Be bold. Shine out God’s glory. You were made for more than ordinary. You are created for such a time as this, a time to be all you’re intended to be.

You may feel fragile, weak and weary, fearful and hesitant, wanting to hang back from the crowd. Others may consider you to be of no significance, but God sees the beauty, potential and promise within.

Let your head be lifted high. His desires for you won’t outrun His capacity to give to you. God doesn’t leave us defenceless. He provides for every contingency.

Maybe you’ve been used to cowering, hiding away while others take the forefront. Maybe you’ve ruled yourself out on some pretext or other, convinced yourself you’re no use to God or others, have nothing of value to offer.

Please don’t buy into that lie! You are of great worth and value – right now, Just As You Are on the way to all you are becoming by God’s grace. You don’t have to take a course, pretty yourself up, make a recognisable mark with your art, perfect your prose or poetry.

Your own unique version of creativity will bring a measure of joy to this world, if you are willing to unleash and unfurl it little by little, one small bit at a time. Trust in God. Trust in the process itself.

Find joy in the journey by being true to who God created you to be. He doesn’t make mistakes. No-one else can create in the exact same way as you can. And that’s a freeing thought. Only you can excel at being you. Failure is a word others may choose to judge us by; it’s not a measure of our ability, but rather a stepping stone to improvement and change.

Your circumstances may have drained and depleted vital energy but they cannot steal the central core of who you are. Stay true to the way you do things, while you learn and grow your expertise and lean on God for everything.

Because guess who is continually cheering you on from the sidelines (apart from me and a whole host of unseen witnesses)? It’s none other than your loving heavenly Father who gets excited every time you decide to trust in His leading and guiding. He’s beaming proudly at His beautiful daughter, saying, “that’s my girl!”

Here are a few life lessons to aid your progress:

• unleash your art
• trust your heart
• make and create
• it’s never too late
• listen and learn
• grow wise and discern
• enjoy all gainful employ
• keep journeying into joy

God is right there with you every step of the way, every single day. Take holy courage as your badge of belonging to Christ.

Welcome to #day11 of #31days of journeying into joy. I want to offer you a fresh infusion of encouragement today as we continue this journey, because parts of it are hard and challenging to traverse.

I also want to remind you of just how much God loves, approves of and celebrates YOU! ❤