Go Back To Your Anchor

When doubt begins to creep in, how do you push through?

This is every builder's nightmare. Little by little, that quiet reluctance to keep going settles in, and slowly, you start to question your why.

Is this working?, Should I keep going?, What if I misunderstood?, But Lord, you gave me this idea?

Just like you, I've had my own share of doubts.

Still, I believe that in those moments, you always have a choice. You can hand your attention to every doubt and spend the day fighting the battle inside your mind, or you can go back to your anchor.

For me, that anchor is the Word of God.

We don't always need a new answer. Sometimes all we need is a reminder of what He already said.

So when you find yourself there, here are three anchors to carry you through.

Anchor One: Know Your Assignment

Anchor Two:Your Calling Does Not Require Competition

Understanding your assignment comes with a deeper understanding of who you are first.

John had both. He knew he was called, he knew who he was, and he understood his mission. But we see it tested later, in John 3.

From verse 22, we learn that Jesus' ministry was growing, He now had disciples, and more people following Him. John's own disciples noticed Him baptizing not far from where they were stationed,  and they went straight to John with the news:

"Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan — the one you testified about — look, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him."

I love how John answered.

"A person can receive only what is given to them from heaven." Then he reminded them that he had never claimed to be the Messiah, he had always been clear about who he was and what he was sent to do.

Sit with the restraint in that. This was the moment John could have started comparing and competing. He had baptized Jesus, after all. Instead, he stayed grounded because he knew his assignment that well.

The Message: There is extraordinary freedom in knowing yourself and your assignment. But the hardest part of building near other people isn't the work, but what their success stirs in you. 

From the outside you see the awards, their growing influence, but miss the mistakes, the failures, and the interruptions that came before it.

We all need to be reminded that:

Someone else's success does not require you to abandon your own work.

Someone else's visibility does not diminish your assignment.

Someone else's growth does not make you late.

Someone else's audience does not mean there is none for you.

And someone else doing something that looks similar does not mean you have been replaced.

Your responsibility is not to monitor everyone building around you. It is to be faithful to what has been entrusted to you, to get clear about your message, to understand who you are called to serve, and to do that work with excellence.

You do not need everyone. You need to be clear enough about your message that the people you are meant to serve can recognize it. That takes far less watching sideways, and far more attention to the work in front of you.

Anchor Three: Your Obedience Paves the Way for Others

Why do I feel restless when I'm not working on my assignment, or when I'm delaying it?

Does this question feel familiar?

For the called ones, restlessness can sometimes be a kind of pull. The assignment needs to be done, because it was never only for us.

John's story shows this so well.

Because of John's obedience, Andrew came to know Jesus, and he went and brought his brother Peter to the Messiah, and into his own assignment.

The Message: See how far one man's obedience reaches? John could not have seen how far that moment would eventually reach. He simply did what he had been told to do. And someone stood at the other end of that obedience who would go on to have his own assignment.

Look at the number of lives impacted by one man’s obedience. That's the part we don't always see while we're building. You don't know who is standing at the other end of your obedience.

So think about the person you may never meet, the one waiting on the other side of the line. Through your obedience:

Something you build may help someone step into their next season.

Something you say may reach a person on the exact day they decide to give up.

Something you make may restore hope to someone who lost it.

Someone may find the courage to speak, to begin again, to trust God again, to pursue what they were called to do, to see possibilities, and find the strength to keep reBuilding.

And they may go on to become an anchor for someone else. You may never see all of it happen in real time. But it will happen.

To You, reBuilding

When doubt comes, and it will, acknowledge it. Ask the questions you need to ask. But don't give those feelings the authority to make the decision for you.

Go back to your anchor. Go back to what grounded you before the noise got loud. Go back to the assignment. Remember what has been entrusted to you.

Then choose again, and keep building.

Until my next letter, keep building.