this idea that takes root in our minds: “I’m not good enough.” I know for me personally, I would attend church and love to hear the message, but really hoped I wouldn’t be noticed. I was afraid others would notice I wasn’t perfect and that I have made mistakes. In my view, everyone else was a perfect Christian and I needed to keep my distance in case they would find out that I didn’t have it all together.
WHAT A LIE!
Did you know absolutely no Christian you meet has it all figured out? Yep. The cat is out of the bag now. The people to your left and right at church, that person who is leading that Bible study, all those people you will meet in DTS… none of them have a past free from mistakes.
So what now? If you were feeling disqualified because you’re imperfect, I will politely wait while you go throw that excuse in the trash.
*waits*
Awesome, now that you’re back and we have that out of the way, let’s replace that lie with truth. You are imperfect. I am imperfect. And God welcomes us all to the table anyway. Wow. That’s hard for me to receive sometimes, but so beautiful when I know it and believe it with my heart.
Yes — You with your failures and those things you still want God to bring freedom in — He welcomes you to the table, and He is ready to meet you where you’re at and let His radical love transform…
Will there be hard and challenging steps of obedience to take when we take His invitation? Yes. But, it’s always worth it, and He is inviting you to do it with Him. So, come and do a DTS with a bunch of other people who don’t have it all together. 🙂
2. “I will never have enough money to do it.”
Yeah, you’re right. You probably won’t, guess this is goodbye. *waves*
Ok, now that we’re done pretending that’s true, let’s talk about WHY IT’S NOT TRUE.
God doesn’t just call us to do something and then dip out. In fact, before the need is even mentioned, He knows about it.
Matt. 6:8
“…your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
I know, it can be hard to trust God for the things we need. But He is very involved in every area of our lives—even finances. Invite Him in and get ready. It may take some work. Maybe it’s your job. Maybe it’s reaching out to that person who really wants to see you succeed and grow. Whatever it is, know that if God is calling you to do a DTS, He also cares about getting you there. Do it with Him and also get around people who have raised funds before—see what helped them; don’t do this alone. If you don’t know who to reach out to, start with us! Our staff here want to see you succeed, and we’ve also have had a lot of experience in raising funds. Let’s do this together.
3. “What if I take a step and it was the wrong one?”
I know this fear, and it’s a hard one because it comes out of a really great place: a heart that wants to do God’s will for our lives. So first of all, take a deep breath.
And now I want you to think about this. What is faith?
Let me tell you a story about a guy.
God told this guy to “Get out of his country” — But where to? God told him to go away from his country, to a land that “I will show you.”
Wow. Pretty slim directives there. Leave here, and go there.
What did the guy do? Well, he left “here” and went “there”!
And what happened next? God reached his hand out to the whole world, starting with this guy.
By now you may have realized that I’m talking about a man in the Bible story by the name of Abram, or Abraham as he would later be renamed.
Genesis 12:1-4
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.” (Emphases added)
We see this very profound challenge to our own obedience by just looking at this small interaction between Abram and God. God directed him to leave the country he was in… and didn’t even tell him where exactly he was supposed to head off to! He just said he would show him. And Abram’s response? He went. Wow. I don’t know about you, but that challenges me to look at my own trust and obedience to the Lord.
Many times we want every detail, every unknown revealed with an answer, and every provision met before we go ahead and take a step. But here’s the example of faith we see in the Bible! God leads individuals, and invites them to trust Him. Simple! Scary, but simple.
This isn’t a blind faith… It’s a faith that says, I think you are saying to do this God, so I am going to start taking those steps because I know how good You are. I know that whatever You are leading me in this direction for must be good because you have my best in mind, and you love me.
So if you’re reading this, and you’re like, “Yeah that’s me…” I challenge you to ask God what it looks like for you to trust Him and take risky and radical steps of obedience.