I walked into the library today feeling like an imposter. 

I’m a writer, and I follow a lot of writers on Instagram. Some I follow to support. Some I follow to admire. Some I may need to stop following because I idolize. 

I walked into the library today wearing a red Wisconsin t-shirt and a thrifted pair of jean shorts with paint on the back pocket. No makeup, no book deals with a publisher, heck, I’m not even walking into a coffee shop because a latte’s not in the budget today. 

I. Don’t. Have. It. All. Together. 

And while good meaning people will tell me it doesn’t matter, the voice in my head asks me why I’m even doing what I’m doing. What’s the point? And believe me, I’ve done my homework. I can list three points to answer the “why” question. But today none of them feel good enough. 

You may not be a writer. But I bet you could tell me about an area of life you feel like an imposter, too. 

Maybe you’ve only known Jesus a short time and you feel under-qualified to tell others about him. You don’t know all the answers. 

Maybe you’re a mom and you feel like you’re screwing up your children every day. You didn’t know you were so under-prepared for parenting. 

Maybe you’re single and you feel like you can’t make a difference in the world unless you’re married with kids. You feel like less of a person because you’re alone. 

Maybe you want to pursue a dream but you’ve only just begun and you feel afraid looking at all the steps ahead of you. You believe you can’t possibly belong in the world you’re moving toward. 

So I’m here to tell you today that you are here because God has qualified you. You have a voice, you have a story, you have a life to live to the full. I’m confident of all this because we trust in God through Christ (2 Corinthians 3:4-5). 

On our own we will flounder. We are strong, beautiful, capable women, yes. But only because God made us that way. Strong, beautiful, capable women exist who don’t know Jesus. But without him we can only go so far and the weight of our lives will only last so long. 

I wish I lived a different life sometimes. I wish I were wearing skinny jeans and had curled blond hair and perfect makeup and was flying to Nashville to record a handful of podcast episodes in person before the release of my newest book. I wish I could afford an island vacation or even a daily Starbucks drink. I wish I had 10,000 followers on Instagram or on my email list. 

But none of that makes me any more qualified than I am right now in this moment to share my story. To live out my purpose. To influence others. To shine light onto hard things as a gift to the women I love. 

Whatever you wish you were won’t qualify you, either. God qualified you when he created you. And then again when Christ made his home in you. Your space in the world is holy ground because God lives there with you. 

We can stand, sit, walk, run or collapse knowing that it’s all because of him and for him and through him anyway. Nothing but God gets to define my worth. He has qualified me and my story in this world matters. 

So does yours. 

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