“It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.” Psalm 18:32

Pray for your “one thing,” the email said. A couple weeks before the She Speaks conference, the team preparing attendees sent out an email essentially designed to calm nerves. Hundreds of stressed out writers and speakers were busy preparing talks for evaluation groups, book proposals that felt more like giving birth and hearts for teaching.


One of those stressed out attendees was me. From the moment I prayed about attending the conference, God was saying, “believe.” I posted a plea for financial help on this blog and in three days, the money came in. The stunning speed was more like a shout from Heaven telling me yet again, “believe.”

As I prepared my book proposal and talks, I felt the pressure of perfection mixed with the panic of doubt. The materials needed to be just so and I was taking that notion as an assignment I needed to complete. Alone. I prayed a lot, but I was not letting the word sink in. “Believe.”

As the deadline drew near, my materials were awful. Words, which normally flow pretty easily, had dried up. In a moment of complete surrender, I begged God to finally come rescue my weary fingers and brain. “Believe.” When I let go, He allowed the words to fill the pages of my proposal and crafted the messages for my talks.

I arrived at the conference nervous and lacking self-confidence. I knew the first place to visit was the prayer room. As I did, I walked right up to the paper that described God the Creator. "Elohim." My name was one of the names on that sheet. As I glanced up, a wooden sign on the table said “Believe.” My prayer was that He would step in where I could not. That He would speak the words I didn’t have. That His will be done in the meetings with editors and evaluation groups.

“Believe.” Yes, believe. Mercifully, the meetings went far better than I hoped. So did the evaluation group. Those reviews and the possibility of a publishing house considering my book were incredible. But the real miracle was the message. Believe.

Sometimes, when we are pursuing the path that God has for us, doubts and fear can creep in and begin to chip away at our resolve. We can start to believe the lies of the enemy as he tells us we aren’t good enough or our story isn’t strong enough to mean anything in God’s kingdom. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. God has placed each of us in the situations and circumstances we are in for His purpose. We never know who might need to hear our story at just the right moment to impact their decision to live for Him. It is an honor and privilege.

Believe. Believe that He can use any one of us. Believe that He is faithful and true to His promises. Believe that He is our strength and security. Believe that He will direct our path.

My “one thing” was “believe.” What’s yours?