Shy Genes

I've often wondered why I couldn't have gotten just a few more of the outgoing genes that my brother was so generously blessed with.  It seems strange, and sometimes frustrating, that I should have been so shy for a good part of my life, while Dan doesn't seem to have a shy bone in his body.  My sister, Laura, was shy as a young child, too, but she overcame much of her shyness earlier than I did.

I suspect that the explanation is simple, at least on the surface:  we have one parent who is, by nature, rather outgoing, and one who has always been more of an introvert.  It's all in the genes.

genes : Digital illustration of dna in color background

Do you ever wonder why God makes us so different from each other?  How would it be if everyone was extroverted?  Would everyone want to be in charge? On the other hand, if everyone were introverted, would people be able to communicate effectively with each other?

It definitely takes a variety of personalities to make the people in our world work well together.  Because of our differences, we are forced to work together to help each other.  One person's strengths compensate for another person's weaknesses.  We all have something to offer to the people around us, because God gives each of us good gifts that he wants us to share with each other.

I find that people who are self-assured in everything they do are not always likely to realize just how much they need God.  And people who lack self-confidence may not realize how much they need God's help to accomplish the important things God wants them to do.  So, I guess a person's inherent self-confidence doesn't really matter in the whole scheme of things.  What really matters is our level of God-confidence.  We all really need God.  The question is, how much do we want him in our lives?

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  2 Corinthians 3: 4-5

 It has taken me a long time to see that God wants me to trust in him even for the things that I know I can't do on my own.  When I trust him to help me do the things he wants me to do, most of my natural shyness goes away, because I'm learning that I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.  Philippians 4: 13


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