Have you ever wished you were someone else or that you had someone else’s life? That you had another person’s skills or abilities and looked as amazing as the person you just walked past on the street?
One of our daughters has a shirt that reads, ‘I woke up like this.” But I wonder how many of us actually feel that way and whether we in fact like ourselves very much when we first look in the mirror in the morning before we have had a chance to scrub up, dress up, and cover up?
Moses a great leader who God chose to lead the Israelites to freedom also wondered if he was good enough. When God first called Him to step up Moses was fearful and cried out, “I can’t Lord, I stutter and don’t speak well”. He worried he was going to fail, whether people would listen to him, and he asked for someone else to go instead.
“When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, he said to him, “I am the Lord! Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I am telling you.” But Moses argued with the Lord, saying, “I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet.” (Exodus 6:29-7:1)
Everyone has moments of self-doubt. Moses did and yet he turned out to be one of the greatest leaders of all time, even though he initially doubted his abilities and wondered if he was good enough. Yet with God’s help, he grew into the person and leader God had chosen and planned for him to be.
When it comes to life; to who we are and whether people like or accept us, it is more important for us to like and be ourselves, and to save ourselves the time and energy trying to make everyone else like and accept us. For the danger in that is that we can lose sight of who we are and hide behind masks where no one including ourselves gets to see the real us.
I‘ve discovered that people “either like you or they don’t”, and it’s actually more important that we like ourselves, discover our God given talents, skills, likes and dislikes, what brings us joy and who God has made us to be. God wants us to use our time and energy in discovering the plans He has for us, rather than trying to fit into everyone else’s expectations.
Today, instead of wondering ‘Am I good enough? Am I good looking enough? Will I fail? Will they like me?” Know that you are special and valuable to God; that He has a plan, and that He made you and thinks you are amazing. Then go and simply enjoy the day being you because “you” is pretty great.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”(1 Samuel 16:7)
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Prayer: Lord thankyou for making me who I am. Please help me to appreciate my uniqueness and to discover every day something new about myself, and about how you think about me. Thanks for loving me and making me who I am. In Jesus name Amen.