Has fear of what other people think of you ever stopped you from doing what you knew God was calling you to do?
Proverbs 31:30 says “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
To be a woman of God is to fear the Lord and not fear man. And this will look peculiar.
We live in a world where status is EVERYTHING. And oftentimes, the Lord will lead us on paths that are very counter to what the world values and celebrates. But we don’t live for the praise of man. We live for the glory of God. And we love him, so it is our joy to obey him- at all costs.
John 12:42,43 says “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
In my early twenties, I had 2 mentors who encouraged me greatly in learning obedience to the Lord at all cost. Now, I love testimonies. I believe testimonies give glory to God in all He can do AND hearing testimonies of what God has done gives faith to trust in Him. If He can do it for me, He can do it for you!
So, I was 23, working at a seminary as a graphic designer from 8am-5pm, in a dark dingy basement room with 4-5 other people and I hated it. I knew there had to be more to life than this. Then an opportunity came up for me and my sister to go to a mission school in California. This first mission school we looked at was 9 months, so we knew this would mean quitting our jobs- which to the world would be the most unwise thing- we both had jobs that we got our degree in (although we weren’t making enough to pay off that degree… enter my issue with sending our Christian girls to college video here) but we were doing the acceptable adult thing. So why throw all that out the window to go to mission school… because we wanted to follow God and we knew He was directing our steps. And he continued to direct our steps. Through applying to this mission school, we found out about another mission school connected with them, but it was only 6 weeks and in South Lake Tahoe California. The moment we found out about this school we had a yes in our spirit- this was it.
Now just because we had a yes and knew God was directing our steps, didn’t mean it was easy. It was actually terrifying. The movie Tangled had only come out a few years prior and that scene where she gets out of the treehouse trap and is free and celebrating, and then goes back to being terrified and wondering what in the world she was doing… that was my sister and me. We both would wake up in the middle of the night and wonder what in the world were we doing…
Thankfully, as I said, I had two godly leaders in my life. The first encouraged me in the importance of learning to obey the Lord, because learning to obey the Lord and not fear man now as a single woman, I will then be able to bring that value and priority of obeying the Lord into marriage and motherhood.
And my other mentor happened to be my boss. And whenever I was swaying about what I was doing and wondering if I was crazy for quitting my job to go to a 6 week mission school, she had always said to me “Kelli, you are too young to play it safe.” And I knew this was true, and I also have learned that the safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will.
So, my sister and I did end up going to that six week mission school. There, I was placed in a small group, with my leaders being Josh and Rachael, who were missionaries in South Africa. At the end of the school they invited me to come work with them at their mission base back in South Africa. 16 months later, again through God directing my steps in His perfect timing, I quit my new job, took them up on their invitation, went to South Africa and worked with them for 3 months. Again, looking back this would be completely foolish to the world, quitting my job once again, and traveling to South Africa by myself as a single 25 year old girl. I actually had zero idea at the time how dangerous of a place South Africa was/is. I do think the Lord protected me from that to get me to go where He wanted me to be. Had I not gone, at that place and at that time, I would have never met Scott. We met my second to last week there, and by the time I was getting ready to leave the country, we laid it all out on table, sharing everything and knew we were going to get married. 6 months later, we were!
And this is what is amazing about obeying the Lord, He directs our steps uniquely for His will and His purpose. So for you single ladies, you don’t need to go out of the country to meet your husband, you need to seek the Lord.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
So, you know how I said my mentor encouraged me to obey God while I was single, so I can bring that obedience to the Lord into marriage. Well, everyday we have the opportunity to obey the Lord. And again, we obey him because we love him. But there are some decisions that obeying the Lord means making significant life changes, that look absolutely foolish to the world. That’s what I felt Summer of 2018. Scott had asked me to quit my job at the beginning of the summer, and to my shame, I didn’t because I feared SO much what other people would think of me quitting my job to be a homemaker and a helpmeet. I didn’t have children and I wasn’t pregnant. In my mind the ONLY way for me to quit my job would be to be a stay at home mom. I had never met another woman who quit her job to be a homemaker and helpmeet prior to having children. This fear crippled me into staying at my job for 2 months longer than I should have had I trusted in my husband when he asked me to quit. But God is faithful, and one August evening, I was journaling, and I felt clear God impress on my mind to put in my two weeks tomorrow. I knew this wasn’t me because it absolutely terrified me. What would every one think. What would people say about me. Again, what came to my mind was what my boss had said to me 4 years prior “you’re too young to play it safe.” Scott came home that evening and I told him what I felt God was leading me to do- He was pumped- an answer to prayer for him. I had called my mom and she also told me she was praying for me with my job situation and encouraged me in quitting me job. I wrote up my letter and handed it into my boss the next day. I didn’t have an eloquent explanation for what I was going to be doing next- honestly I didn’t even know. I had no clue how to be a helpmeet to my husband, but I wanted to learn!
That was 6 years ago this month! I have learned (and am still learning) how to be a homemaker and helpmeet. I’ve learned my role in building our home economy. And that’s whats amazing- it is an ever growing learning experience being a homemaker. There are so many skills I have yet to learn- how exciting! Since I have quit my job, we have seen the faithfulness of God over and over. We have never been without. That doesn’t mean we haven’t made sacrifices- we have, but we’ve always had food on the table, a roof over our head and the joy of being married to each other. Truly what an adventure it has been.
It takes courage to not care what people think of you. In our life there are many cultural norms and expectations that we will have to go against to live a Biblical life. And the Holy Spirit- our Helper- will help give us courage to follow Him and not fear the mere opinions of man. But it will be uncomfortable. It reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:6-18
Isn’t that so powerful. They basically say, we have no need to answer to you Nebuchadnezzar and even if God doesn’t save us, we will still not worship your gods. And we will not disobey our God. We will follow and obey him no matter the cost, because we love him. Amen.
What does it look like to follow God in your life today, no matter the cost?
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