Vulnerability - The Dread of Exposure

Daring to be vulnerable is risky and allows for failure so it takes courage.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat” Theodore Roosevelt "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

Sadly so many of us pursue certainty and control when real freedom, joy and a sense of purpose become realized in being vulnerable through trusting God. Facing vulnerability is giving up the need for certainty and control. When we embrace the risk of failure by being vulnerable life can be obscure and uncertain as we lean not on our own understanding. How we accept vulnerability determines wether or not we live a life of maturing transformation or one of stagnate isolation. When our choices become a management lifestyle engaging vulnerability dies.

A controlling person that evades vulnerability seeks a predetermined environment by;

Keeping the unexpected at a controlled and safe distance.

Always have a planned exit strategy from exposed vulnerability.

Seeks certainty through probing questions before venturing into vulnerability.

In my experiences of vulnerability and unsureness I stumbled and fell and will again, but during the process and it is a process I have learned in my vulnerability (weakness) I am strong through Christ. Life’s knocks can teach us to hone our avoidance skills to vulnerability or we can chose to grow through exposure of them. My decision to trust God did not stem from self-confidence or some achieved level of knowledge but rather from allowing myself to become vulnerable believing God would be true to His word; faith. At each exposure God proved reliable. The validity of leaning not on my own understanding and control proved at least to me to accept, greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world”

The quote all men die but not all men really live” is really describing vulnerability but some of us avoid any scenario that might produce anxiety relating to vulnerability. Yet we too often lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy, creativity and authenticity. Stepping into vulnerability is a choice we consciously chose or run from. It is a process. Though being vulnerable by trusting God is difficult yet how rewarding to hear the words, well done good and faithful servant”

I feel what we need is a “spiritual awakening” an awakening to how God views us and what He says of us as we step into vulnerability rather than fearing the risk which so often define us. Take the risk and step out, step into vulnerability, trust that God will be there as He say’s He will. In so doing experience the exhilaration of life; never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat”

~ Michael Smith