Insecurity was rising. “What do you do?”
They asked me a dozen times. I was a stay at home mom at an event honoring my
award-winning husband, and trying to fit in with brilliant journalists seemed
impossible. Diapers and meal-planning felt insignificant, so I talked up my ten
hour a week teaching job instead of my 24 hour a day work as a mom. I was
searching for validation that I belonged as a nonprofessional at a gathering of
greatness. And it wasn’t working.
Unbeknownst to the other women, I didn’t
measure up in my mind to their awesomeness, so I felt left out and unimportant
all night. So I sulked all the way home. I’m so glad God doesn’t compare us to
others. Instead, He does the opposite and levels the playing field with Jesus’s
sacrifice.
Because of Him, we don’t have to live to
impress anymore, we can live secure no matter what room we’re in. Why? Because
we’ve been marked worthy by the ultimate authority of Heaven and earth. Jesus
is impressive, and we are His through faith, so we are tucked into His glory
and have no need to live up to earthly opinions. That makes me feel free and
empowered instead of small and insecure.
Paul, an early church planter and writer
of many New Testament books in the Bible, affirmed we can live “... giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the
saints in light” Colossians 1:12 ESV.
Instead of always striving to be counted
worthy of God’s love and acceptance, our Father has gifted us status we don’t
deserve. Where we were weak, sinful, and disobedient, His Son Jesus stepped in
and was steadfast, without stain, and righteous. He lived and sacrificed so we
could share in all the blessings that come with being a child of God.
What a weight it takes off us to know
that we cannot win or work for our salvation! We don’t have to elevate
ourselves and grab at crumbs of worthiness. The Father lays a platter before
us, and invites us in for no other reason except that He loves us.
What has made you feel small? Let God
fill that space with His perfect acceptance.
Purchase the book: https://www.amazon.
Purchase the book: https://www.amazon.
Bio
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet
women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She's a
Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer at Glory Be,
writer/speaker for WhollyLoved Ministries,
and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She loves connecting
with women to remind them they can find everything they need in Jesus.
Book
blurb for Intentional Holidays: 30 Days of Rest and Rejoicing
This
holiday season, God invites us to slow down our hustle,
to
trade striving and performing for resting and rejoicing.
In our
Photoshopped, Instagram, hyper-publicized culture, it
feels
like the bar is always rising. Not only must we create
that
memorable Thanksgiving meal, but it also must look
Pinterest-worthy
when we’re done! But Immanuel—God with
us—is
indeed with us in the middle of our dinner fails and
celebrations.This
holiday season, each morning, no matter
how
busy our day or frazzled our heart, God is drawing us near
so that
we can live filled. We can experience peace in the middle
of our
crazy through the Prince of Peace, our Savior, Immanuel.
2 comments:
How very true. The enemy of our soul always tries to attack our identity in Christ. We need to wise up to his strategies and the holidays leave us open to distraction with the activities of the world. thanks for the reminder!
Right on how so many individuals are feeling in our fast paced world. Thank you for the reminder that we are a Child of the King and our role is to full fill His calling on our lives, instead trying to fit in with societal norms. May your Christmas season be filled with all the amazing gifts only God can give--inner peace, joy, love, and grace.
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