Why We Need to Stop Worrying About Being Vulnerable

Lauren staring over The Great Wall of China

"Oh no, what have I done? What will people think?”

These vulnerable questions fill my mind many mornings as I wake up to start a new day.

Writing has given me a new level of vulnerability. Every time I hit send on a new blog post, I feel the need to run far away and disappear off the grid for a while. Luckily, I’ve resisted the urge. When my book comes out, I’ll probably just head to Mexico or somewhere remote.

Vulnerability exposes the good, the bad, and the ugly about ourselves. We run from it because not only does it expose us, it also leaves us wide open for other people to hurt us.

Here are three things we have to remember when we struggle with vulnerability:

1. No One Cares.

That may sound harsh, but it’s true.

Nobody is ever thinking about me as much as I think that they are. I have to get over myself and my selfish thoughts.

Opening up and being vulnerable, can seem stressful and scary. I get that, but the people that walk through your door or sit face-to-face with you at a coffee shop are more concerned about their own shoe choice or what their children at home are doing. These people are not having deep thoughts about you other than being thankful that you took time to be with them.

2. People long for the type of community that comes through vulnerability.

Our next door neighbors moved recently, and I cried. That may seem normal, but we only lived next door to this family for nine months. Christy B. Wright once said that her feelings have feelings, and that would be how I describe myself as well. I had to stop watching This is Us because I didn’t need any more emotions brought into my life.

I cried over our short-lived next door neighbors because they opened up to us. They were vulnerable. I trusted them with our kids. Their entire family showed up on our doorstep with brownies the day we moved in.

They could have strayed from awkward conversations and hid in their home for days before meeting us, but they didn’t. Our new neighbors have embraced us and welcomed us into their lives, and I needed their vulnerability more than they will ever understand.

Being vulnerable can provide a sense of community to someone who desperately needs it.

3. It shows how much we need God.

Let’s be honest. This reason is the best.

Being vulnerable leaves us exposed. It’s our testimony to the world of how much we need a God that cleans us up and makes beauty out of our messes. It humbles us and highlights Him.

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:5

I’m learning to take my thoughts captive on mornings when I wake up questioning my vulnerability. I simply pray for God to lead my thoughts that day. Then, I remain vulnerable and write a blog about it, because I want you to know that you are not alone in your vulnerable thoughts.

We can be vulnerable when we remember that it's not about us. It’s about loving the people around us because of a God who doesn’t need us but wants to bring hope into the world through our vulnerability regardless of how unfit we feel.

God shines through our vulnerability.

Who in your life could benefit from your vulnerability? Be vulnerable.