Not Me

So, I was driving and thinking about a situation I recently faced. I was in a group message with a bunch of people. The message was asking if I wanted to go to the State Fair one night this week. Now, as I was receiving the messages, it didn't matter whether or not I wanted to go to the fair. It didn't matter because I was confused as to why I was in the group message in the first place.

This confusion was due to knowing the person who initiated the message and the other people included in the message. I am friends with the person who began the text thread, but everyone else in the message is in a different group of friends with him. So, as soon as I received the text, I began to think that this message wasn't intended for me. Rather, that it most likely was intended for a different Lauren, a Lauren that "fit" in the group of people in the message.

So, I privately messaged that person just to check it and ask (not in front of all the others) if that message was meant for me. The response was lighthearted and along the lines of "No, haha, not you. Thanks." I was not hurt by this in any way; I was glad to have an answer. But then this ugly voice reared up and said, "This wasn't for you. It was for someone else. Not you. Story of your life. It's not ever for you."

Whoa! Where did that come from. I wasn't hurt by the situation, but that voice was trying to turn the tide of my thoughts inward to thinking, "Yep. Nope. Not me. Story of my life."


Not me.
Not me.
Not me.

Wow, but I can't stand when that thought arises of "not me." To clarify, this isn't a statement of "not me" as in "I am going to refuse to do what needs to be done." Instead, this "not me" is the statement of "that couldn't possibly be meant for me."  It is disconcerting the number of times that I have been in conversation with students, leaders, friends, and other people and heard them say, "No. Not me." or "That's not for me." or "I could never do that. That's just not me."


If I allowed the Not me's to stack up in my life they could look like this:
Follow the career plan that I set for my life? Not me.
Meet the guy in college? Not me.
Get married and have kids? Not me.
Have a house? Not me.
Lead in positions I've been offered? Not me.

This way of "Not me" thinking can translate to our conversations with God.
He provides an open door, but our response is "Not me. God, you don't mean to give that to me. You should give it to someone more qualified, more proven, more than...well...more than me." Or, "God, there's already other people doing this same thing and doing it well or doing it better. You don't mean me. You don't need me. Why would you need me to do it too?"

What we fail to realize is that each one of us will reach different people in our lives and through our lives. So, why me? It's simple, it's me because God said so. Why you? It's you because God said so. That's where the conversations starts and ends. It's not "why me," or "not me."

Understand that the purpose on your life (1) will only be completed by God in you and (2) that you must choose to remove the "not me" mentality and go for it!

You have to go for it even when you can't see where it's heading or what step to take. Stand against the "not me" statements and step forward into all that you are and all that you are called to do.