Have you ever felt that what you do and how well you do it is the determining factor of how you are perceived? That they are basing your identity on your performance or your financial status or your appearance? I am pretty sure we have all taken that trip down the road to faulty thinking, fatigue and failure. That is exactly where that path leads because we will never be all things to all people so if we are striving for the praise of one person we are failing another person because their expectations differ.
So, how do you define yourself? Are you a success? Are you measuring up? Are you enough?
There are multiple answers to those questions, depending on your vantage point. Perhaps there is a person who has been critical of you consistently, to the point of causing feelings of worthlessness. Maybe there is that one person that you are a bit jealous of… her house is nicer and cleaner and she always has good hair days. Using her as your measuring stick, you just aren’t good enough…EVER! Maybe you have a parent you have spent your life trying to please and they consistently let you know you have missed the mark. Perhaps you have been waiting for a promotion you feel you have more than earned; or a raise; or even something as simple as a pat on the back. And you’re still waiting. None of us want to live in these scenarios, but that is where we often find ourselves.
Take a look at yourself from God’s perspective. You are here reading this right now. That tells me that He has a plan for you that you have yet to complete. The Bible also tells me that “You are His masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10). I believe that we are here for a Divine purpose that is completely in the spiritual realm that we cannot see with our human eyes. We are each that pebble in the pond creating ripples of impact on the lives of others. I think that is typically God’s method, as opposed to sending us in to win a war or cure a disease or eradicate abuse or be the perfect person we all aspire to be. He looks at you and sees that person whose journey, with all the u-turns and detours, is shaping you into the person that fulfills His purpose. A purpose that is so big we can’t even see it.
Picture this…. You have just been notified that a famous artist, an actual descendant of Leonardo da Vinci, is doing a masterpiece and you are his model. You show up and are given a completely green outfit to wear. Head to toe you are green. You have been taken to a pasture where you are ready to pose as instructed. But rather than pose, you are led to stand on a certain spot. Other people are entering the scene now, dressed similarly but in a variety of colors. You stand and wait, feeling rather foolish and impatient and annoyed by the crowd pressing in around you. A half hour later you are dismissed with the entire “cast” of this masterpiece. As you reflect on the time invested, you feel you have wasted an entire day and been made a laughing stock among the friends you told about your “great opportunity” to be the next supermodel/Mona Lisa persona.
Weeks pass and you see on the news, this beautiful artwork that all the art dealers are clamoring for. Now you know you have been scammed because that masterpiece has nothing to do with your day being green. Or does it? As the reporter tells the story, you discover that you and the others, were placed exactly where you needed to be so that when the photographer flew high above you, he could see the end result of all those dots of color, strategically placed to make a true masterpiece.
Here is what I want you to see… Life with Jesus isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being obedient. Being where He wants us to be even when it doesn’t make sense to us. We will stumble and we will fall and we will get off course. It's all part of our brokenness. But when we stop looking at ourselves from the perspective of others, which is often our own flawed notion, and stop being our own worst critic, we can begin to see ourselves as God does. When you look in the mirror, see a purpose and know that you are part of something so much bigger than yourself. Love that purpose and love the person looking back at you.
You are so very loved by the One who created you. But, often there seems to be a chasm between that love and our ability to accept it. That great divide is often created by our own perception that we are unworthy of His love; that our lives and our choices have disqualified us from being loveable. Pastor Chris said in his sermon Sunday the words that keep ringing in my mind.
Our “do” never determines our “who” in God’s eyes.
If His love for us brought Him to earth to experience unthinkable things, including the nails, the crown of thorns, the betrayal, the agony of being alone, the beatings and the crucifixion, then why would our imperfection now shut off His love? He could have walked away from all of that, but He chose to suffer as a way for us to see our value to Him.
Love the person that He loves; the person looking back at you in the mirror. He adores you as His precious child and sees you as His masterpiece. Accepting His loves enables us to accept the love of others and empowers us to love them with a love that is beyond our human capacity.
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