After spending years in the trenches building a business that started off slow and then took off like a rocket, I looked up one day surrounded by new hires, complex processes, new demands for additional growth, and, most importantly, a group of people looking to me to lead them. I found myself in meetings with high-profile leaders who ran other divisions of the company, and I was expected to know what I was talking about when it came to my business.
Those new demands, regardless of my past success, suddenly had me second-guessing myself and my ability to lead the business into the future.
This is a psychological phenomenon called imposter syndrome. It’s the persistent sense that you don’t belong where you are, that sooner or later the people around you will discover you’re not really as capable as it seems. Maybe they’ll realize they hired the wrong person. Maybe you were never supposed to be in this role at all.
And impostor syndrome doesn’t just apply to business. I meet many parents who suddenly find themselves in the thick of raising children with increasingly complex challenges. They start asking the same quiet questions: Am I really cut out for this? Can I be a good parent when I’ve never done this before?
Moses: a man who should have been confident
There’s a central figure in the Old Testament named Moses who may be one of the clearest examples of impostor syndrome in all of Scripture.
On paper, Moses had every reason to be confident.
As a Hebrew baby born under a death sentence, he was placed in a basket and set afloat on the Nile—only to be discovered and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, a member of Egypt’s ruling family. Moses was raised in the palace, surrounded by power, wealth, education, and influence. He would have been trained in leadership, governance, communication, and strategy. He knew how the most powerful empire in the world actually worked, from the inside.
If anyone had the resume to confront Pharaoh and lead a nation, it was Moses.
The hidden fractures in Moses’ story
But Moses also carried deep wounds and failures.
As a young man, he witnessed the oppression of his own people and responded not with strategy or leadership, but with violence – killing an Egyptian and burying the body in the sand. When the act became known, Moses fled Egypt in fear. He spent the next forty years in obscurity as a shepherd in Midian, far removed from the palace life that once defined him.
By the time God spoke to him from the burning bush in the Book of Exodus, Moses no longer saw himself as a leader. He saw himself as disqualified: too old, too removed, too broken by past mistakes.
What Moses said about himself
When God asked Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt, Moses responded exactly the way someone struggling with impostor syndrome would respond.
He said:
- “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”
- “What if they don’t believe me or listen to me?”
- “I am not eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- “Please send someone else.”
These weren’t abstract theological objections. They were deeply personal doubts. Moses didn’t argue about whether God could do it – he argued about whether he could.
Despite his education, background, and calling, Moses fixated on his shortcomings:
- His past failure
- His perceived lack of ability
- His fear of being exposed
- His belief that someone else would be better
That is impostor syndrome in its rawest form.
What God does (and does not) remove
Moses is a powerful reminder that impostor syndrome is both timeless and present even in the most accomplished people. Our anxious minds will always find a way to use our shortcomings to produce feelings of doubt, inadequacy, and fear.
What I’ve learned, and what Moses’ story confirms, is that God does not always remove our doubts. Instead, He comes alongside us and reminds us that if He calls us to do something, He will be faithful to provide the strength, ability, wisdom, and support required to accomplish it.
God didn’t tell Moses, “You’re actually amazing.”
He told him, “I will be with you.”
That distinction matters.
Living this truth moment by moment
Scripture tells us that “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” If God initiates the work by calling you into something – whether leadership, parenting, creation, or service – you can trust that He will be present in each moment needed to carry it forward.
My experience has been that this faithfulness shows up moment by moment, not all at once. When I stay focused on the task directly in front of me, anxiety loosens its grip. When I get lost in over-planning the future or replaying past mistakes, momentum slows, anxiety increases, and impostor syndrome finds fertile ground.
My anxiety decreases significantly when I remember that I don’t have to carry everything myself. God surrounds me with the people I need, gives me just enough strength for today, and carries the weight I was never meant to hold alone.
Moses never became confident in himself, but he learned to move forward anyway, trusting the presence of God more than the accusations of his own mind.
Next Steps
If impostor syndrome resonates with you – if you often feel the weight of responsibility, self-doubt, or the sense that you’re carrying more than you were meant to- 31 Meditations for the Anxious Mind was written for moments like this.
This isn’t a guide about fixing yourself or forcing confidence. It’s a simple, daily rhythm designed to help you slow your thoughts, ground yourself in truth, and remember that you don’t walk through anxiety alone. Each meditation offers space to breathe, reflect, and gently return to the present moment—where God’s presence is already enough.
If Moses teaches us anything, it’s that calling and confidence are not the same thing. God often meets us not after our fears are resolved, but right in the middle of them.
If you’re looking for a companion you can return to each day, especially when doubt feels loud, 31 Meditations for the Anxious Mind is available now. You can move through it at your own pace, one day at a time, trusting that the work God began in you is still unfolding.
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