If you feel like a fraud at your workplace, if you believe you don’t deserve your job title, if you wonder when your colleagues will discover that you’re massively incapable and wholly incompetent, then guess what? You’re in good company. That self-assured lady at Starbucks sipping her non-fat Cortado as she clicks and clacks away on her MacBook? That uber-confident guy at your gym who lifts a 200-pound barbell like it’s a toddler’s plastic toy? That brilliant colleague who always has the “best” ideas and who rose to the top faster than a helium balloon on steroids? If we go by statistics, all of them likely feel like frauds too.

It’s just that most of us do a remarkably stellar job of covering up our insecurities.

I’ll admit that I’ve regularly felt like a total con artist too. When I attend a book club or a writers’ conference, I don’t really focus on how I can hone my skills or improve my craft. Instead, I spend copious amounts of time wondering: “What in God’s good name am I doing here? I hope they don’t discover that I’m a total nincompoop who really likes reality TV and falls asleep about 3.5 pages into a book.”

I’ve been writing for almost two decades now, but when people ask me what I do, I choke on the words, “I’m a writer.” Instead, I  hum and haw and mumble something like:

“I kinda write blogs, but not I’m paid for it or anything.”

“Oh, so you’re a writer?”

 “Er, I guess you could say that.”

With millions of us nursing insecurities, it’s little wonder that a whole slew of life coaches and positivity pundits have emerged from the woodwork. Some tell you to “manifest” your future and others to market your skills. Some advocate that you take the leap or run that marathon or write that book while others may say you don’t have to do anything to prove yourself.

Today, I’m going to suggest a rather odd prescription for self-doubt.

We don’t try to overcome it with ‘I am enough’ pep talk about our abilities.

We don’t try to hack it by taking risks or stepping out.

We don’t try to coax it out with self-love and self-worth mantras.

Instead, can we embrace those self-limiting beliefs?

Yes, embrace them. Celebrate them. Even be thankful for them.

It’s only in our absolute weakness that we see the amazing power of God.

I love these lines from author Paul Tripp:

“I have come to understand that
my limits
are a blessing and not a curse.
It is my limits that drive me into your
arms of grace.
It is my limits that make me grateful for
you.
The awareness of my limits causes me to
remember you.
My limits expose the delusion of my
independence.
My limits work to silence my
boasting.
When I mourn my limits,
I end up celebrating you.
The inglorious reality of my
limits,
drives me to worship you for the glory of
your glory,
running again to you
running again to you
running again to you
running again to you.”

The Bible is replete with examples of people with self-limiting beliefs.

Moses felt incapable of leading a people group out of slavery into the Promised Land. He responded to God’s call with, “But, God, I stutter and stammer and …I just can’t” (Liberally paraphrasing here, of course)

Jeremiah was like, “God, you want me to be a prophet? Me? Can I sprout some upper-lip fuzz first?” (Weilding my creative license again)

Esther was sure she was completely disqualified to speak to a king on behalf of her people.

The Samaritan woman at the well felt that her past was too chequered to receive God’s grace.

But in each of these instances, God didn’t look at the strengths of the people He chose for His work.

He looked to whether they would invite Him into their weakness.

And they did.

The question is what are we going to do with those insecurities that rise to the surface every now and then? Dismiss them? Tell ourselves a different story? Manifest a brighter tomorrow? Pump up our confidence with a list of our accomplishments? Repeat self-acceptance mantras till we run out of steam?

May I suggest that we look to our Creator and turn over our insecurities to Him?

God says this to you today, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Friend, know that it’s okay to be weak. In fact, it’s more than okay. Because when we turn to God in our weakness, when we look to Him in our not-enoughness, when we offer Him our messes and our brokenness, we learn what it is to cast ourselves on Him.

May our messes humble us before our Maker.

May our limits draw us to His throne in surrender.

May our weakness drive us to our knees in worship.

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