In Him
Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you could just crawl back in bed and cover your head with a blanket? While some may think that I appear to have it all together, I’m fairly certain that at this very moment my kitchen is still a mess from dinner last night, my two older kids basically look like they were picked up off the street today because we were running late to school, my newborn needs a bath, and I have several loads of laundry piled up on my bed. Not to mention the fact that my husband and I could use a date night, I need to lose a few pounds (well, more than a few), and it wouldn’t kill me to get a pedicure! Any and all of it could use some work. As I sift through these thoughts, I begin to get that old familiar lump in my throat and tears well up. It’s just straight up overwhelming at times. There are seasons where I feel like the ship is running smoothly- everyone is happy, everyone seems rested and healthy, and I feel organized and put together. But then there are those other seasons where things are tough, life is messy and challenging, and you feel like you’re doing whatever you can do to keep your head above water.
I’ve been here before, though, and I’ve learned. At this moment, I choose to just take a pause. I need God to breathe His life into my day. I need His presence. I realize that I am nothing without Him, but that with Him, I can do all things. If my confidence was in myself -- my accomplishments, my parenting skills, my looks, my perfection, etc, man would I be a mess. However, I’ve come to learn that true confidence must be in God alone. In Him, I can find peace in the crazy seasons. In Him, I’m enough. Not because “I am woman-hear me roar...” But because HE is enough, and I’m found in HIM, I have the choice to trade my feelings of insecurity and inadequacy for His strength, peace & joy.
Satan loves nothing more than to slowly erode our confidence by planting thoughts in our mind that “we’re not good enough, thin enough, we don’t DO enough for our kids, or if we were a better Christian we’d have it more together…” It goes on and on and is a never-ending cycle of self-defeat. Jesus wants to free us from comparison, negativity and constantly looking at what we’re not while also focusing on our shortcomings! Look at this scripture in Mark 1:9-11 (The Message translation): “At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”
Did you know that this was before Jesus ever DID anything? This was before He ever turned water into wine, or healed anyone or died on the cross for us! Yet when God the Father looked at Him, it was with as much love and approval as He would ever have for Jesus at that very moment. He approved of him and loved Him so immensely.
Did you know that God sees you the same way? He actually views you through the lens of His Son, Jesus. You don’t have to be perfect for God. You don’t have to do enough, read enough, confess enough or pray enough for Him to approve of you. He loves you now as much as He ever will, and He longs to just have a relationship with you. Even if you never ever did another thing for Him, He’d still love you with the same passionate love. We must get to the place where we are secure in just being HIS…and that just be enough. I can’t find my security in my gifts or abilities, in how much money I have or in what people say about me (or in what they don’t say about me)...I must find myself only in Him. So today, decide to trade your self-doubt for a life of choosing to rest in who He says you are – you are forgiven, beautiful, chosen, worthy, loved and approved!
READ:
Mark 1:9-11, Psalm 91, Psalm 23
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for the life I have IN YOU. I find myself in You, and I want to stay under your wings, finding my total confidence in You. I choose right now to trade my feelings of insecurity and inadequacy for the strength and peace that only You can give. Fill me with Your power as I learn to keep my confidence in You! In Jesus’ Name, amen!
