Waiting for Human Approval?
Someone asked me this weekend what my favorite Christian book is.
I didn’t have to think long about the answer.
It’s A Long Obedience In the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson, hands-down.
I’ve read it a handful of times, and I’d like to read it every year of my life.
Imagine my SHOCK when I listened to Eugene Peterson’s biography this week and got to the chapter where he wrote about writing A Long Obedience.
In the biography, we’re told that he submitted it to 23 different publishers and had the manuscript rejected 23 different times.
I know authors who’ve gotten two rejection letters and hung up their hats.
I know women who’ve launched businesses that haven’t taken off immediately, and they’ve taken it as a sign to quit.
I know women who’ve launched ministries, only to shut it all down when only a few people attended the first event.
I know communicators who’ve never made it to the big stage they imagined themself speaking on, so they gave up on the calling altogether.
Also, I’ve been tempted to do all those things myself - so I have nothing but compassion and empathy in those situations.
We’re so conditioned to want + need human approval that we often forego and overlook God’s commissioning as our primary source of encouragement + empowerment.
If you know you have a God-given gift to use, and you want to wield it for His glory and the good of others, can I suggest you check out Go Teams? It’s our group coaching program at Go and Tell Gals, and sign-ups opened yesterday - we’d love to have you. If you're wondering if it's for you, join me on a Q&A call this Thursday. You can register here.
If nothing else, head to this post and tell me: have you ever waited for human approval when you already had God’s commissioning? How did it turn out?
