Podcast

Be Still and Know: How to Stop Identity Theft and Lead from Who God Says You Are

Dr. Lee C. Cordell

— 6 min read
Share
Be Still and Know: How to Stop Identity Theft and Lead from Who God Says You Are

🎙️ Listen to the full episode on CEO Kingdom Seekers HERE

Do you ever feel like you're not enough?

Here is what I know about most of the high-achieving, faith-driven entrepreneurs I know (including myself)-

We are not striving because we are lazy or undisciplined or unfocused.

We are striving because somewhere along the way, something happened that made us believe we had to prove who we are.

We feel the urge to prove our worth to our clients, our families, our industries... and if we are being really honest, we feel the need to prove it to God too.

We are running ourselves ragged trying to become something He already said we were.

This nagging belief is what my guest Donna Tashjian calls identity theft.

When she said those two words in our conversation, y'all, I got chills from head to toe, because I unknowingly lived a false identity for decades... and I'd bet most of you have too.

What Identity Theft Actually Is

Donna is an international life mastery coach, minister, and the visionary behind Vibrant Living International. She has spent decades helping high achievers unlock what she calls their spiritual intelligence.

Her core message is grounded in one foundational truth:

Remember who you are and whose you are.

It's a simple fact, AND it is so tough in today's world.

From the time we are young, the difficult things in our lives begin to quietly shape how we see ourselves: the disappointments, the failures, the things people said that they should not have, the things that happened that should not have.

Not in a dramatic, obvious way, but a more slow, subtle, nearly invisible way.

Before we know it, we stop leading from our God-given identity, and start leading from our wounds.

We start making business decisions from fear. We start marketing from a place of "please approve of me" instead of "I know exactly who God made me to be and I am walking in it."

That is how the roots of identity theft spread.

And most of us do not even realize it is happening.

Why You Cannot Disappoint God (And How That Changes Everything

Donna said something in our conversation that gave me serious pause. She asked me:

"Have you realized that you can never disappoint God?"

And my brain immediately went, "Well, of course."

But then she paused, and I heard it — that 1% doubt.

That tiny voice that says, "But what if I could? What if I already have?"

Here is the theology behind that doubt, explained in the most practical way I have ever heard it:

Disappointment requires unmet expectations. So for you to disappoint me, I have to expect you to do A — and you do B (and B is NOT better than A).

But God already knows whether you are going to do A or B. He exists outside of time. He cannot be surprised by your choices, your failures, or your detours. He already prepared the answer ahead of time.

God dislikes sin not because He is trying to keep you from having fun, but it because it hurts you.

He is not a disappointed parent standing over you with crossed arms. He is a Father who already knows what you are going to do and has already prepared the way back.

That fact is not permission to do whatever you want. That is an invitation to stop performing for an audience that does not exist.

The Difference Between Abiding and Striving

Here is where it gets really practical for those of us building businesses.

Donna shared a story that I have not been able to stop thinking about.

One year, God told her to be still. Just 10 to 15 minutes a day. And she argued with Him. "Have you seen my list? How is sitting on the couch going to help me get anything done?"

Sound familiar?

Thank goodness she obeyed.
She started by setting a timer, bringing a notebook for all the random things her brain threw at her (the cookies she forgot to bake, the email she needed to send), wrote them down, and brought her attention back to God.

She did this for an entire year- and her business doubled.

Not because she worked harder. Not because she found a better strategy or hired a better coach or finally cracked the code on her messaging.

Because she stopped doing it from a place of striving and started doing it from a place of being.

She was abiding, not grinding, and the production of fruit naturally followed.

John 15:5 says:

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

We read that verse and nod... and then we open our laptops and try to do it all ourselves.

How Your Body Tells You When You've Left the Vine

It's imperative for us entrepreneurs, especially for those of us who have been operating in high-stress environments for a long time (healthcare, corporate, ministry, entrepreneurship), to know:

Your nervous system is a spiritual indicator.

When we operate from our own understanding, when we subconsciously slip out of surrender and back into striving, our bodes often tell us before our brains do.

For me, my body gives me clear messages.

My right shoulder starts hurting. I start sighing more. I hear the word frustrated come out of my mouth.

Those are not just stress symptoms, but signals from my body saying, "You have cut yourself off from the unseen again."

When our nervous system goes into a fear-based state, it literally cuts us off from the subconscious — from the intuition, the discernment, the wisdom we have already received from God.

We stop being able to hear Him- not because He stopped speaking, but because we are too tense to receive His messages.

So here is my invitation to you: start paying attention to your body as a spiritual practice.

  • What language do you use when you are out of alignment?
  • What starts hurting?
  • How does your breathing change?

Those clues will tell you faster than any journal prompt when it is time to stop, be still, and return to Him.

What Spiritual Intelligence Actually Is

Donna defines spiritual intelligence as the ability to partner with God in the unseen to bring His vision into the seen.

And it starts with imagination; something the enemy has tried to steal from the Church by associating it with New Age practices.

But here is what Donna said that I want you to hear clearly: the enemy did not create imagination. He distorted it.

God is the one who gave you imagination.

It is one of your creative gifts.

It is how He designed you to co-create with Him.

Donna shared a story of a engineer who went into a broom closet, closed the door, and asked the Holy Spirit how to fix a boiler problem that had stumped an entire company — and came out five minutes later with the answer.

He was not doing something mystical, but rather something deeply biblical.

He was asking the One who created everything for the answer to a problem in the created world.

That is ability to imagine and co-create with God is available to you.

You get to do this in your business, your strategy sessions, your hiring decisions, your pricing conversations, and beyond.

But you have to be still enough to hear it.

My Invitation to You

Here is what I want to leave you with, friend.

You are not striving because you are not disciplined enough or faithful enough or smart enough.

You are striving because somewhere along the way, your identity got stolen.

It happened quietly, gradually, by the accumulation of hard things and other people's expectations and the enemy's whispers about who you are and what you are worth.

And the way back is not a better morning routine or a tighter content strategy or a new offer.

The way back is stillness.

Psalm 46:10 says:

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Not because stillness is passive. But because in the stillness, you remember.

You remember who you are AND whose you are.

And from that rooted, secure, God-anchored identity, you're able to build something that lasts.

Even if your business does not double this year, intimacy with God always produces life.

That is not a motivational quote. That is a promise.

Always rooting for you,
Dr. Lee

Ready to Stop Striving and Start Building from Who God Says You Are?

Connect with Donna Tashjian

Embedded JavaScript

Read more