Don’t Forget This 1 Thing
On March 16th, at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, TX, first lady Michelle Obama, in front of a packed crowd, spoke a message of education and empowerment for young girls. Regardless of your political stance or personal opinion of her, consider the magnitude and significance of Michelle Obama, the wife of the current president of the United States. As she leaned down low, and looked a self-doubting, self-degrading young girl directly in her weary eyes, she spoke life-giving words of empowerment. It would not be the words that would speak to the core of her being. Her heart and her soul would rise from pits and into purpose because of who it was that spoke into her and validated the importance of her existence.
I find this concept significant because we all fail at times to remember Who speaks to us, we forget Who formed us. God formed us and He longs to speak words of hope to us. The woman who steps in front of the mirror in the morning to make sure she has revealed enough cleavage to ensure she receives her dose of attention for the day, has forgotten. The young girl who spends hours scrolling through Instagram, envying the appearance of perfection she sees because it totally contradicts the imperfections she lives on a daily basis, has forgotten too. And the girl who believes she can cover up every hurt, heartache and tear with layers of foundation and expensive beauty pens, yes she has also forgotten.
So let us remember. Because we all struggle. We all have days when we look in the mirror and we don’t like what we see. We all have days when we don’t like what we hear, whether it’s our own voice or someone else’s. In those times, we have to change not only what we allow ourselves to hear and believe, but from whom we allow ourselves to hear and believe from.
We live in a sex-saturated world. A world that leans down low and looks us in our self-doubting and self-degrading weary eyes and feeds us lies. But regardless of how many lies people spoon feeds us, God’s truth will always be a superior detox.
If Michelle Obama’s words can light up the life of a young girl, what can the Word of God do for you? Please know this: you can’t just believe that His Words are good. You have to believe that He is good too!
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our God is not a God of imperfection. The imperfections that drown you are the pressures we place on ourselves when we make the culture around us our standard.
So don’t do it. Don’t forget this one thing: He created you. He knitted you together in your mother’s womb. Praise Him because you are fearfully and wonderful made; His works are wonderful and I pray that you know that full well (Psalm 139:13,14).
