Hey Unapologetic family! Welcome back to UnapologeticallyCaged.com. Thank you so much for logging on and investing your time in today’s Rising Gem. Your support means the world to me, and I do not take a single click, a single read, or a single moment of your presence here for granted. You all are exactly why I show up every single time.
Today we are going deep. We are talking about fear. We are talking about anxiety. We are talking about adversity and what it truly means to face it head-on when everything inside you is screaming to run. And most importantly, we are going to talk about what happens when you choose to stay anyway when you plant your feet, grab hold of your faith, and step into the moment God has been preparing you for all along.
This is not a motivational speech from someone who has it all figured out. This is a testimony from a woman still in the middle of her story, writing to you from behind these walls, with two children who are my heartbeat and a God who has not finished with me yet. If you are struggling with self-doubt, battling anxiety, or questioning whether your purpose is still reachable from where you are standing right now this one is for you.
How Self-Doubt and Fear of Failure Try to Block Your Purpose
Let me ask you something honest. How many of you have been faced with a challenge so intimidating that you asked yourself, “Can I even do this?” How many of you have felt God calling you toward something a dream, a vision, a next step and allowed fear of failure to keep you exactly where you were? How many times has self-doubt convinced you to stay silent, stay small, stay safe, when everything in your spirit was pushing you forward?
I know that feeling. I have lived inside it. And I have come to learn something important: those voices the ones whispering that you are not enough, not ready, not qualified they do not come from a place of love. They do not come from the God who designed you, who already saw your finished story before you lived a single chapter of it. Those spirits that attack your self-worth and choke your confidence come from a place of darkness. They come from the one force in this universe that does not want to see you rise especially when your rising is going to benefit, heal, or inspire someone else.
Recognizing the Difference Between God’s Voice and Fear’s Voice
God’s voice will challenge you, stretch you, even terrify you but it will always lead you toward growth, purpose, and love. Fear’s voice will shrink you, isolate you, and keep you in a loop of “what if I fail” that never moves. Learning to tell the difference is one of the most powerful tools you can develop on your journey toward purpose. When the calling is real and the mission is good, expect resistance. Expect the enemy to show up loud. But also expect God to show up louder.
“The enemy only fights what threatens him. If your purpose wasn’t powerful, fear wouldn’t work so hard to stop you.”
How Adversity During Preparation Became My Breakthrough
Let me take you into my world. Here, inside these walls, opportunities to shine are rare. But God has a way of creating stages in the most unexpected places. This past Black History Month, I was chosen to help organize and participate in our compound’s Black History Month program. And when I say the road to get there was rough I mean three weeks of stress, conflict, confusion, and moments where I genuinely wanted to quit.
When the Plan Falls Apart: Choosing Solutions Over Surrender
The original concept the ladies came up with was a podcast-style skit. It sounded promising until rehearsal. Every session dissolved into overlapping conversation, no structure, no order, no direction. It was chaos. And I will be honest with you: there came a point where I seriously considered backing out entirely. The anxiety of continuing something so disorganized felt heavier than the regret of walking away.
But then I felt it. That nudge from God. The reminder that He did not put that fire in me to join this program just for me to abandon it because of a setback that could be solved. He did not bring me into this moment to leave me floundering in it. And I chose to hold on.
One God-Given Idea Can Change Everything
On Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 our final rehearsal before the event only two of us showed up on time: me and my friend Key. The compound had been locked down. It was also my canteen day. Every circumstance was stacking against us. Anxiety was knocking hard.
But in that quiet moment of waiting, God gave me an idea. Instead of the podcast, we would reframe the entire skit as a family reunion. Our organizer, Fyre, immediately built on it and named it “Black 2 the Future Family Reunion.” That one decision changed everything. When the rest of the team finally arrived, the pieces that had refused to come together for three weeks fell into place in a single afternoon. We made more progress in one day than we had made in twenty-one days combined.
