Yesterday’s advice was kind of scary. ‘Just go for it’ is all well and good to tell somebody else, but it’s hard advice to take for yourself. I don’t follow that advice myself much of the time. So here’s some additional words (I’ve heard them all) that might seem helpful:
- everyone's not actually watching you (unless you’re a famous influencer who is live streaming)
- it’s not the end of the world if you mess up
- there’s so much content out there that your goof-up won’t be noticed much
- it will be forgotten soon
- people like to see others mess up since it makes them feel better
- pretend like you meant to do it and no one will ever know the difference
- just learn to laugh at yourself
Sometimes those platitudes help. Sometimes they don’t. They still don’t help you know if what you plan to do is right. It all comes back to the previous chapters: foundations and discipline. The more you know God, the more in alignment with Him you will be. The more you walk with God, the more you will know His will.
God’s advice to the prophet Samuel when he was sent to pick out the next king of Israel was to ignore the world’s advice. Don’t look at what the world looks at. Look at what God looks at. The more you see the world through God’s viewpoint, the more accurately you will see everything! In our world of social media, misinformation, and opinions masquerading as news, discerning the truth is hard. Facts and truth become blurry unless you view the world through God’s viewpoint. His vision is not like ours, but the closer you become to God, the clearer His guidance becomes. And the more guidance you accept from God, the more courageous you can be.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7