Insecurities

Spoiler alert: 2026 is not the year that you’ll finally have it all figured out. Yet, we have a tendency to try to do that, don’t we? Whether it’s work or family or friends or finances, or even our walk with the Lord, we’re taught without even realizing it, that success means having control.

But if that’s the case, where does faith fit?

You see, when we live this way and inevitably fall short, insecurity rises. It tells us we should tighten our grip as though God’s promises depend on our control rather than His faithfulness.

Friends, the Bible cautions us about slipping into that way of thinking.

In Genesis 16, Sarai says to Abram,

“Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”

And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

There is an irony here. Years earlier in Genesis 12, Abram’s insecurity led him to give his wife to an Egyptian man. Now Sarai’s insecurity leads her to give an Egyptian woman to her husband. Two different stories, but it’s the same problem. Both assume that God’s promise needs help.

God had promised Abram a family and a future. But as time passed, Sarai began to feel disqualified. She focused on her limitations until they shaped what she believed about God. Once she concluded that God’s promise depended on her ability, she stopped trusting Him and started acting in His place.

We should learn from that. Scripture repeatedly shows us that when insecurity or impatience drives us to take matters into our own hands, our attention moves away from God’s faithfulness and onto ourselves.

Here’s my exhortation to the sisters.

Sarai’s sorrow was real, and it was not only about a child. But beneath the insecurity was a fear of being overlooked. When God’s timing feels slow, questions can grow about your usefulness or your worth. Don’t fall for that.

Faith is often formed over time. You don’t need to prove your value or secure results to be used by God. Your worth rests in the God who made you, sees you, and has called you His own in Christ. Bring your insecurities to Him because He already knows them anyway, and He cares for you.

To the brothers.

Scripture shows us an alarming pattern. Eve took the fruit and gave it to her husband, and Adam listened. Sarai took Hagar and gave her to Abram, and Abram listened. The problem was not that they listened, but that they did so when God had already spoken. In both cases, the man was present, responsible, and silent, and all because of his own insecurities.

A desire to keep the peace can become a failure to lead. Don’t do that, men. Abram was not asked to fix the problem, but to trust the Lord and lead in faith. The same is true for us. Our calling is to point humbly, gently, and respectfully, those entrusted to us back to God as He spoken through Scripture.

And to all of us.

It’s good to plan or work hard, but the issue is forgetting God while we work. We will fail, He will not. We are a boat, He is the Anchor. We are fragile, He is the Rock. We are limited, but Scripture tells us that we carry treasure in jars of clay so that the power belongs to God and not to us.