Have you ever walked into a room and thought, "I don't belong here"? Maybe nobody else knew it. Maybe you smiled, you shook hands, you made conversation, you looked confident. But inside, inside, you were wondering if someone was about to discover that you were not as capable as they thought. It is a strange feeling. Um, you spend years working hard to get where you are. Then when you actually finally get there, you wonder if somebody made a mistake. You know, maybe you've been there. Maybe you got the promotion, you landed the job, you started the business, you led the meeting, or you stood behind the microphone. And instead of feeling confident, you actually feel exposed, like you're one question away from everyone realizing, "I have no idea what I'm doing here." Can I let you in on a secret? And go ahead, go ahead, pull your ear up close to the, to the speaker here, just between, just between you and me. Here's the secret: almost everyone feels that way at some point. The people you admire, the leaders you respect, the business owners, the teachers, the pastors, the parents, the people who seem like they have it all together, many of them are quietly asking the same question: "What if they find out I'm not enough?" But maybe, just maybe, they're asking the wrong question, and that's what I wanna talk to you about today. Welcome to Pilot Light. I am your host, Josh. You know, most people are not looking for another self-help podcast. They are looking for a reminder. A reminder of who they are, a reminder of what truly matters, a reminder that their story is not over. So wherever you're listening from, whether you're driving home after pretending you understood every word in that meeting, or standing in Costco wondering how you came in for toothpaste and somehow have a kayak in your cart, or you're trying to assemble furniture while pretending you don't need the instructions, or you're just sitting in your driveway because you're not quite ready to go inside yet, I am really glad you're here. So let's light the pilot light You know, I've walked into a lot of new rooms in my life, new jobs, new leadership positions, new responsibilities, new seasons, and every time there is a moment, a quiet moment, where I look around and I think, "These people seem like they know exactly what they're doing." Then I look at myself and I think, "I hope nobody notices I'm still trying to figure this all out." Does that sound familiar? I used to think that feeling meant that I wasn't ready, that somehow confidence was supposed to arrive before responsibility. But life has taught me something different. Confidence usually comes after obedience, not before it. When I started at juvenile court, there were moments I felt completely overwhelmed. Here I am coming into a new job where, uh, the person I am replacing is retiring, and they were a lifetime achievement award winner. Now, I was coming from a different industry, so coming from dental and the healthcare side and eighteen years and, and knowing what I was talking about, to this completely different place where there's different laws, different systems, different terminology, different responsibilities, acronyms I couldn't understand, and grants and all these different things that I'm trying to figure out, and I felt overwhelmed in that moment, like, "What room did I just walk into?" And there were days that I had to remind myself, "You don't have to know everything today. You just have to keep learning today." That simple thought changed everything because I realized being new doesn't make you an imposter. It makes you new. You know, there's one day that I realized something, that the voice accusing me wasn't asking, "Are you growing?" No. It was asking, "Are you perfect?" And those are two completely different questions. Growth, you see, allows for mistakes. Perfection does not. Growth expects learning. Perfection demands performance. One produces freedom, the other produces fear. I wasn't struggling because I lacked ability. I was struggling because I thought I needed to arrive before I was allowed to begin. So here's our big idea for today. Here's what I've learned. Most high achievers don't suffer from a lack of competence. They suffer from a misplaced source of confidence. I want you to think about that. If your confidence comes from knowing everything, you will always feel insecure because you're never gonna know everything. Just, uh, sorry to break it to some of you out there that think you know everything, you're, you're, you're not, okay? It... There's gonna be something that you don't know, and, uh, just Google it, okay? But if your confidence comes from never making mistakes, guess what? You're gonna always be anxious because you're gonna make mistakes. And if your confidence comes from always succeeding, you're gonna live under a tremendous amount of pressure because success is never guaranteed. Real confidence doesn't come from believing you'll never fail. It comes from believing failure does not define you, and that's a completely different foundation. So here's my first point today. Growth feels like incompetence. Have you ever noticed how awkward growth feels? Just think back. The first day at a new job, the first time you had to speak in public, the first workout after months away, the first parenting mistake that you made, the first leadership decision. Everything feels uncomfortable in those moments, and because it feels uncomfortable, we assume something has to be wrong But maybe nothing is wrong. Maybe you're just growing. The discomfort isn't evidence that you're in the wrong place. It may be evidence that you're stretching into the right one. So let's go to our second point today. We mistake experience for inadequacy. There's a huge difference between being inexperienced and being incapable. Inexperience can change. Capability grows. Character develops. Wisdom accumulates. But if you label yourself as inadequate, you stop giving yourself permission to grow. You quit too stu- too soon. You stay small. You let fear become your identity. Don't confuse today's experience level with tomorrow's potential. Write that thing down right there, okay? Don't confuse today's experience level with tomorrow's potential. Here's my third point, and it's one of my favorite points here, is that God calls people before they even feel ready. One of my favorite patterns in scripture is this: God almost never calls someone who says, "Hey, hey, God, I got this. I g- I, I got this." I, I don't... In fact, I look through scripture, there's no one who's sitting there saying that. In fact, you look at the main people in all of scripture, starting, like, with Moses. Moses says, "I can't speak." Gideon says, "I'm the least." Jeremiah says, "I'm too young." Peter says, "I'm a sinner." Again and again and again, God calls people who feel unqualified. Why? Because God isn't looking for polished. He's looking for willing. And maybe the reason why you feel unqualified is because you're standing exactly where growth begins. Can I ask you something? Where do you feel like you're an imposter? At work? As a parent? Maybe in your marriage or in leadership or in your faith. What room makes you question yourself? Now let me ask you a second question. Who told you that feeling uncertain means you don't belong? Because those are not the same thing. Maybe you're not an imposter. Maybe you're simply becoming. So here's my challenge to you. This week, I want you to notice every time you hear yourself say, "I'm not ready," then ask a different question. Ready according to who? Because sometimes we're waiting for confidence when what we really need is courage. Take one step you've been avoiding, not because you're fearless, but because growth is waiting on the other side. So in closing, I've discovered something about people I respect most. They don't have fewer doubts. They've just stopped letting doubt make their decisions. They still get nervous. They still ask questions. They still wonder if they, they are enough sometimes, but they move anyway. They learn anyway. They grow anyway because they know something. Nobody starts as an expert. Nobody begins completely confident. Everybody starts somewhere. And maybe today, instead of trying to prove you belong, you simply give yourself permission to grow. Because you're not called to know everything. You're called to faithfully take the next step Ah, that's good stuff there. All right. Well, thanks for spending a few moments with me today. If this conversation reminded you of someone who's questioning themselves, pass the flame. You never know how one encouraging word might change someone's direction. And remember, see farther, live deeper, become who you were created to be. You were created to be a fire, not just a flicker. Keep the pilot light on, and I'll see you next time