“Be the You you are meant to be! Distinguish yourself at The Best University!”
The announcer kept going on and on about how wonderful their school was and if you only attended, you could be wonderful too! Then I heard a voice from the backseat. “I want to distinguish myself”. And then, “Mom, what does ‘distinguish’ mean?”
I thought for a moment before answering. “It means to be special, to be noticed, to set yourself apart from others.”
Oh, the rabbit hole this represented. As much as I want my kids to distinguish themselves, to be noticed, I know life doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes God has other plans.
“Sometimes God has other plans for us, though.” I told him. “Sometimes God wants us to serve in obscurity and that’s okay”.
The whole time I’m telling him this, I’m speaking this truth to myself. Because you see, I struggle with not “doing” anything. I struggle with not being “distinguished”. This is something that I’ve been deal
ing with for a really long time and will be dealing with for some time to come.
Earlier that morning I’d opened up a newsletter from a fellow blogger who wrote about going back to work after her maternity leave. She wrote about the ‘why’ of going back – most importantly that God had given her gifts and had called her to use them. When I read those words all the insecurities and doubts came flooding back.The faulty logic came back, the lies whispered by the enemy. The ‘you’re not enough’ and the ‘where are your gifts, because God obviously didn’t call you!’
So those words I spoke to my son about serving in obscurity? Those were gifts of grace. Those words weren’t, aren’t, in me, but God in His infinite kindness whispered them to my heart.
He reminded me that being a wife and mother is a high calling. Just as I am not called to write a book or lead a legion of women, no one else is called to be the mother of my children.
God has put a verse in my heart that to my detriment, I have a tendency to forget. It’s Colossians 4:17
Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,that thou fulfil it.
Sometimes I forget to heed the ministry that He has set before me. But in His gentle way, He distinguishes me as His child, reminding me of the ministry to which He has called me. And though it may be obscure, it is all to His glory, and therefore a holy calling.
I love this truth! Have you read Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman? She talks about how the small in the Kingdom is often weighty, eternal, and full of God. Obscurity or platform, we’re all called to be faithful and trust God. Both situations require us to fall on our faces before the Lord. I appreciate your transparency, Danielle.
I will definitely put that on my reading list! It sounds like a book that would be very beneficial 🙂
I get the feeling you describe. I wrestle those very thoughts too. Just last night I was having an internal qualm. But I know He is good. He has gifted me, and I would not do well with anything less than obscurity. Being obscure is good for me. Hope that makes sense. But when people cry platform, obscurity does not look like the gift it is. Anyhow, I second Emily’s book Simply Tuesday.