MISCONCEPTIONS
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to meet a speaker. I contacted someone overseeing an event to determine if the evening was a live video feed or if the speaker was coming in person. When I shared with her why I was asking, and how I wanted to share some encouraging words with the speaker, she asked me the same questions several others have asked over the years: "Why would you do that and did someone tell you to?"
One of my favorite examples of misconceptions came when speaking with a former longtime friend who was a musician at the time I knew him and his wife. I went to a house up the road where someone had invited this musician for a smaller gathering in the backyard. At the time, I had not seen his musician friend for a while, and we spent a few broken-up minutes catching up with him while he was greeting his fans. I shared with him what I do with ministry and explained about staying after shows, standing in lines, and encouraging those in the public eye. He thought the general concept of sharing was good, but he was not quite grasping why I was doing this and whether God was really nudging me. I drove away that night with a grin on my face because I realized what had happened.
Five minutes after my friend said he did not understand what I had shared, I genuinely had a transparent moment with him. Something he shared and sang that evening impacted me, and I explained what it meant to me. He told me how much it impacted him and shared something personal in response. The person who stood in front of me lovingly questioning my ministering to those in the public eye was just impacted in the same way I had shared with him. Something spoken and sung touched my life; I had a nudge to step forward and share, which moved my friend.
You may wonder if you hear God correctly when you think you know what you should be doing and at times what you should be sharing. The only way to find out is to find the courage to step out and take a risk. You know when it is God when things fall into place, and there will be ease and peace. There is an opposition that is real, but God is bigger. The more you step out with God, the more you learn His leading. It is commonly said that faith is spelled R-I-S-K. Step out today and keep taking risks. People all over need personal encounters, and we only learn to hear His voice and how to follow when we take the first step. Step out, dear reader! You + God have this! Post comments of times you have stepped out and what happened to help encourage others in their walk.
The picture included was an opportunity I had years ago when I followed the God-sized nudge in my heart to encourage someone in the public eye who once had a profound impact on my life. At the time he lived approximagely forty-minutes from me and invited me to come to his family's home. I was able to see his amazing paintings and share more about how he impacted my life at a younger age. He was touched and we openly shared for a while. Encouragement can go a long way, and you never know what doors God may open when you have the courage to step out.
