He is truly pleased with me! Oh yeah, that's right, uh huh! Ok, I may or may not be doing the jig right now (you'll never know ~ unless you know me, and that would mean that yes, yes I am doing the jig, because, well, that's what I do!) So at the very moment I feel that I am failing completely and irrevocably, the God of this Universe took the time to whisper that He loves me and He is truly pleased with me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked. That whisper made my heart jump! How can YOU be pleased with me? I complain, I stagger backwards with every step I take, I get angry, I am sad, and I sin. And that was just this morning! Not really, but on any given day pick three from the above list and you'd be correct! But here's where He got me. He said,
"But look at where you began, then look at where you are now. And know that I was pleased with you where you began...just as I am truly pleased with you now. Because I knew where you would begin, and I knew that you would get to here, so why would I not be pleased? There is beauty in all of it and it was all in my plan. You are my plan."
I realized then, and even more-so today that I constantly look at where I'm not ~ instead of how far I've grown. I see what I don't have ~ not the bountiful blessings that surround us with every breath that enters our lungs. I see all that I am not ~ instead of seeing what He see's ~ a perfect creation who is exactly who she was made to be at this moment in time. I see the steps I take backward ~ not the HUGE steps taken forward. All in all, I am not giving myself enough credit. I am not celebrating the deeper relationship I now have with my Father, which has slowly changed me in MANY ways! Looking back I realize that the changes have been huge! And while it took me almost 30 years to do the damage, I need to give Him at least a few more years for perfection!
He also reminded me that when I look in the mirror and criticize, I am criticizing His creation. He made me beautiful ~ for eternity. Now, while getting out of bed this morning at 7am, after being up from 3 till mmmm, about 6:00 ~ I can tell you I might not have felt very beautiful at that moment! But upon prying my eyes open and splashing some cold water in my face, I was reminded of His words ~ I'm very beautiful to Him, inside and out. Who am I to question Him? Ok God, if you say so, I guess I'm beautiful (I say with a sheepish little grin).
The point is ~ it's ok. It's all ok, no matter what. If God is for you, who can be against you? And God is for me. God loves me, and that will never change ~ He will never forsake me. So no matter how I struggle in my marriage or with addictions or with patience or with finances or with... (you fill in the blank), it is ok. God is with me, God loves me, God will provide, and in Him there is such abundant joy to be found. His ways are not our ways, so while it is ok to question our lives (I actually encourage you to do so because "an unexamined life is not worth living" ~ Socrates), it is not ok to question the purpose of this life. Whether or not I deserve life or whether or not I want to be here ~ these are not up for examination. Because God has a purpose in each and every one of us, and He is very pleased with each of us, for one reason or another ~ a reason we may not even recognize! But He is pleased. God is pleased with me. Yeah, that's plenty for today, for this moment. Father you are enough...more than enough.
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