Take Chances, Make Mistakes, Get Messy...and Keep Moving Forward

There is a very specific kind of quiet panic that hits a Christian woman entrepreneur or author at 2:13 AM. It usually sounds like:

"I started this...but what if I am doing it wrong?"

"What if I am not hearing God correctly?"

"What if everyone else knows something I don't?"

And suddenly, your calling feels less like a lantern and more like a flickering fluorescent light you keep wondering if you should just turn off.

If that is you, you are not behind. You are not disqualified. You are just in the middle of something real. And real things always feel a little uncertain while they are still growing.

The Myth Nobody Tells You About "Called" Work

We tend to think obedience will feel like confidence. But most of the time, obedience feels like:

• Starting before you feel ready

• Praying while still doubting

• Posting while still unsure

• Writing while still editing your own worth in real time

The truth is, even faith does not remove the "what if I am wrong?" feeling...it just teaches you how to walk with it. And if you look through Scripture, that pattern is everywhere.

• Moses said he could not speak.

• Gideon asked for signs...and then asked again.

• Mary asked how before she said yes.

Yet God still moved with them. Not because they were certain...but because He was.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV

Faith was never meant to feel like total clarity. It was meant to feel like trust in the fog.

Ms.Frizzle Was Onto Something (Yes, Really)

If you grew up in the era of chaotic field trips, you probably remember this gem from The Magic School Bus:

"Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

At first glance, it sounds like chaos. But spiritually? It is kind of discipleship language in disguise. Because building anything God actually called you to build will involve:

• Chances you were not fully ready for

• Mistakes you did not plan for

• Messes you did not see coming

And yet...growth always shows up wearing that exact outfit. The difference between worldly chaos and Kingdom growth is this...God does not waste the mess.

You Are Not Doing It Wrong...You Are Doing It Alive

One of the biggest traps for Christian business owners and authors is believing there is a "clean" way to obey God. A version where:

• No one doubts themselves

• No posts flop

• No launches feel awkward

• No drafts get rewritten 12 times

• No one ever feels like they are guessing

But that version does not exist. Even Paul wrote: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect..." - Philippians 3:12 KJV

If Paul was still "pressing toward the mark," then your in-progress obedience is not failure...it is normal Kingdom rhythm.

The Discomfort You Feel Might Actually Be Alignment

Sometimes the tension you are feeling is not a warning sign. It is a stretching sign. Stretching feels like:

• Uncertainty

• Vulnerability

• Awkward beginnings

• Learning in public

• Praying mid-action instead of pre-action

And for my fellow millennial elder-emo hearts...yes, it feels a little like spiritual growing pains wrapped in imposter syndrome. But here's the gentle truth...if the enemy cannot stop your calling, he will try to make you question your participation in it.

A Word for the Woman Refreshing Her Own Page

If you have been checking your stats, rereading your captions, rethinking your book draft, or wondering if anyone is really listening...here this:

God is not evaluating you the way you are evaluating you.

You are measuring output. He is measuring obedience. And those are NOT the same scale.

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in your will perform it..." - Philippians 1:6 KJV

He did not start this in you to abandon you mid-process.

So What Do You Do When You Do Not Know If You Are Doing It Right?

You keep going...but you stop expecting perfection as proof of calling. Let yourself:

• Post even when it is not perfect

• Write even when it is not polished

• Show up even when it feels uncertain

• Learn while building instead of waiting to arrive

And remember..."Getting it right" was never the assignment. Faithfulness was.

A Final Reminder for the Messy Middle

You are NOT behind. You are NOT disqualified. You are NOT "failing at your calling."

You are in the sacred middle space where obedience still looks like scribbles before it becomes a story.

So yes...take chances. Yes...make mistakes. Yes...get messy. And then bring all of it to God and say, "Lord, I started. Please keep me steady while You shape it."

Because He will.

And He is.