Use Your Voice: What God-Given Gifts, Faith, and Obedience Have Taught Me
Have you ever felt like you weren’t qualified enough to use your voice?
Maybe you’ve had an idea that you couldn’t stop thinking about, but you convinced yourself someone else was better equipped to pursue it. Maybe God has placed something on your heart, but you’ve been waiting until you have more experience, more confidence, more resources, or more certainty.
Or maybe you’ve simply wondered, Who am I to do this?
I know that feeling well.
For much of my life, I’ve struggled with using my voice. Whether through writing, speaking, sharing on social media, or simply being willing to say what I believe, I’ve often heard that little voice in my head asking, Who are you to speak? What credentials do you have to talk about this? Why would anyone want to hear what you have to say?
But lately, God has been challenging me to think differently about what it means to use the gifts He has given us.
We Are Called to Be the Light
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.”
If we are called to be the light of the world, shouldn’t we actually be willing to use the gifts, talents, experiences, and voices God has given us?
I’ve heard someone say something that has stayed with me: If God made you “you,” and you aren’t fully operating in the things He has gifted you to do, are you honoring the One who gave you those gifts?
That question challenged me.
Because I think so many of us hold ourselves back. We compare ourselves to people who are further ahead. We decide we’re not qualified enough. We wait until we have more experience. We worry about what other people will think. We tell ourselves that someone else could do it better. Or we simply believe the lie that we aren’t enough.
But what if the point was never that we were enough on our own?
What if the point was always that God is enough?
You Don’t Have to Be the Most Qualified Person in the Room
One of the biggest lessons I’ve been learning is that obedience doesn’t always require confidence. Sometimes it simply requires a willingness to take the next step.
You don’t have to know exactly how everything is going to work out. You don’t have to have every credential. You don’t have to have the biggest audience. You don’t have to have more money. You don’t have to know everything.
And you certainly don’t have to be someone else.
God can use what you already have: your story, your experience, your personality, your creativity, your business, your relationships, your voice, your gifts, and your willingness to say yes.
I’ve realized that I don’t want to spend my life shrinking myself because I’m afraid of what other people might think. And I don’t want to use my voice to bring attention to me. I want to use my voice to bring glory to Him.
That distinction has changed everything for me.
Stepping Out in Faith Even When It’s Hard
This year, I feel like I’m stepping out in ways I never have before simply because I received a word that I need to use my voice more.
And honestly? That’s scary.
Because using your voice means being seen. It means being vulnerable. It means people might disagree with you. It means some people might misunderstand you. It means putting something out into the world before you know exactly how it will be received.
But I’ve also learned that sometimes the hardest part of pursuing what God has placed on your heart is simply saying yes.
Once you say yes, you can take the next step. Then another. And another.
You don’t need to see the entire staircase to take the first step.
What God Is Teaching Me Through Building a Community
This lesson has become especially personal as I’ve continued building The Christian Social Hub.
Behind the scenes, I’ve recently been working on a sponsorship deck for our Summer Camp coming up in May 2027. And if I’m being completely honest, Summer Camp has always been challenging for us.
It is a lot of work.
We don’t make money on it, and that isn’t necessarily the goal. But the reality is that an event of this size requires a tremendous amount of time, energy, people, and financial resources.
And if you know me, you know I don’t really know how to do things halfway. 😂
We want Summer Camp to be an incredible experience, but we also want it to remain accessible to the people we are serving.
That’s where sponsorships have become such an exciting opportunity. Sponsorships can help offset some of the costs associated with our larger events, which can allow us to keep prices more accessible for attendees while giving us additional resources to pour back into the community.
And as we grow, we want to be able to do more for local communities when we see a need. We already do this on a small scale, but I believe there is something powerful about this simple idea:
The more we grow, the more we get to sow.
Every Little Bit Helps Build Something Bigger
Sometimes people don’t realize how much it takes to build a community.
Running a business is expensive.
Putting on events is expensive. Paying a team fairly is important. Creating experiences where people can connect requires resources.
And building these organizations has required sacrifice.
I’ve poured my time, energy, creativity, and resources into this community because I genuinely believe in what God is doing here.
There are so many ways that people participate in helping this community exist. Every sponsorship helps offset costs and gives us the opportunity to give back to local communities. Every membership helps us continue paying our team fairly as they pour their time and energy into building this community. Every event registration helps make it possible to continue creating opportunities for people to gather together locally.
And every person who shows up, participates, invites a friend, encourages someone, or simply chooses to be part of this community helps keep it alive.
You may not always see the impact of your participation, but it matters.
I Believe God Is Building Something Bigger
I genuinely believe that God has His hand on this community.
I believe we’re going to see things happen here that we couldn’t make happen on our own.
I believe we’re going to see lonely people find family. Prodigals come home. Friendships form. Relationships begin. People discover their purpose. People take steps of faith. People find community. People discover gifts they didn’t realize they had.
And I believe that over the next year, we’re going to see doors open that we couldn’t have even dreamed of opening ourselves.
That’s the part that excites me the most.
Because when God builds something, He gets the glory.
What Has God Called You to Do?
And now I want to turn the question back to you.
What has God called you to do?
What has He called you to build? What has He called you to discover? What gift has He given you that you’ve been holding back? What voice have you been afraid to use?
What dream have you been dismissing because you don’t feel qualified enough?
Maybe it’s a business. Maybe it’s a ministry. Maybe it’s a book. Maybe it’s a creative project. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s going back to school. Maybe it’s serving your community. Maybe it’s simply sharing your story.
Whatever it is, I want to encourage you: don’t let insecurity convince you that obedience isn’t for you.
You don’t have to know exactly where the road leads. You just have to be willing to take the next step.
And if you’ve never said that thing out loud, I want you to.
Tell someone you trust. Write it down. Pray about it. And if you want to, email me and tell me.
I’ll be your trusted confidant, praying for you and cheering you on.
Because I know from experience that saying something out loud and then stepping toward it can be one of the hardest parts.
Go Do the Thing
Friend, go do that thing.
I can tell you that it will be hard.
There will be days that are grueling. There will be moments when you wonder what in the world you’re doing. There will absolutely be times when you want to throw in the towel.
But there will also be moments when you look around and realize you’re watching the remarkable hand of God move because you were willing to step out in faith and obedience.
And that, to me, is one of the greatest privileges of this life.
Getting to watch God take the little bit we’re willing to give Him and do something far greater than we ever could have done on our own.
So use your voice. Build the thing. Take the step. Say yes.
Not so people can see you.
But so people can see Him.
Follow along as we follow Jesus and see what He wants us to do next.Â