Reaching into the pocket of my black trench coat, my fingers meandered around a train ticket and a damp umbrella to find my Oyster card before reaching the automatic barriers in the London Underground. Pulling the plastic card out, I quickly placed it on the yellow reader awaiting the ding and digital message granting access through to the next platform.

Instead, a message appeared in bright red letters. I looked up and watched H’s silhouette become smaller as he walked further into the tunnel dragging our suitcases among throngs of people.

Suddenly, a British voice in my right ear jolts my confusion into awareness by saying, “The door is open to you, what is the problem Miss?”

Concerned about the accuracy of my skills navigating public transportation in a new culture, I was focused on getting it right, oblivious that the doors were already open for me to pass through them.

While you are sidetracked by following the crowd, looking for approval from the masses, God is saying I’ve opened the doors and given you access by my Holy Spirit. You already possess what you need to walk toward your destiny and flourish on the journey.

Walk with confidence in your value and away from perfecting the mold you think the world is waiting for you to fit in to.

Trust Him with your instincts and lessons learned in brokenness and the whole world is a giant door knob of possibility waiting to be opened.

Standing at a slant on the platform with bags weighing down my shoulder, a young girl with pistachio colored long locks and red lips stands beside us chatting with a girlfriend. Two young sisters skip passed in long velvet dresses. They stop and smile as if saying, Look at my unhindered exuberance in which God has made me.

As I take my seat on the train and listen to a myriad of conversations in different languages, I hear the still small voice echoing above the chaos. What you assume you are fingering in your pocket to be pennies are actually gold coins of priceless influence in the way He made you.

The sign reads Mind the Gap and the voice whispers, Surrender. The difference between a disciple and a crowd follower is the ability to say yes to Jesus without caveats or the fear of outcomes.

I don’t want to shortchange myself. You?

This post is inspired by Kay Warren when I heard her speak in the Royal Albert Hall for the HTB Leadership Conference this week.