The sun is down, the kids are in bed. Another day come and gone. We had a good day at SAMmy's today. We were discussing persistence in prayer. In my small group, my girlie friends and I were sharing things that we have been praying for over and over...things that we haven't heard God say "No" to yet, so we keep asking - because that's what He tells us to do in the Parable of the Persistent Widow ("And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart..." Matthew 18:1)
I know what I've been praying for and praying for, for what seems most of my life. Sometimes it seems to get better, and sometimes it seems that I am losing my grip and I pray harder.
I have been praying that I would not let other people define me. Even as I type this out, I am ashamed - I'm a Bible study writer, for goodness sake! But, let me tell you - when people say something less than flattering about me, I am the first to jump on their bandwagon against me! I know that probably sounds strange to most of you...it is strange. I can team up with the enemy of my soul, who knows my weaknesses better than I do - and that is no small matter.
I need to be listening to the Lover of My Soul - my Creator. He says plenty about me in His Word! He calls me His treasure. There's a balance here - I don't want to be self-centered, but I do want to be properly confident in who I am in Him. I am well aware of my capacity for selfishness, pettiness, laziness - it's all there - sinfulness abounds! My prayer is that I can face all of that properly and not live in it...to rise above it and not let it define me - and not let anyone else's perceptions of me, or comments about me, or behavior toward me define me.
Sometimes I feel like this little street urchin - I've had life fling its crud all over me, drag me through the mud. I'm standing there, all muddy and my hair is tousled. I am sad. I am angry. I am holding stones - hand poised, ready to throw them at the next person who will look cross at me...and God tells me I'm His TREASURE????? Really??????And the King of Kings smiles and tells me that He is enthralled with my beauty - because He never sees the mud or the tousled hair - He doesn't even see the stones. He sees the righteousness of Christ. And he sees that I am His.
That's what I need to remember. Whose I am.
Holy confidence. And to be defined by God alone. Those are my prayers.
Good night my blogging friends. Now I lay me down to sleep.
4 comments:
I don't think you are the only one who needs to remember that! Thank you for being honest about it so that I can understand it too :)
Good Morning!! It took me a long time to accept the person that I am. I used to concentrate on my flaws and how imperfect I was. Than one day I realized that God made me this way and everything he does is for a reason. I need to be thankful for who I am and what I look like. I need to make the best of what I have. Now I have that attitude when someone says something less than flattering about me. God made me this way because he thought that was PERFECT!!! Who am I to question or concentrate on the negatives of that???
Anyway...I am writing you a book comment :o) You are beautiful on the inside and outside and don't let other people get you to the point where you are questioning yourself!!!
Have a great day!
This is a really wonderful reminder! My pastor describes it as "the missing tile syndrome". His example is that, if you redo a bathroom and cover the floors in beautiful tile, but in one tiny corner a tile is missing, more often than not we are going to overlook the beauty around us and focus on that one missing tile.
I love that analogy :)
For as much time as I have spent getting to know you through your blog, I can tell you that I think you are amazing. God wants us to be honest with Him, and you are exactly that. Transparency that shines to a heart of gold :)
Thanks for this post!
I have to remember that God is my confidence. It is so easy for me to let others define me. I should be looking to God, not them.
Good post!
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