Mirror, Mirror, Sis... A Dose of Truth Serum The Holy Spirit Read Me Today

Girl... Stop Shrinking

A few nights ago, I attended a family celebration and before I left the house, I prayed a simple prayer: "Lord, let me be a blessing." Nothing deep. Nothing dramatic. Just let me be a blessing. Well, wouldn't you know it? Before the evening was over, I was asked to pray over the meal. Now here's where things get interesting. When the request came, I immediately deferred. I pointed to the pastor. Then I pointed to another minister. Surely one of them should do it. Surely one of them was more qualified. Surely one of them was the better choice. But both of them declined. And guess who ended up praying? Me. Because that's what I do. Fast forward to the next morning. My husband and I were talking about the event when he casually said something that stopped me in my tracks. He said, "Don't you know you're a pastor?" Excuse me? Now before you start shouting, let me explain. It wasn't that I disagreed. It was that I hadn't fully embraced it. I've spent most of my life with a simple strategy: Slide in. Do what needs to be done. Slide back out. No spotlight. No attention. No fuss. Just let me serve from the background. But lately the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me. And the truth is... The background isn't my assignment anymore. Whew. That was harder to write than I expected. Because some of us have become experts at playing small. We call it humility. We call it being supportive. We call it staying in our lane. But sometimes it's just fear wearing a church hat. Sometimes it's insecurity dressed up as humility. Sometimes it's worrying about what people will think if we fully embrace what God is doing in our lives. And Sis, that's exhausting.