DIY: I’m a Nobody Going Nowhere

What is a DIY Study?
DIY studies are interactive Bible studies designed to help you build an engaging relationship with God. These studies will teach you to use various tools like podcasts and videos to engage with the Bible in a way that best fits your learning style.

These studies were originally created for teens, but can be helpful for anyone. Click here for a printable version of this study.

When we are insecure, it can be easy to feel like we are a “nobody going nowhere.”

We can look at the lives of the people around us and feel like everyone is going somewhere, is talented or smart or social, and that we are stuck and behind everyone else.

This study is meant to help us discover that God is the one who makes us a somebody going somewhere.

Listen

Listen to the song “6/10” by dodie. Pay attention to the lyrics and think about how you relate to them.

I feel like a six out of ten
I’ve gotta get up early tomorrow again
What goes on behind the words?
Is there pity for the plain girl?
Can you see the panic inside?
I’m making you uneasy, aren’t I?

“6/10” by dodie

Think about it

In “6/10”, dodie expresses how average she feels. Not the best, not the worst – just average. She feels like everyone is moving ahead in life without her, and no one wants to deal with her because she isn’t worth dealing with.

• Have you ever felt this way?
• Do you compare yourself to the people around you?
• What do you do with those emotions?

Read

The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. [3] Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, [4] camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys…

[11]Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. [12] The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”

Judges 6:2-4, 11-12 NLT

Think about it

Gideon was the epitome of someone feeling like a nobody going nowhere.

His people, the Israelites, were constantly under attack and taken captive by their oppressors, the Midianites. Every time they tried to get up, they were defeated. The day God spoke to him, Gideon was hiding, just trying to make food without getting attacked.

• Gideon was afraid, insecure, and trapped. So why do you think God still called him a mighty hero?
• God saw Gideon for who he could become, rather than who he was.

Key questions

• In what areas do you feel afraid, insecure, and trapped?
• How would you feel if God called you a hero in those areas you feel the weakest?

Read

“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The LORD brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

[15] “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

Judges 6:13,15 NLT

Think About It

• Gideon didn’t respond to God calling him a hero with excitement, but rather with doubt and fear.
• Gideon felt both inadequate in his own ability to lead and move forward, and cynical toward God’s ability/willingness to help him. He saw himself as weak and incapable, and God as abandoning and untrustworthy.
• These doubts and fears stopped him from moving forward and becoming who God was calling him to be.

Key Questions

• What doubts and insecurities do you have about yourself?
• What doubts and fears do you have about God and who he is?

Watch: Kayla talks to her dad (part 1)

In the movie, Eighth Grade, Kayla goes through all the insecurity and self-doubt that come with being a teenager.

In this scene with her dad, she expresses her fear and doubts that she will ever become anything more than what she is now. She’s down on herself and her abilities, and so is unable to see the amazing qualities and potential that her dad sees in her.

This is how God is with us. Even when we only see the worst of ourselves, he keeps believing us, parenting us, and pushing us to see who we are capable of becoming despite our weaknesses.

Read

Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” [16] The LORD said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

Judges 6:14, 16 NLT

Think About It

Even though God saw Gideon as a hero, he understood that Gideon didn’t feel that way. He didn’t expect him to be where he wasn’t, but told him to go with what he had.

The strength, or lack thereof, that Gideon had was enough because God would take care of the rest and help him become the hero he already knew he was.

• How is God trying to help you move forward to become who you’re meant to be?

Watch: Kayla talks to her dad (part 2)

The way Kayla’s dad feels about her is the way God feels about us. He loves us. He sees the strength we have even when we don’t, and wants to keep pushing us to who he knows we already are.

Read

So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

Romans 8:12 MSG

Think About It

Like Gideon, we don’t have to be trapped by fear and doubt that we’re nobodies going nowhere.

When we are honest about the fear and doubt that hold us back and choose to trust that God is on our side, we can finally become the heroes that God is calling us to be!

• What “things to do” and “places to go” is God calling you toward?

Write About It

What insecurities and doubts about yourself and God hold you back?

You can write a poem, song, spoken word, or even just use bullet points. Use this emotions chart to help you when you feel stuck.

If writing is difficult for you, you can draw out what you feel instead.

Review or Reflect

How does it make you feel to know that God loves you for you, and believes in you more than you might believe in yourself?

You can write a poem, song, spoken word, or even just use bullet points. Use this emotions chart to help you when you feel stuck.

If writing is difficult for you, you can draw out what you feel instead.

Listen

Sometimes it can feel difficult to use words to express what we feel, and we need help. Music is a great way to understand and express our emotions.

Listen to our “Insecure” and “lonely to homie” playlists to help you work through what you feel, along with our “Regret” playlist to help you see how free you can be with God.

Insecure:

lonely to homie:

Regret:

How to Start Praying

T.R.U.E. Prayer is an acronym that can help you start learning to pray.

• T = Thanksgiving
• R = Requests/Needs
• U = Uncovering Sin
• E = Emotions

Further Study

Bible Study:

• The rest of Gideon’s story: Judges 6-7
• Read Romans 8 in multiple translations to see how God loves you and has a purpose for you

Read the story of Esther:

• Take notes about how you see/relate to her insecurities about not being good enough or being capable of leading
• Write about how she saw God’s purpose for her and chose to follow it

Take action:

• Take an emotions chart and pray about what emotions come up when you think about yourself and your future.
• Find Scriptures about how God loves you for who you are and has a purpose for your life.
• You can look up keywords in BibleGateway or other Bible search sites to find these Scriptures. (some keywords – purpose, destiny, secure, innermost, etc)
• Tell a friend or family member about the insecurities you can have, and what purpose you think God is calling you toward. Ask them to help hold you accountable to move forward to achieve that purpose
• Based on your prayer and conversations, make a decision to take action toward the purpose God is calling you to have