As someone who desires to share new ideas and change the world; as someone who believes in the Christian faith and wants to share my faith with others; as someone who wants to be a leader and influencer, I often feel inadequate. I feel like I am waiting for the curtain to drop and the whole world to realize how little I know about anything and everything. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.
When I expose myself to folks who are well trained and researched in specific areas of learning, I am often blown away by how much there is to learn. I often feel like someone has opened a water hose of information for me to drink from, as I feverishly try to take in all the stuff that I did not previously know. To be honest, this leaves me feeling defeated at times, as it chips away at any confidence I previously held. Where I once thought I had solid answers, I am left to wrestle with newly discovered doubts; I am left to wrestle with truth when I realize that some issues are not as black and white as I had originally thought; and I am left with uncertainty because I end up with more questions than I have answers.
As I reason through these feelings of insecurity, I realize that everyone is in the same boat. We all have more questions than answers. Every parent wishes their child hade come home from the hospital with an instruction manual. Every spouse wishes they had a full time interpreter for their partner. Every teacher wishes they knew how to better engage all their students. We all have questions where we are lacking answers.
While there are definitely smarter, better educated, better trained, and more articulate people than myself, I do not have to be afraid to engage the world around me. It is okay to make mistakes, it is okay to be wrong, and it is okay to have questions. As I seek to share ideas, pass on my faith, and try to lead and influence others, I do not have to know everything. The pursuit of knowledge and truth partnered with the free exchange of ideas is a beautiful thing. It affords all of us the opportunity to be student and teacher at the same time. From time to time when I am overwhelmed by my ignorance and intimidated by others, I have to remind myself that it is okay not to have all the answers, because no one has all the answers.