June 17, 2019
There are people in this world who don’t like me. They don’t like you either. Despite our best efforts or most honorable intentions, they opt out of being on our team. For some, I’m too much; for others I’m too little. I may have the wrong religion, political views or family dynamic. It may be my hair, my skin, my face, my weight- the way I say tomato or the way I don’t say pecan. For the ultimate people pleaser or the quintessential perfectionist, it’s a tough pill to swallow. How can I fix it and make it better? When the answer is no and nothing, I feel compromised and vulnerable and lost. It’s a tough truth for women- the fact that there will be people out there who simply don’t want to root them on or to be a part of their village. But, it’s a life truth that Jesus knew all to well. From the man who came to pay for the wrongs he didn’t commit, to be tortured and ridiculed, to be on the cross, to being a source of contention and hate 2000 years later- if anyone gets this dilemma, it’s our God. I think that’s why He encourages us to be so vigilant in the study of His word. To recognize that despite our best efforts, there will still be resistance, there will still be people who see death where we see life, who deny you their love and their respect for no other reason than their own demons. The fact of the matter is that’s a pain we have to hold this side of heaven- but the hope is in the truths given in His word. The life and the freedom found in the blood of the cross. The glue that can piece back together the broken. So I read His word when I’m feeling uneven and off-kilter by the wrongs I didn’t deserve and the ones I didn’t see coming. I see it as His love in me, to me and living through me. It’s the hope when I can’t seem to make it right. The peace when I fail. The promise when I am rejected. I may not be everyone’s favorite. I may never be liked by some people; but I am also loved beyond measure by the One true king. I am deemed holy and worthy by my Lord. I am valuable and held tightly in the arms of my Savior. And that’s enough, sweet sister. That’s always, always enough. Amen.
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