Your jeans fit great.
Your hair does what you want it to do.
You wear your favorite t-shirt.
I'm having one of those days.
I actually liked the way I looked in the mirror this morning.
Not only am I feeling good, but truly BEAUTIFUL.
I can sense God's presence in my life.
I feel like He's talking to me, teaching me about life and my relationship with Him.
I am bubbling over with passion.
I believe God has a plan for me.
I know I am here for a reason.
My life has purpose.
And I am on a mission to fulfill the hopes and dreams God has laid on my heart.
It feels GOOD!!!
Not sure if wearing my new t-shirt sparked this new-found joy and confidence or not, but I know for a fact my shirt plays a MAJOR role in my attitude and perspective today.
I think it actually has more to do with me BELIEVING the words on my t-shirt than anything...
I saw this shirt when my friend Vera brought some things over to my house for a Girls' Day. I knew immediately that I not only wanted this shirt, but that I *needed* it. I am not usually one to get things for myself, but I decided that this could be an exception.
First, I knew that buying the shirt was actually helping a fellow mama in Haiti or Uganda provide for her family. And that is something I can DEFINITELY get behind. (Check out GoExchange to see if they have anything you simply can't live without either - or that might be on your Christmas list and you could shop for a good cause!)
Second, I knew I NEEDED to see these words often.
And let them sink in.
Deep to my heart.
And believe them.
Even on days when I don't feel like I am on top of the world.
Even on days when I feel like the world is crushing me.
Especially on those days.
You see the words from Psalm 139 are ALWAYS true, no matter how I am feeling on any particular day for whatever reason:
"I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
I want you to read that again.
This time, put YOUR name at the beginning and talk to yourself.
Actually, you're LISTENING to God talk to you, speaking love and TRUTH into your heart...
While you're listening, go ahead and read the surrounding verses from the chapter:
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother's womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it.
You watched as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed."
That's more than eloquent poetry.
That's TRUTH.
About YOU.
All too often we let the world dictate how we feel about ourselves.
We listen to the lies.
We fall for Satan's tricks.
He deceives us.
And we get so used to his disguises that we no longer recognize the TRUTH.
We begin to feel like the flowers on my front porch.
I have to defend myself first.
I was gone all weekend.
I had been very faithful and diligent to water our beautiful mums this fall.
They had been looking quite lovely.
But then, I was gone and didn't water them for several days.
I came back to this...
Withered.
Dry.
Seemingly lifeless flowers.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who has ever felt like these poor mums.
Rejected.
Forgotten.
Forsaken.
Ugly.
Broken.
Cracked.
Weary.
Dry.
Unwanted.
Out of place.
Passed over.
Hopeless.
Worthless.
That is exactly how our enemy wants us to feel.
He works hard every day to get us to believe that our life has no purpose, that no one loves us, that we're not good enough, that we'll never measure up, that our life is pointless.
We MUST plug our ears to his voice.
And listen only to the One who loves us.
The One who made us.
The One who thinks we are beautiful and wonderful.
The One who has a plan and purpose for us, plans for hope and a future (see Jeremiah 29:11).
The One who delights in us and dances over us (see Zephaniah 3:17).
The One who longs for us to spend time with Him and invites us into His presence.
The One who will never let us go.
The One who will lead us every step of the way.
The One who turns darkness into light.
The One who can make beauty from ashes.
The One who showed me this lone rose on the other side of my front porch this morning.
This pretty little flower was hiding behind some leaves, near the ground, and I almost missed it.
Then, God opened my eyes so I could see.
And as He did, He reminded me that I can find beauty all around me.
That HE makes that beauty.
That He NEVER gives up on His creation.
All the other buds on the rosebush were dead.
Or my young girls had plucked them off to use their petals for "birthday cakes."
But this flower hung on.
And bloomed.
And declared the glory and majesty and faithfulness and love and grace and goodness of my God.
I challenge each of us to do the same.
Dare to grow.
Dare to bloom.
Dare to shine.
Even in the midst of heartache and pain and grief and sorrow.
Even when we are tired and weary.
Even when we have lost hope and can't see the way ahead of us.
Even when we feel as though our lives have no point or purpose.
Especially then.
ESPECIALLY THEN.
For even then, are the words from Psalm 139 still true.
Or as Doctor Suess would say, "truer than true."
"There's no one more youer than you."
And YOU are...
"fearfully and wonderfully made."
You don't need a t-shirt to tell you that.
Though I am still pretty sure wearing these words is doing something to my heart.
Don't worry, I won't wear my shirt every day.
Instead, I will do something we can ALL do.
I will engrave God's Words on my very heart and wear them with me wherever I go, however I feel...
"I have hidden your words in my heart..."
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