Thank you @tatlersingapore and @gen.t_asia for the feature, as part of “presenting stories of trailblazing women from across the region,” in honour of Women’s History Month.
Whenever I speak about the power of defying your naysayers, I’m careful about the wrong turn it could take.
After all, behind every naysayer is often a well-intentioned heart.
Over the years, I’ve learnt- that defying your naysayers isn’t a finger-wagging “see-I-told-you-so-I-succeeded-without-you” kind of recklessness or pride. The point isn’t about overturning authority.
Rather, it’s about rightly discerning the HIGHER authority in our lives and being 100% obedient to that.
Over coffee, my interviewer laughed, “Wow, you have a history of not taking advice,” which is true, but only partly.
Yes, my dad first objected to my going to Nepal. I was told publishing “Kitesong” to raise funds was foolish. I was told to break up with Cliff unless I wanted to be a young widow. I was told that pursuing a calligraphy exhibition to raise funds would be a disaster because it would bleed us dry financially.
I defied the naysayers not because I knew better, not because it felt good going against the authority figures in my life who loved me. It was because in those unusual instances, I discerned a higher authority beckoning me to take a greater risk, for the purpose of fulfilling a deeper obedience, a more complete submission.
Exodus 1:17 says, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”
By defying earthly authority, the Hebrew midwives put their own lives at risk, but in obeying a higher authority, they saved an entire generation and changed the course of history. History!
When it comes to discerning rightly, the stakes are high. What will it take for you to go against the naysayers to fulfill His dreams for your life?
For full interview, visit this link 💛
👗: @sansandsans
🌈: @ourheartbeads
📸：Sarah Martin Photography