The words reverberated in my ears, “How do you need to step out in faith? What are you being called to? What voice have you been holding onto and not showing the world?” The tears were almost instantaneous was my coach was talking to our group. It was like she had peeked into my life and was singling me out of the crowd to fess up where I’d been hiding behind my fears.

I was quite surprised by my reaction. You see, having just given a message to a group of over 200 people at Cowboy Church at the Heritage Festival, I felt pretty good about my putting myself “out there.” I’ve also done a dozen or so Facebook Live talks and, although it’s nerve-wracking, I really don’t mind doing them. So what was I hiding from?

Then I realized that it was because I had recently changed my focus on my business to be more career-oriented, but in doing so, had left the biggest part of me, my faith, off the table. I realized that I was doing what I had done for 30 years. In my effort to appear “professional” I was keeping my Christian side of me in check for fear of scaring off someone who might be offended or feel uncomfortable with that. Back then I did it under the guise of being “politically correct” and not bringing my faith into conversations unless I was certain the person I was talking to was “OK” with it.

When called out on it that day during my session, I realized that I had been called to reach beyond my comfort level so that I can help other professionals live their faith out in their work and home life. It doesn’t mean we need to quote scripture from the rooftops, but we do need to stop hiding our light under a basket and let God’s goodness within us shine wherever we go. It means forgiving others for not living up to our standards when they really did try to do right. It means being kind to our spouse, children, or co-workers even when they are being a jerk. It means making sure we aren’t cutting corners by coming in to work late or leaving early and it means giving our best even when it is inconvenient to do so.

I know it is scary to go against the norm in today’s society when it is all about “personal rights” and “watching out for ourselves,” but if you want to start living your faith, you need to step out of sync with the world. I talk about fear a lot, but it’s very real. If you aren’t experiencing it every now and then, you may not be walking as close to the edge as you should be. I speak from experience when I say it’s frightening, but exhilarating when you realize that you can let go of the railing because God will be there to hold your hand. The rewards are incredible once you begin to trust him and begin to reach beyond yourself and it feels pretty good when you quit hiding and get back into step with what God is calling you to do.

Where are you hiding today? Are you ready to step into your best self and let go of the railing? I’d love to help you with that if you aren’t sure how.