Overcoming Imposter Syndrome PT 2

Dive into scriptural truths that can liberate you from imposter syndrome, and get clear on God's purpose for your life.

Transcript

Hi, we are wrapping up the talk about imposter syndrome. If you remember from the previous episode, I talked about how imposter syndrome is basically being afraid that someone else is going to have the same doubts about you that you have about yourself. It is a fear that is rooted in self-doubt that we need to free ourselves from. This is possible through renewing our minds with the word of God.

I left off talking about how not having a clear purpose or understanding of God’s will for your life can lead to this type of self-doubt, imposter syndrome. It’s important to realize that yes we all have a special purpose and God has called each of us to do specific work on this Earth. We all have a purpose, and God was very intentional when He made us. If you are struggling to walk in that purpose or maybe you aren’t sure what God has called you to do, this is for you today. I’m going to talk about purpose and God’s will and how to get a solid belief system surrounding what the word says about that.

The fear that we are calling imposter syndrome can be unraveled with a lot of the same truths that we have been talking about that combat self-doubt. Psalm 139:13-14 is on that list, and I think that if we take a look at the following couple of verses and talk about this passage a little more we can begin to uproot some of that doubt that stop us from doing what we’re called to do. 

One thing I will continuously emphasize, you can never fully understand isolated verses. You have to read the context, you have to understand what is being said before and after to grasp what is truly meant. This is why it’s important to spend time studying God’s word, as opposed to just reading the verse of the day and moving on. So, let’s look at the surrounding verses and we’ll talk about some deeper meaning to this concept of being “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Psalm 139, starting with verse 13, going through to verse 16. I am reading in the Amplified version.

13
 For You formed my innermost parts;
 You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
 14
 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15
 My frame was not hidden from You,
 When I was being formed in secret,
 And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16
 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
 And in Your book were all written
 The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape]. 

There is a lot to talk about here. Verse 13 says, “you knit me.” I am not into yarn work, I don’t have the patience for that, but what an image for our creation. It takes so much thought and patience to knit something. It takes time and creativity to knit, stitch by stitch. You have to be intentional about very little tiny weave, you have to have a picture in mind of the form that you want it to take. You might be knitting something in a certain shape to serve a special purpose, like a hat, a sweater, a scarf, a blanket. You’ll choose certain colors depending on who it’s for. God took time on you. He formed you intricately, like needlework. You are no mistake, he had a plan when he formed you.

Now let’s dig into the popular verse, 14. I have always heard this verse, and I never truly understood what “fearfully” meant in this context. God’s not afraid of us, and he is the one who deserves that reverential fear, right? So, I wrestled to understand this idea. The Hebrew word used here is yare, it can be used to the scared type of fear, but one definition was “to cause astonishment and awe; to be held in awe.” Think of the creator, working on His masterpiece, and stepping back and thinking, “wow, this is beautiful. I have made such beauty, it’s amazing.” Did you ever spend a lot of time and energy working on something that came out really good, and you were just so proud of it? That’s how God feels about you. He loves how he made you so much, that He is in awe of His own creation. You are His masterpiece.

Now let’s look at “wonderfully.” We are “wonderfully” made. I have heard these words so many times, that they had almost become a cliché, “yes, I know that,” kind of thing. When I looked into this word, I was touched, something clicked. The Hebrew word is pala, which means to be distinct, be separated, distinguished. Not only did God take his time to intricately, and skillfully weave us, he made us unique. There never has been and never will be another person exactly like you. You are “distinguished.” I looked up this word, and the dictionary said, “marked with excellence.” So God made you unique, with excellence. You are so special in His eyes. 

Verse 15 My frame was not hidden from You,
 When I was being formed in secret,
 And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. Here again that knitting, the patience, the planning and creativity that went into your creation. Verse
16
 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
 And in Your book were all written
 The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape]. 

God had a detailed plan for your life, a purpose, and a record of your days before you were even born. His thoughts of you began long ago, and He patiently waits on you to come to Him, and let Him reveal to you what He has planned for you. You are so Beloved.

I know that it is hard sometimes to look in the mirror and feel good about what you see. That Cynical Sally voice in our heads will have us comparing ourselves to other people constantly, and it’s just poison. We can’t listen to Cynical Sally who will tell us that we aren’t good enough or we aren’t anything special, and everyone else is better than we are. You are astonishing, intricately woven, set apart for a special purpose, and marked with excellence.  You are fearfully, and wonderfully made. Trust that, memorize that today, believe it, act like it. 

Now, I want to give you some scriptures to help you stand on your purpose. I’ll add this list to the freebies on patreon, so when you join the email list there you can get access to this. If you are on the list it will come directly to your inbox. So these verses speak to God’s will and your purpose. We are all called to ministry and I wanted give a few examples of that concept. I mentioned these ideas in the previous episode, but I wanted to just give the verses to you so you know that I’m not just trying to make you feel better, there is work for each of us to do. Even if you are certain of all your gifts and talents and you feel like you have a mission and a sense of purpose, it’s important to stay grounded in scripture. Anything that you focus your life on, whatever you feel your purpose is lie “God made me to do this” is going to be rooted in the same core goal and fit into the same big picture that God is painting. 

So let’s look at several scriptures, and I would encourage you to actually study them. Dig deeper into these, you can memorize them, but certainly look at where they are coming from, the context that they are in. That’s really important, I’ll provide them on a nice pdf, but I want to encourage you to really study God’s word for yourself and let the Lord reveal what this means for you practically and how God intends for you to live this out in His will Amen? Here they are.

Ephesians 4:16  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

SO we are all called to share the gospel, we are all called to make disciples, we are all called to use our gifts to edify the body of Christ. 

Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[b] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Again, with the goal in mind that we are to build up an encourage other believers in loving service, and we are to share our faith and lead others to the Lord, you have to live a holy life. This is a non-negotiable. You are destined to reflect Christ in all that you do, say, think, all of it. You shouldn’t be just like the world in any way. You need to stand out so that you can have the right impact on those around you. This is why it’s so important to develop a Biblical mindset. Renew you mind with God’s word because that is how real transformation happens. This is the way that you determine what God’s will is for your life. It’s through His word and His spirit.

There are lives that you are meant to impact. You are in a unique position in someone’s life to create a positive impact for Christ. You are meant to stay connected to the other parts of the body of Christ, other believers, because God designed it that way. You will never fully come to know and understand your purpose until you get connected to the body. If you aren’t actively serving along side other brothers and sisters, it is going to be very difficult for you to operate in the function God designed you for. So, I encourage you to get connected with your local church. Meet regularly with a body of believers that is growing in the Lord, diving into scriptures and praying with and for each other. It’s so important.

There are several more verses on this, I’ll share on the pdf on patreon, you can sign up to get that for free at patreon.com/jesuswomen

So, hopefully this has shed some light on the will of God for your life. I pray that you realize how important your role in the body of Christ is. I pray that you were blessed and encouraged by the deeper understanding of how God knit you and designed you for good work, and He didn’t make a mistake with you. I don’t know who that’s for today, but sis, you are not a mistake. God didn’t make a mistake calling you. You are His, beloved. There is a special purpose for you, and you can start walking in that truth today.

God bless you! Thanks so much for listening. Be sure to subscribe to show, jump over to patreon.com/jesuswomen and get yourself on the list for the weekly devotional. Download the podcast freebies under the collections tab. If you really want to dive in and connect with me and build community sign up for the paid membership, only $7 a month. Be encouraged today, don’t quit, get equipped! Take care.