Some of us are born with social aptitude, while others are born with social anxiety. Regardless, we are all called to bring glory to God’s Kingdom.
I’m one of those who were born with social anxiety. In other words, my brain can mutate the idea of entering a social situation into this polarizing fear that shuts me down entirely, which can inhibit me from doing the exact thing I was put on this earth to do—exalting God’s Kingdom. That sounds bleak, but then I rejoice in the fact that God made all of us, even the socially anxious, for Kingdom work. So we should find ourselves excited, because this means one of two things: One, God’s about to make an unexpected way for us to do Kingdom work despite social anxiety, or two, God’s about to deliver us from social anxiety, and through that deliverance, we get to spread the Gospel.
Social anxiety isn’t a new phenomenon—in fact, we see it in Exodus, with Moses. In Exodus 4:10, Moses describes himself as “slow of speech and tongue”—and, at first, lets the social anxiety surrounding that convince him to try to disqualify himself from leading the Israelites out of Egypt. But God, angry that Moses was trying to go against His will, gave him Aaron, his brother (who would relay the messages that God sent to Moses to the Israelites), and He gave him his staff. Note how in Exodus 14:16, God does not tell Moses to speak over the sea to part it; He tells him to raise his staff and to reach his hand out over it. This goes to say that it wasn’t Moses’ social skills that helped him to fulfill his calling, it was his (eventual) willingness to submit to the Lord. The Lord used what Moses had (his staff, Aaron) to fulfill the plan that He had for Israel, and He will do the same for us. Isn’t it so beautiful how, with our submission, He will provide the most unexpected ways to further His Kingdom?
Something important here, though, is that Moses did not stay socially anxious (we’ll get to that!), and neither should we. In Matthew 28:19 (NIV), Jesus tells His disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Yet sometimes, we can feel like social anxiety is big enough to stop us from actually doing that. But we must remember that the Lord defeated death itself, and all authority of Heaven and earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18 NIV). He has control over everything that was, is, and will be—He can handle our social anxiety. We simply have to ask Him to do so. After all, Psalm 102:17 (NIV) tells us that “He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.”
So, when it comes to social situations (and especially those where you’re sharing the Good News), really nestle close to the Lord and ask Him to help you through it. When you do, you’ll find that each conversation is less daunting than the last. Notice how in Exodus 4, Moses is pleading God to use someone else because he feels he isn’t eloquent enough to be a leader. Now, check out Exodus 13, when he is instructing the Israelites how to appropriately commemorate the Exodus. God told Moses this would happen—back in Exodus 4:12, He said, “‘Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” This shows us that we don’t have to do the mental crossword puzzle to figure out what word goes where, because God has already solved it. We have to trust Him to give us the answers. And when we trust, we can finally begin to talk—finally begin to teach others about the Gospel. And that, my friends, is good Kingdom work for a good God.
Lastly, we all must have the complete understanding that the Gospel is too important for us to try and fit it into our social boundaries, and too strong to be affected by our lack of social skills. It comes down to this: God’s love for us is so immense that He sent his Son to die on a Cross so that we may have a chance of being with Him. And that love, when within us, will break any chains that social anxiety puts over us, whether they be the symptoms of that anxiety or the anxiety itself. God had Moses. God’s got us.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Katie Pennington is a writer and editor who is originally from Hazard, Kentucky, but currently resides with her family in central Tennessee (though she frequently visits her Appalachian roots). Her favorite Bible verse is Psalm 42:5, which reminds her that in despair, there’s hope in God, and there’s healing in praising Him.