Sometimes we get discouraged about our environment or our circumstances and we can begin to feel hopeless or trapped. And the truth is, we are less trapped or stuck than we think we are. In fact, rarely are we truly trapped, we just don’t want to change or move.

God spoke the following word to me, and I know some people might think, “It’s hard for me to believe that’s true. God doesn’t talk to me that way!” All I can tell you is, He definitely talks to me in this vernacular. He said, “Deanna, the world really is your oyster, so start acting like it.”

Let’s unpack that a minute. Have you heard the old saying, “The world is your oyster”? It originates with Shakespeare, and the connotation is that you can go anywhere you want and you can do anything you set your mind to do. An important caveat for Christians is that we believe in the call of God and also that anything is possible for a person through the power of God, not simply in and of oneself. To be clear, our power is in God.

So, here are some nuggets of wisdom on this, in no particular order, and I hope this helps somebody out there who is feeling stuck or trapped in any regard in your current circumstance.

You are not one-dimensional

God created you body, soul and spirit. You were never meant to be just one thing! Most people are good at more than one thing. It’s common for people to have multiple talents or passions. It’s not only acceptable, it’s necessary to diversify. God didn’t call you to be a one hit wonder! He also didn’t create you to be suppressed or contained. The enemy is all about containment but God is all about freedom.

There will always be people who want to put you in a box, so to speak. When they met you, you were a worship leader. It was all you ate, slept and breathed. Now, leading public worship is something you rarely do. Your passion is missions. But everyone doesn’t understand. They expect you to pull out a guitar or sit down at a keyboard and start leading songs as you always did for so many years. Perhaps you were once focused on ministry to women but now God is calling you to expand to ministering to the larger body of Christ — to all adults, or maybe even to the whole family . Maybe when someone first met you it was at your home church when you were five years old and now you are thirty five and a mature believer and they still relate to you as if you were in elementary school. They don’t see you as the strong leader that you now are. Others may exclusively view you as Shaun’s wife or Tiffany’s mom. It can be a challenge when people see you through the lens of only one of your roles or giftings. Again, you are not one-dimensional, but some people didn’t get the memo. That’s okay, keep sending memos.

Broaden your network

Did you know it’s totally cool to be part of more than one tribe? The world is bigger than what you know. Perhaps you believe your world IS the whole world because it’s all you’ve ever known. Let’s think a crazy thought for a second…

Imagine what it would be like if your workplace/denomination/fellowship/school/organization got completely shut down. Let’s picture it going off the map entirely and being non-existent. You might wonder how in the world you would even function at all, being that this is the only culture you have ever known. You can’t picture God outside of this paradigm. But here’s the thing, there are millions of people in the world who have never heard of what you do or where you serve. They wouldn’t miss it at all because to them it is non-existent. It has no bearing in their lives. Maybe you think that’s crazy and that surely everyone has heard of this thing/place/organization that holds all of your attention. Let’s say you are Southern Baptist and you think, “Surely everyone has heard of the SBC!” I assure you, you’re wrong. The entire world hasn’t even heard of Jesus yet, so there’s that. There are cerainly people who have no idea what the AG is, or what the SBC is or what the UMC is. My point is, the thing or place or people group you hold onto so dearly and believe you could never live without is non-existent to a large population of the world. And my point is not that any of these entities are bad…simply that there is more out there than you know about. There is so much more to explore! Try reaching out beyond your current borders. The most amazing opportunity ever may await!

Expand your friend group

Isn’t it so great to know, your next best friend may be one introduction away? Not to say that your current besties are bad or unsuitable, all I’m saying is — you’re not done! There are people you aren’t acquainted with yet that God wants to mightily use in your life and vice versa. So be open! Wake up to the possibility of new relationships.

Develop greater awarenesss

Did you ever hear people pray things like, “God, be with Sarah…please be with Tony…be with all of us, Lord.” The truth is, He’s already there. We don’t have to pray for Him to be with us. He never left, we just don’t honor his presence. We don’t take time to notice Him. We don’t give Him the attention he is due. Just so, there are always opportunities that surround us, (God opportunities!) but we don’t take the time to notice them. We become fixated on what we have always known and what is in front of us and we refuse to look up to see or gaze at anything else. Greater dimensions are always available for us.  But we get comfortable, or — afraid. Push aside the fear, friend.. Ask God to reveal more to you. There’s always more available but so often we assume, or we just don’t ask Him.

Resist the resisters!

There are always going to be people who will try to drag you back into the one dimension they want you in. They are comfortable with you there. Usually this is because it benefits them in some way. They need you to stay the same.They need you to stay in your box because in some way it maintains their box. Speaking of boxes, people are fond of talking about them (I’ve done it myself) and we encourage people to think, “outside the box.” Personally, I’d love to CRUSH THE BOX. I don’t even want a box near me. It’s too tempting for somebody to try to force me to get back in it. Maybe that’s another blog post.

The point is, people may try to force you to remain in the only way they have ever known you, and if they keep that up, as painful as it is, you may have to let them go.

Deal with fear

I believe at the root of most of us living as if the world is not our oyster, and in a generally faithless manner is fear.

We fear stepping out.

We fear taking God at his Word.

We fear listening for God’s voice and doing what He says.

If you’re struggling with this today, in addition to reading scriptures on fear and making it a matter of prayer, I highly recommend you read the book, Fear is Not the Boss of You by Jennifer Allwood.

It’s my prayer that these steps will help you if you’re feeling stuck today.