That is what happens when you stop trying to force your plan and make room for God’s idea. That is what overcoming adversity with faith actually looks like not a dramatic miracle, but a quiet pivot that unlocks everything.
“God doesn’t always give you the full map. Sometimes He gives you the next step. Your job is to take it.”
Showing Up With Stage Fright, Low Blood Pressure, and Crazy Faith
I will not pretend the night before the event was peaceful. I tossed and turned. My mind rehearsed every possible disaster. Anxiety has this cruel way of taking your greatest upcoming victories and turning them into something to be dreaded. I prayed. Not for perfection but for order. Not for flawlessness but for purpose. I asked God to let His will be done through us, and then I tried to rest.
What It Looks Like to Face Your Fear of Public Speaking
The day came. I was okay until I saw the line.
The line was wrapped around the chapel. We were sold out. Standing there looking at all those people waiting to come in, I felt the sweat start. My heart was racing. My blood pressure, which runs low, was already warning me. I turned to the ladies and said, “We are sold out, y’all! There is no room for mistakes. We have to show up and kill it.”
And we did. We absolutely showed out.
Representing Haitian Culture on Stage: Identity, Pride, and Purpose
When my part came, I stepped forward to represent my Haitian culture with everything I had. My auntie Kita that is her stage name came up and playfully asked what I was doing on my tablet. I said I was texting my boyfriend, Jean Paul. The crowd groaned. The ice broke. The audience was with us.
From there, I transitioned into reading about the Haitian Revolutionary War the history, the significance, the blood and sacrifice of our ancestors. Then I recited the original poem I had written, weaving together the story of the revolution and our beloved soup joumou, the dish Haitian people share every January first as a sacred memory of independence. Every word came from the deepest part of my identity.
But I was shaking. I have not conquered my fear of public speaking. I knew going into that moment that my legs might give. I knew there was a real chance I could pass out from low blood pressure under the weight of all those eyes. And even with what felt like sweat dripping through my eyes, I did not stop. I did not shrink. I kept going.
Why I Kept Going Even When My Body Wanted to Quit
Because God has given me a vision. A vision that one day I will stand before large congregations of people not as a prisoner, not as a woman defined by her worst moment but as a messenger with something life-changing to say. If that is the promise He has placed inside of me, then He will also supply every tool, every emotion, and every ounce of strength I need to get there. You do not receive a promise without being given what you need to walk toward it. But you have to walk.
“You don’t overcome the fear first and then step out. You step out, and the fear loses its grip as you move.”
What Happens When You Push Through: The Power of Being Seen
After the event, something remarkable happened. People came to me women, staff, strangers with words that I still carry:
- “That was amazing.”
- “We didn’t even know you were Haitian.”
- “The projection of your voice is beautiful.”
- “We saw you grab that plate to fan yourself are you okay?”
- “It looked like you were about to pass out, but you kept going.”
That last one made me laugh and then it made me reflect. Because yes, I almost passed out. I fanned myself with a plate like my grandmother fanning herself in the August heat. And none of that stopped what God had ordained for that moment to be. The vulnerability was part of the testimony. People saw a woman shaking and still speaking, still delivering, still representing and something in that reached them.
Being recognized in a place where recognition does not come easily reminded me of something I need to say clearly: this moment, as significant as it felt, is not even one-twelfth of what God has in store for me. As Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church has said, we have not even seen anything yet. I claim that. I claim it for myself and I claim it for every empress reading these words right now.
Crazy Faith: The Key to Unlocking Your God-Given Purpose
Empresses, I need you to understand something about crazy faith. It is not the feeling you get when fear disappears and everything seems safe. That is not faith — that is just comfort. Crazy faith is trembling and moving forward anyway. It is the decision to act on the calling before the confirmation arrives. It is believing in the vision even when the circumstances around you look like everything is going wrong.
