This whole thing started at the mall a few weeks ago. I was out shopping with my sister when I walked into one of my favorite little clothing stores and saw thee most beautiful pair of bright red jeans.
Confession: I’ve recently developed an odd fascination with brightly colored pants. But…
So the time has come this week for another blog, but instead of giving you some pearls of wisdom from my own life (which I will indeed do in a couple of days!! Hang tight!); here’s a blog post (above) that I found today, which was very encouraging and inspiring to me.
Speaking about a very challenging topic- obesity or being overweight or not that fit- which is quite prevalent in teenagers and young adults in the 21st century (I don’t know that facts but somewhere I read that one in two Aussies are overweight!! I can’t imagine the stats for the U.S…); the writer Sarah, who is a reviewer and writer for New Release Tuesday, completely floored me with her personal blog post about her plight and her mission to lose weight. Writing in a very informal way in which I could relate to, this young woman has inspired me to think about the issues in my life and the insecurities that I have believed about myself that need to be given over to God so that He can lead me into a place of rest in Him. While I was starting this blog, I wasn’t even thinking about reblogging a post, until I actually followed Sarah’s tumblr page (was that a coincidence that I did after Sarah’s recent post? Probably not, as God is always working, but that’s another blog post, another topic, and another day!); but God certainly does work in mysterious ways!
Now that brings me to my question to all of you readers… Do what people think about you, your appearance, your habits, your character, your personality, your opinions; do they really matter? Society says a few things about us, ranging from (and I’m paraphrasing here!) ‘you are what you eat’, to ‘you need to sow your wild oats by the time you reach ___ age!’ The world says all these things, and the TV says things too, with advertisements that make us second guess ourselves and try to steer us to buy stuff that we think will make us happy, but they will not in the end. There is a longing, a void that needs to be filled, that cannot be filled with material possessions or food, but only by Jesus!
Opinions of others about you and what people say do matter, in the sense that it is our networking and our connections that will get us far in life, in our career etc; but in the sense of eternity; the only opinion that really matters is God’s. For in Romans 12:2 it says that we are part of this world but not in it. We were created for a specific purpose, and when you know what God has called you to do on this planet, then other people who will tell you otherwise that you can’t, without knowing what God wants for you, are really just talking through their nose! For if God wants something to happen for and to you, it WILL happen, maybe not in a couple of days like you wanted, but in God’s own timing!
With God with us, we can really do the impossible. So the goals you want, the dreams, aspirations that may seem so far out of reach, are in fact in reach when God is right beside you. He will help us regardless if our dreams are lofty or small, regardless if we continuously shoot ourselves in the foot or fall into the pit (involuntarily or voluntarily); God’s love for us is so unconditional it’s daunting and overwhelming!
You know, I don’t know what you’re going through right now. It may be that you are struggling with an addiction, thinking you’re a failure because of a past hurt or regret, or you may just be down because of a goal you wanted to attain by a certain time frame hasn’t happened. Or a family member may have been ill. Or, sometimes you may be feeling the total opposite, you’re feeling on top of the world, without a care, and feeling like you can conquer anything! Just remember that it takes one word, one thought from Satan, one thing that happens wrong that gets us from point A of ecstatic euphoria, to point B of depression. Just know that whatever you are going through God is there and he wants to be our wing man! To be all of our wing men!! No matter what we’ve done, who we are, who we’ve been, who we’re afraid we would or can be, who we’re being told we should be; God is saying to you right here, right now ‘I love you just the way you are, but I love you too much to let you stay that way!’ We all have our faults, yet our faults and struggles should never define us. We are children of God, and we are more than our successes or failures.
But on the flipside, just because we are believers in Christ doesn’t mean we have a free pass to doing whatever we want whenever we feel like it! On the contrary, it’s because of our faith in Jesus Christ that will ultimately create a restlessness inside of us of not wanting to go back to our lives before we knew and fell in love with Him. That’s not to say that while we are Christians, Satan won’t tempt us and distract and tell us lies. In fact the pestering and the ‘white lies’ Satan tells us will only increase. But now we have our secret weapon with us- Jesus, who has conquered the grave! that’s a powerful ally right there! We do in fact know that our fears from Satan, are just lies!
With Christ, we can do anything, but not everything is in God’s plan… that’s a tough pill to swallow, by any means. He is willing to help and guide us on our path, but if a door closes, it’s because God has opened another one somewhere. If our goals fall short, it’s because God says ‘not now, another time!’. He is always talking and giving us advice, through our friends, co workers, family, sometimes through non Christians!! God’s words to us are for the continually development of our character, and though through our life experiences (some of which I will talk about in a later blog) our life views can change; God’s view of us never changes- just read Psalm 139!
He knows us all by name, and each one of us He sees as unique and beautiful. No matter what the world says we are beautiful. In his eyes, the only eyes besides our own that matter; we are beautiful. In despite of everything the world tells us; we are beautiful. Whether wear a size 8 or 22 shirt, or anything in between, we are beautiful. There’s a song by MercyMe, titled “Beautiful” that has shown me that true beauty is not found on the outside, but on the inside. It’s one of my favourite MercyMe songs! But that doesn’t mean we need to stay as we are. Just like Sarah has emphasised in her above blog; our journey of self worth starts with Jesus, and then continues. Note the ‘continue’…
With Jesus, the road called life will be easier, just take His hand and go along with what He reveals to you as important in Your life. He’s been where you have, he’s felt what you’ve felt so trust Him. He is calling! My prayer to each one of you is that you will answer Him, and trust your entire plans to Him. No matter if they sound crazy or silly!
Now a question before I finish up (wow, this reblog turned our to be a blog after all!) What are you struggling with that you need God’s help in? Whatever it is, with His strength, all things are possible! Now that is something to celebrate!
Now I’m off to exercise, but given the almost stormy looking weather outside, I think I’ll just settle for Nintendo Wii!
Til Next Time
Josh.
