When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:17, 20

In October 2020 the following email exchange (edited for brevity) took place between our Connect Devotional editor, Brian, and myself about writing for the team:

Brian: C'mon, give it a go. What's the worst that could happen...?

Jessica: What’s the worst that could happen? Complete and utter failure, that’s what! But since you asked so convincingly, I’ll give it a go! 

Brian: Great! I will ensure that you do not experience complete and utter failure. We editors can do that kind of thing, y'know? Good on you for taking a crack, Jessica!  Looking forward to it!

Believe me when I tell you this simple thread of emails caused me to break out into a major sweat.

My mind flooded with immediate doubts. “What if I’m not good enough? It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything other than a witty post on social media…what if everyone thinks my writing is garbage? What if I’m booed on the streets of downtown Pittsboro? What if I come across as thinking I’m superior because I write devotionals? What if I write something accidentally blasphemous?” 

So much overthinking, and so.many.doubts! Obviously I went through with writing, but why?

Editor Brian heard my doubts, and they didn’t dissuade him from encouraging me to write. Instead, he agreed to provide guidance while we worked through them together on our way to bringing more of the Word to Chatham county.

In Matthew 28 Jesus gives the command to GO (v19). The disciples were looking at and talking with the living, breathing, risen-from-the-dead Jesus with their very own eyeballs, and they still had doubts! That didn’t dissuade Jesus from sending them; he sent them anyway with a promise to go with them (v20).

Jesus has all authority (v18), and he gives us authority to GO, too. He sends us out to draw people closer to him, wherever we may be, and whatever doubts we may have don’t disqualify us from that mission. Instead He promises to go with us, providing authority and guidance all along the way.

I almost let my doubts disqualified me from writing Connect Devotionals before I even started! Are you hiding behind any doubts today? Hand them over to Jesus, and come out of hiding.