Practical Examples of Stepping Out on Faith
Maybe crazy faith looks like this for you:
- Applying for the dream job even when every voice inside says you won’t get it apply anyway.
- Leaving the relationship that is destroying your mental and emotional health, even when you’re terrified about finances trust that God will provide for the woman who chooses herself.
- Walking away from the high-paying job that is costing you your children and your peace believe that God can rearrange employment and provision in ways no budget can predict.
- Starting that business, that ministry, that blog, that creative project even from inside a situation that does not look like a launching pad.
As Pastor Michael Todd taught, you must see the vision God has placed in you but you must also see the Creator who gave it to you. The God who spoke galaxies into existence, who breathed life into dust and called it human, that same God looked at you and said, “I have a plan for her.” If He can create the entire universe, He can absolutely get you through the thing He already equipped you to do.
Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Doubt Through Spiritual Discipline
The battle against anxiety and self-doubt is not won in one moment of bravery. It is won daily, in the quiet, consistent choices you make to protect your peace and feed your purpose. Here is what has helped me:
- Daily prayer even when the words are messy and uncertain.
- Scripture as a foundation not as religion, but as truth to anchor your identity.
- Community surrounding yourself with women who call out your greatness, not your limitations.
- Praise in the waiting worshiping God even when you cannot see any evidence that things are moving, because faith is the evidence of things not yet seen.
“Only God can make an introvert stand before a sold-out room and project her voice with power and beauty.”
Eat. Grow. Jive. – Your Daily Dose of Inspiration
I want to close today’s Rising Gem with a truth I carry every single day. God will sometimes give you more than you think you can handle not to break you, but because He wants you to depend on Him for the things you would never reach for on your own. He places you in situations beyond your natural capacity because that is where He gets the glory and you get the growth.
Only God can take a three-week disaster of a rehearsal and turn it into a masterpiece in one afternoon. Only God can use a woman writing from behind concrete walls to reach a young woman on the outside who needed to hear exactly this message today. If you are reading this and wondering whether your purpose is still accessible from where you are standing the answer is yes. It has always been yes.
Your Action Steps This Week
- Eat: Feed your spirit with daily time in the Word. Even five minutes. Even one verse. Feed it something good.
- Grow: Water yourself with positivity. Unfollow what shrinks you. Follow what stretches you toward who God designed you to be.
- Jive: Enjoy your life imperfect, in-progress, and in the hands of a God who is always working, even in the silence.
Seek His face. Ask in prayer. Be patient. And when your moment comes and your knees are shaking and the room is full and every voice in your head is telling you to turn back step out on crazy faith. Let the sweat come. Let the nerves come. Let the imperfect, God-ordained, unapologetically real version of you show up and show out. Because the world needs exactly what only you were made to say.
I love you, empresses. See you on the next Rising Gem.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I overcome fear and anxiety when pursuing my purpose?
Start by recognizing that fear is not evidence that you are in the wrong place it is often evidence that you are on the edge of something significant. Use prayer, community, and daily spiritual discipline to build resilience. Take one small step of obedience at a time, and let each step build your confidence for the next.
What does ‘crazy faith’ mean and how do I develop it?
Crazy faith means acting on what God has placed in your heart before all the evidence or resources are visible. You develop it by practicing small acts of trust choosing belief over fear in everyday moments until stepping out becomes your natural response to God’s call.
Can I find my purpose from a difficult or challenging life situation?
Absolutely. Some of the most powerful callings are forged in the hardest circumstances. Adversity does not disqualify you from purpose it often refines and sharpens it. Your story, including its most painful chapters, is exactly what someone else needs to hear.
How do I deal with self-doubt as a woman trying to grow and succeed?
Self-doubt is most powerful in silence and isolation. Combat it by speaking your vision out loud, surrounding yourself with people who affirm your worth, and anchoring your identity in what God says about you rather than what fear says about you. Journal, pray, and take action even when confidence is low action builds confidence more reliably than waiting for it.
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