Taking Your Gifts Out of Hiding

The World’s Definition of Success

From a young age, we’re conditioned to believe that our talents and gifts only matter if they fit a certain mold. Society teaches us that success looks like titles, accolades, praise, and the perfect plan. So we start chasing things that check the boxes, moving with urgency to meet expectations that were never really ours.

The world defines success as wealth, status, and popularity—favorable outcomes we are taught to pursue. And without even realizing it, we internalize that definition. We chase careers, relationships, and goals, hoping they’ll bring fulfillment. But when they don’t work out as imagined, we blame ourselves. We start to feel behind. Like we missed something. Like we’re not enough.

Under the weight of pressure, we reach for comfort.

After enough setbacks, the easy route feels safer. We tell ourselves we’re just being practical, that stability matters more than joy. And maybe, for a while, it does. But eventually, comfort turns into complacency. We fade into the background of lives we were once excited to live. We settle into roles we never wanted, convincing ourselves that maybe we just weren’t built for more.

And perhaps the real issue isn’t just our choices, but the system itself. What if it was never built with people like us in mind? What if the standards we measure ourselves by were never designed with our wholeness at heart?

I had to ask myself those questions. I had to step back and realize the script I was following didn’t feel like mine. As a little girl, I had big dreams and an even bigger imagination. I envisioned the life I wanted and the people who would walk with me in it. But real life reminded me that not everyone sees the world the same way. Not everyone moves with the same faith. So I started shrinking. I chose predictability over purpose. I chased control instead of calling.

Then one day, I had to pause and ask, what exactly am I running toward? And more importantly, what do I think I need to prove?

That’s when everything shifted.

I stopped asking what success looked like to the world and started asking what success looked like to God. I asked myself what I was truly good at, not just by talent, but by design. What had God placed inside me that I kept ignoring?

I stopped writing my own script and started aligning with the one God had already written. And I found that my gifts didn’t need a title to be valid. They didn’t need approval to be valuable. They didn’t need to be perfect to be powerful. No failure could take them away, and no applause could add to what God already placed inside me.

Still, we’ve been taught to keep our gifts small. To only show up when we’re sure we’ll succeed. To only try if we know we won’t fall. But that’s not how God designed us. And yes, stepping out in faith is hard. But it’s worth it. Because when we move in our gifts, we make space—not just for ourselves, but for others who’ve been told they’re too much or not enough. It’s not about being seen. It’s about being in alignment.

Proverbs says a person’s gifts will make room for them. That truth gave me peace. It reminded me that I don’t have to force doors open. I just have to walk in what God gave me and trust Him to do the rest.

Success doesn’t look like fame or recognition. It looks like obedience. It’s knowing you followed God’s plan even when it didn’t make sense to anyone else. It’s walking forward with what you’ve been given, even when you feel overlooked or unsure. It’s trusting that what God starts, He finishes.

You may not have all the answers right now. You may not even see the full picture. But trust that God is painting something bigger than you can imagine. And even when the journey feels uncertain, He reminds us that with Him, all things are possible.

So if you’ve been holding your gifts back, trying to blend in or play it safe, let this be your reminder. You weren’t created to settle. You weren’t created to conform. You were created to walk in purpose, even when the path isn’t clear.

You don’t have to wait to be qualified. You don’t have to wait to be understood. What God placed inside of you is enough.

So ask yourself, am I chasing the world’s version of success or God’s?

Because the moment you start walking in alignment with Him, everything changes.

Your gifts were never meant to stay hidden. The world and the Kingdom need what you carry.