“I can’t brag about my love for God because I fail Him daily, but I can brag about His love for me because it never fails.”
This is the kind of girl I aim to be. This is how I want others to see me.
We are constantly being told by the media and the people around us that we
are not good enough, and most women today are desperately in need of refreshment and encouragement, not another list of things to do or to be. Proverbs 31 may appear as another “list” or standards to live by, but I like to view it as motivation or an encouragement to live as a woman after God’s own heart. In a study I was reading, a woman wrote “who we are today is who we will become tomorrow”. This shows how our lives are a growing process. Trying to change into the person we want to be years from now is definitely a scary and intimidating thought, so why don’t we just focus on being more like the person we want to be today? Then, it will be that much easier of a transition into the person we’ve longed to be. Just focus on today. When we look at the situations we face today and consider how the woman we desire to be like would handle these situations, then that gives us not only a better idea of who we would like to be, but a better idea of the woman we know that God desires for us to be.
We need to be confident in the individual we are today. I want to carry myself as a woman of strength, of dignity, and of grace. When people look at me, I don’t want them to view me as cocky, but rather confident in who I am and confident in the Lord my God. I want people to see that I work daily to let God’s light and love permeate through every part of me. I want people to see a girl who is clothed in the dignity of Jesus Christ and to see that this girl wants to be a woman after God’s own heart. This is part of who I aim to be.
Psalm 130:4 “But you forgave us, so that we should stand in AWE of you”
Awe is defined as ‘a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder’. Think about that…fear, reverence, wonder….This is how we need to view God. It’s crazy if you think about it. The God of the universe, the Creator of EVERYTHING, loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what’s our typical response? (Exactly. Barely anything). He deserves more than that.
I feel as though so many people underestimate the wonders of God and the incredible and all-powerful God that He is. This is the same God who created hundreds of species of animals, a God who knows every number of hairs on our head, a God who is all-knowing and everywhere all the time. Our God created the beautiful sunsets we see and step back to admire, He created you and He created me. So many of us do not appreciate or give enough reverence to Him and all that He has done. Whatever God’s reasons for such diversity, creativity, ad sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is His glory. God reveals Himself every day so that we can give Him the glory and praise in return.
Psalm 19:1-4 says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun”
God has and is constantly revealing himself to our lives-whether through creation around us, through the Bible, or through people; yet we live our lives as if He’s someone to go to only when we need help or only when we’re alone. Yes, these are times when we SHOULD be calling on the name of God, but those are not the only times. Think about it like this:
For many of you, if Tim Tebow or Channing Tatum or Rachel McAdams or JLo were to stand right in front of you, I bet you would be beyond words. You would be in awe of the very individual standing in front of you. I, personally, would be grinning ear to ear, what to touch his hand, or take a million pictures with him, or even pass out! What I find amazing is that our God is more incredible than any of these famous hollywood stars and He is not just standing in front of us but is by our side every second of every hour of the day and yet we do not give him the same admiration and praise that he deserves. We basically rip him off and only use him when needed most or when it’s the most fitting time. God is constantly revealing Himself to us. He is worthy of our awe and reverence. He is worthy of our wonder and praise.
This semester at LU I’ve had the opportunity to be a prayer leader on my hall. I meet with five girls from my hall every Tuesday night for a Bible study! On my first night as prayer leader, I opened up the group with an ice-breaker game to get to know the girls in my group. After, I wanted to share a little bit about myself and show them who I am. I said that my name is Jacquelyn Waltmire, but that’s only the name my family gave me. I could describe myself as musical and someone who loves to sing, but that’s a talent that God gave me. I could tell you that I’m a student, daughter, and friend, but that’s what I do. I could describe my appearance, but that’s not who I am either. Who am I? I’m the daughter of a King who loves me enought to die in my place and created me in His very own image. No matter what I do, my status will never change and the same is for you.
I wanted the group to sit back for a moment and focus-where does our identity lie? It needs to be in Christ! God says that He has chosen you and has a plan for your life. He will not forget you and will be with you always. He has engraved you in the palm of His hands. Being a girl, we are often “defined” by many things of this world-whether by popularity, BOYS, clothes, appearance, etc. I wanted to make it clear that these statuses/people do not define who we are because we are defined through Jesus Christ. We are daughters of the King! 1 John 3:1 says to “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” A study that I was reading the other day said this:
Just think, you are not here by chance but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else-you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace cannot give you. You are God’s servant in God’s place at God’s perfect time <3
