What If You’re Not as Lost as You Think?

You are seen. You are loved. And you are not as lost as you think.

I felt compelled to write this to you this Sunday morning…

The world is overwhelming right now, and I know it can feel like you're drifting—uncertain, searching, wondering if you’re on the right path. But what if you’re not as lost as you think?

I see you. I see you wrestling with who you are, with what’s right for you, with the weight of expectations that were never yours to carry.

And I just want to say: I see you, and I’m grateful for you.

I work through these same questions all the time, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s this: we are not meant to do this alone, So I want to share a few revelations that have blessed me—truths that I hope will remind you of what’s already within you.

The best definition of purpose I’ve ever heard is this: think about what you’d want done for yourself, and take the initiative to do it for another.

So as you figure out life right now—who you are, who you're becoming and how you want to spend your time—here are a few things I hope will help:

1. You have everything you need.

The world will try to convince you otherwise. It will whisper that you are behind, that you must strive, earn, and prove your way into worthiness. And it’s very clever in its approach. It won’t outright tell you that you’re not enough—it will affirm you in the places that activate your core wounds.

But it doesn’t activate them in a way that heals you. It activates them in a way that keeps you in patterns and cycles, always reaching but never feeling whole. So you keep going back to it because you think it’s good for you. But it’s not.

This will show up in the form of relationships, money, friends, and jobs that drain you more than they fill you. And because it’s so subtle, you may not recognize the damage until it’s catastrophic.

But here’s the truth: even if everything crumbles, you are not lost. There is always resurrection after death. Always.

2. God loves you.

Everyone else is still learning to love themselves, which means we are all new to loving each other.

We can only love others as deeply as we love ourselves. And because the world tries to seduce us out of our worth, most of us are playing catch-up when it comes to self-love. You can see it in the world—if we truly knew how to love each other, the world wouldn’t look the way it does.

So it’s important to recognize the order: first, we must receive God’s love. It is the pure one. The unconditional one. The one that doesn’t need you to perform for it.

I remember reading Maya Angelou’s Letters to My Daughter, where she shares how she would repeat “God loves me” over and over until she believed it. I tried it once.

And it wrecked me.It humbled me. It made me emotional.

If you only ever have one affirmation in this life, let it be this: “God loves me.” It will carry you and sustain you. It will rewire the way you see yourself. You will always make better decisions and live a healthier life the sooner you come into agreement with God’s love.

“God loves me. It still humbles me that this force that makes leaves and fleas and stars and rivers and you, loves me. Me, Maya Angelou. It’s amazing. I can do anything. And do it well. Any good thing I can do it. That’s why I am who I am, yes, because God loves me and I’m amazed at it.”

– Maya Angelou, Letters to My Daughter

3. Almost everyone is afraid to really be seen—so do your best to really see others.

This is the great tragedy: we don’t see each other well.

This is why you sometimes hide. Because you aren’t seen by others, it feels easier to be alone. But the longer you are alone, the more fear has time to wrap its greedy hands around you—keeping you alone.

Fear is greedy. The longer you’re alone, the easier it is to build a hardened heart. And once your heart is hardened, you can’t see the God in others.

But you were not made to hide.

And if you can—if you can look long enough—you will see yourself in another. But we don’t look long enough. And because the world has subtly seduced us out of our worth, we struggle to recognize the worth in others.

4. Steward and protect the gifts you’ve been given.

You have been given so many incredible gifts. So many, in fact, that most people won’t be able to recognize them all.

But just because others don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t real. You must be the observer and the cultivator of your gifts.

Because the world has seduced us out of our worth, we often look to others to mirror back to us who we really are. But they are not you. And they are not God. They did not give you your gifts.

This is between you and God.

You must learn the balance of giving your gifts freely while also protecting them. You want to give them away because they are gifts—that’s why they are called gifts. But when you give them to people who do not have reverence for them, they will likely abuse them.

And when they do, it will make you feel bad, and then you will hide your gift.

But hear me: your gifts are not a mistake. They were given to you for a reason. Don’t let the wrong hands convince you otherwise.

5. This is why prayer matters.

Prayer is not a performance. It is not a ritual. It is not something you have to get right. Prayer is a two-way communication tool between you and God. We’ve overcomplicated everything.

In the beginning, Adam was in the garden with God. There was no Bible. No rituals. No church. No Instagram pages telling him how to live his life.

It was just him and God. In conversation.

That’s all God requires. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to be in conversation with you. And as long as you are in conversation, He will direct your path.

I don’t know where this finds you, but I do know this:

You are not as lost as you think.

I hope at least one of these words meets you where you are.

Sending you so much love,
m

P.S. if you haven’t read Friday’s Rest Ethic, "There’s Plenty of Time,” it’s worth the read.