When We Don’t Feel Ready

Written By Mia Anne Cohen
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Today, this blog will be short because today, I am tired. After all, I am only human. I don’t feel like I have the emotional energy to write anything profound, but I think I can muster up the energy to write with honesty. 

Maybe there is something profound in simple honesty.

I’ll start by telling you not to be alarmed or worried - I am completely fine. I’m choosing to be vague because the circumstances surrounding me involve the lives of those beyond my own. (Some events are even cause for celebration)! However, I want to protect my people, so I will leave the details out this time. 

Yesterday, I had to make a big decision much more quickly than I would have liked. It’s the kind of decision I knew I needed to make eventually, I saw it coming, but circumstances forced my hand before I felt ready. It’s the kind of decision where I felt like I was leaping before I looked. Or maybe leaping with my eyes closed while wearing a blindfold. I’m betting you’ve been there before.

That’s why I’m here with this reminder…

Even when we aren’t ready, God is.

Even when we don’t understand, God does.

He’s unsurprised. Unruffled. 

He’s not forcing ours hands, but rather, He’s holding them and leading us gently, coaxing us out of the dodgy corner where we’ve been passing the time and beckoning us into new light. 

Ephesians 2:10, one of my favorite scriptures, says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” and I take heart in those words. If God has prepared something in advance for us, that means He knows what’s coming, and he knows every nuance for guiding us in His perfect timing. Hebrews 12:2 also reminds us to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” remembering He is our refuge, our strength, and our help - the one who will lead the way and never fail. 

This all has me thinking, perhaps in times like this, the reason we can’t see where we are going isn’t because our eyes are closed or blindfolded, but rather it is because our eyes are on our Jesus instead of our situation. Maybe the route we are taking defies logic anyway, and maybe a focused faith is the only thing that keeps us from yielding to the pressure of circumstance.

Today, I am tired, but I still choose faith and action and hope. I choose to trust and walk with confidence, my gaze up and my heart full, because I know who I’m following, and I know He is faithful.

Mia Anne Cohen

I taught middle school for 8 years, and sometimes, I still miss it. My students taught me about empathy, patience, and injustice. They instructed me in the ways of laughter and not taking myself too seriously, and they asked me to do a lot of wild things like pop their pimples and “Hit the Quan”. Back then, I was called to serve in a school, to teach and love my motley crew as well as I possibly could, and I was proud to do it.

Then, God called me out of middle school and into missions, a very different kind of education. In that season, I learned how to dream, how to dig deep wells of courage, how to take big steps of faith and walk boldly into new things. And you know what? He did all this so I could share my story with someone like you, to help you move from fear to faith. I want to teach you what I’ve learned, to help you understand fear only has the power you give it, to help you wake up to your purpose or just the next right thing and feel empowered to do something about it.

Let’s seize the new mornings with God and believe the promises he whispers. Let’s laugh ‘til our stomachs hurt and eat dark chocolate on weeknights and find moments of rest and joy in a busy world. And most of all, let’s run toward the things that scare us, realize they have no real power, and leave them in the dust. It took me years, and it is my hope that you don’t wait as long as I did.

https://www.miaannecohen.com
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