And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9b-13)

Did you notice that He asked him this question two times.

He asked him the first time, then told him to go out and stand on the mountain, passed by, and then he asked the question a second time.  God was not asking for the man’s physical location.  He was asking why he was in that particular state of mind.

“What are you doing here?”

Do you have insecurities? Do you deal with fears?

Does the enemy overwhelm you with shame, guilt, anxiety, or worry?

Do you tell God that you don’t need Him?  Is there a chance that you don’t tell Him this with your words, but your actions say otherwise?

This is a good time for an assessment!

You may ask, “Why should I assess my insecurities?” Why should I ask, “What do I fear?  Am I living with shame or pride?” My answer is simple, “You can’t get where you want to go, if you don’t know where you are!”

Imagine walking into an unfamiliar mall with the hopes of buying a pair of shoes at your favorite shoe store. Where do you start your search? Obviously, you will be seeking out signage and/or the map with the layout of the mall.

In this case, you pull up to the mall map and you find the shoe store at which you desire to shop. There is one extremely small detail missing on the map, though. You don’t see a pin drop for where you are currently located. Where in the world is the “You Are Here” symbol? This is ridiculous!

Good news! You are smarter than the map. You start surveying the stores that are within close proximity, and you find them on the map. This allows you to narrow down your location, and then you follow from there to where you want to go.

This is what it means to Assess Your Insecurities. You must take a survey of your life, and then you will know how to get where you want to go. We want to be free from the burdens of fear, pride, and shame! We want to have Jesus take them from us. However, we need to know the burdens, so that we can hand them over.

Assessment is a crucial piece of the journey to a Burden Less life, and you can walk through this in the second section of 21 Days to AYM. Remember, Jesus wants to take our burdens upon himself.

Where are you? It’s time to survey the land, read the signs, and align your mind to the mind of Christ!