What do you look like to God?

I grew up a very insecure, shy girl who had trouble making friends and who was always cast aside as a weirdo, nerd, unpopular kid. Consequently as I grew to adulthood, those "beliefs" about myself followed me. It's funny how differently you act when you think you're weird or worthless. It's like a dark shadow hovering over you that taints the way you act, talk, think, what people you talk to, where you go, and even what you do in life.  It wasn't until I gave my life to God that I finally began to realize that maybe I wasn't so worthless after all. Still, I admit it's been a huge struggle for me to undo all the lies the enemy told me all my life. And that's just what they were. LIES.

The Bible is God's love letter to His children and like any love letter it is full of compliments, endearments, encouragements, and just plain love and adoration.  And because the words aren't just words on a page, but they emanate from the Creator Himself, they contain the power to change hearts and minds. Indeed, they contain the power to make a person who believes she is worthless eventually believe she is a princess.  The key is to take those Words of love, those endearments, those compliments, and say them out loud over and over and over until the truth and power sink deep into your being.

Recently I've discovered how differently God sees us than how we see ourselves.  I may see myself as a middle-aged, introverted, socially-awkward  housewife who writes books, but God sees me as His special masterpiece, His creation, His princess-warrior!

Gideon was much like me. He was a man living in a country overrun by the enemy (Sounds a lot like the US right now!)  He was a common man, poor, from a poor family, in the middle of a poor tribe., who was just trying to get by.   He wasn't anything special. He probably wasn't good-looking or talented or particularly humorous.  Yet one day while he was working, Jesus Himself appeared to Gideon and said,
The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”  Judges 6:12

Huh? Me?  I can imagine Gideon looking over his shoulder, wondering who the Lord was speaking to. 
I love Gideon's response. The first thing he does is ask where God has been. Why have their enemies overtaken them? What happened to all the miracles God did in the past? 

Have you ever asked those questions? I have. Ignoring the questions, the Lord merely responds.. Hey Gideon, I want you to go defeat the Midianites for me.  That would be like Jesus appearing to you and I and telling us to go take care of this ISIS problem.  Yea, right. Gideon must remind God that he is a nobody from a nobody family in a nobody clan. Are you sure you got the right guy?

The thing is, of course God had the right guy! He created Gideon. He gave him all the traits and quirks and skills and everything else Gideon would  need to do whatever God called him to do. He knew when He created Gideon that He would call him to this particular task. Well, Gideon goes on to test God several times to make sure he heard Him correctly. And finally, if you remember the story, Gideon goes out with only 300 men against tens of thousands of warriors and he never lifts a sword and God destroys the army of Midian.

What does God see when He looks down at you?  You may think He sees no one noteworthy, just a housewife or student or worker at Walmart. A nobody by today's standards. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you belong to Jesus, you have the Spirit of the Living God inside of you and when God looks down on you,

He sees royalty
He sees a bright and shining star
He sees the bride He has chosen for His only Son
He sees someone worthy to purchase with the blood of His only Son
He sees a priest
He sees a warrior
He sees a mighty woman/man of valor!
He sees a beloved child

Don't ever forget who you are in Christ!  Say Scripture that proclaims this every day out loud and refuse to listen to the lies of the enemy any more. Then when God comes calling for you to do something BIG for Him, you'll be ready.


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