Surviving Awkwardness
Letting go of a moment everyone else has already forgotten.
Have you ever replayed five seconds of your life for three days? You waved at someone who was waving at the person behind you. You made a joke that landed in silence. You called a colleague by the wrong name. Nobody was harmed and nothing was lost, and still your face goes warm every time it comes back.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Proverbs 29:25
This proverb is not describing terror. “The fear of man” is the ordinary weight of caring what people think, and the picture it uses is a snare, a small trap that catches you and holds you in one place. The other half is not a promise that people stop mattering. It says the one who trusts the LORD is set somewhere safe, out of that opinion’s reach.
Awkwardness is that snare in miniature. The moment itself is over in seconds. What keeps it going is the replay, and the replay says more about how much you want to be liked than about anything you did wrong. Trusting God with how you look in a room does not stop you caring. It makes the room a smaller judge than it was.
Today, when the cringe comes back, do not argue with it and do not watch it again. Say quietly, “God knows me, and this one costs me nothing,” and go back to what you were doing. If you have been avoiding someone because of it, greet them normally.
Caring what the room thinks is a snare, and I can step out of it.
Proverbs 29:25