I was shopping recently when a decorative sign caught my eye and stopped me in my tracks. It said: The world needs who you were made to be.

Immediately, tears welled up in my eyes.

I couldn’t help but be made aware of my passion for seeing people realize their full, God-given potential, but that wasn’t what brought the emotion to the surface.

What got me was that the sign seemed to be speaking directly to me.

Questions flooded my mind:

Am I being the person I was made to be? Answer: sort of. Maybe? Probably? I know there are things holding me back, and I can’t seem to shake them.

What’s holding you back? Fear, mostly.

What are you afraid of? If I’m honest with myself, I’m terrified of leaving the comfort of my perceived safety and stepping out into new horizons.

What are these new horizons? More personal horizons than anything—stepping out of the shadows I have found so comforting, and stepping into a greater degree of personal vulnerability by offering more of myself to those around me.

What’s so scary about that? Vulnerability is terrifying. Stepping out of the shadows is uncomfortable, and being willing to put myself out there for all to see feels incredibly naked.

 

The world needs who you were made to be.

 

Yeah, I get it. That all sounds good on paper (or a decorative sign), but when the rubber meets the road, that’s so much harder to do than I’ve realized:

I find myself lacking confidence. I find myself feeling insecure. I even find myself feeling anxious and nervous when speaking, unsure of whether I have anything valuable to say.

 

The world needs who you were made to be.

 

---

Last week, I was reading Exodus 17, the well-known story about the Israelites winning the battle against the Amalekites—as long as Moses had his staff raised high from his vantage point on a high hill over the battleground.

As soon as his arms would get tired, his staff would lower, and the enemy would gain ground. When he regained strength, lifting his staff, the Israelites would have the upper hand. Moses’ friends came alongside him, giving him something to sit on, and taking Moses’ arms in their own, supporting them so that the staff could be held high throughout the day.

I’ve read this story numerous times, with the familiar theme highlighting the value and need of others around us to support. It’s a classic don’t-go-at-it-alone kind of story.

But this time, something jumped right off the page to me:

After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua…” (Exodus 17:14)

A seemingly insignificant addition to the story about friendship, teamwork, and victory. Why, then, this inclusion to read it to Joshua? He wasn’t by Moses’ side holding his arms, so what’s the significance?

Earlier in the story, we read that it was Joshua who was down on the battlefield, fighting for Israel. His army was the one winning when the staff was raised and losing when the staff would fall.

Joshua was the one who emerged victorious at the end of the battle.

So why did God give Moses the specific instructions of writing this moment down, for Joshua’s sake?

---

Joshua was the one who ultimately led the Israelites into the Promised Land, not Moses. Right before Joshua takes the leadership role over Israel, God tells him multiple times to be strong and courageous.

But this assignment didn’t happen to Joshua until 40 years after Exodus 17. There was much wandering in the desert before Joshua took the helm of the nation, leading it once again in battle to take the land that was promised to them.

---

Israel needed Joshua to be who he was made to be.

Joshua was a leader, a warrior, and a faithful pursuer of God. He was also afraid of assuming his role; if he wasn’t afraid, God would not have had to remind him to be strong and courageous so many times.

And you know what else?

God had Moses write down the victory over the Amalekites as a reminder—both of God’s provision, but also of Joshua’s capacity to win a battle.  

God, in His kindness, preserved for Joshua a memory—one that he wouldn’t need to draw on for another 40 years.

I imagine Joshua, faced with the terror of taking on a new adventure as Israel’s leader, feeling completely over his head, hearing God’s words about being strong and courageous, still struggling with self-doubt, and then perhaps stumbling across a scroll with a 40-year-old story written on it.

One that reminds Joshua that he has what it takes. That he doesn’t need to feel insecure, or lacking in confidence, or feel anxious when he needs to speak.

One that reminded Joshua that he had experienced victory before, and he will experience it again. And it was vital, because in order for Israel to experience the liberation that was set before them, Israel needed Joshua to be who he was created to be.

  

And so I ask you: Is there something you are feeling divinely called to step into?

Is fear getting in your way?

Has God left any reminders from your past about how you are uniquely gifted and qualified to step into this new season of your life?

I would imagine He has.

Because the God who saw Joshua is the same God who sees you.

He will give you what it takes to courageously step into who you were created to be.

Because He alone knows who that version of you is, and He has been preparing you for it. Possibly even for the past 40 years.

So go ahead and take that strong, courageous step, remembering that God is with you in this.

 

It’s what I’m planning on doing.