With a good bit of windshield time this week, it has allowed me to see many facets of God’s artistry. I have seen mountains, lakes, rivers, the Atlantic Ocean, countryside, beach, sunrises, sunsets, a thunderstorm, and bright, beautiful, sunshiny days. No human could create the magnificence of all of those things. The diversity of texture, color, light, and movement blesses and stimulates the senses, which affects your very emotions. The Lord’s creation inspires awe, which triggers worship.
When you worship the God of creation, you are either all in, or you haven’t fully grasped who it is that you worship. You cannot effectively appreciate or communicate the greatness of God if you say there are exceptions to the perfection of His creation – God did great, except for…
Since personal esteem/value has been an ongoing challenge for me since middle school, I am open to the Lord’s reminders that His opinion is the only one that matters – and He thinks I am a priceless treasure. This week’s reminder: self-deprecation and judgment are behavioral obsessions that focus inward, creating an unhealthy fixation on yourself. When one is consumed with this malady, attaining any measure of success and feeling unconditional love from the Lord and those around you doesn’t break the absorption in self-focus. When you constantly look at yourself this intently, it breeds a critical spirit that is never satisfied. You become your own idol as you spend more time and attention on yourself than on anyone or anything else in your life. Comparison becomes the name of the game. Any perceived shortcoming becomes a voodoo pin you stick in yourself, contributing to the feeling of being “less than”. You are essentially saying, “God did great except for…me.”
This is a lie from the enemy. The way to refute a lie is to shine the light of Jesus on it. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light…Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” Ephesians 5:8,11
If God made us in His image, gave EVERYTHING for us, and lives in us…we are criticizing the Master Creator when we say He didn’t do a good enough job on us and that He should have done things differently. We belittle Jesus’s sacrifice when we say we don’t have any worth. We degrade the home of the Holy Spirit when we talk badly about ourselves, His favorite creation! “You crowned [mankind] with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” Hebrews 2:7
If/when you struggle with your worth – re-read the bullet points above. There is a God who not only created you but also showed you how much He values you. Now, look at ALL of creation and meditate on the glory of it. It all points to the artistry, and magnificence, and splendor, and glory of God, you and I included. “For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen!” Romans 11:36
