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We are Daughters: Our Identity Rescued

07.26.2016 by Erin Thompson //

Perspective_Issue GuestI always felt like the fat girl. Like King Kong amid the skyline of New York City, I imagined myself gigantic in comparison to my other high school friends. Prom only heightened the issue. As I posed for group photos, I would try to tuck myself behind the other girls. I did my best to suck in and shrink down.

In my twenties, I looked back at those group photos. Guess what? I looked just like all the other girls. I was not nine feet tall and five feet wide. This moment of revelation proved that how I saw myself was not reality. I had a false sense of self.

Questions began stirring in my soul, and I began a personal journey. What is true? How does God see me? Who am I to him? Am I beautiful? Does my life have worth? Am I accepted? Am I secure? Am I a failure? What has happened to my identity? Did it get lost or was it stolen? If so, how could what was taken from me be restored?

So that is where the journey began—the journey to rescue my identity in Christ and recover my value as a daughter of the King.

I cannot expound on all that God has transformed in my identity, but the central theme is experiencing the reality that I am a child of God.

His daughter.

His.

We might sing of it in church or think a thought in our heads. But do we know—not just with our head but with all of our heart—that we belong to the Maker of the universe and the Master-craftsman of our souls.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

The right.

The right!

The right to become children of God was given to us upon believing and receiving God’s forgiveness and leadership in our lives.

Has something distracted us from that right?

Maybe an emotion or an experience. Maybe a sin or a situation.

If we have asked Jesus to be our Savior and our King, no emotion or experience, sin or situation, is capable of removing that right given to us. For nothing is more powerful than his Spirit sealed within us by his shed blood.

But beyond the right to be God’s child, we receive a Father.

“And I will by your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:18)

Sadly, the mention of the “F” word up there might surface pain, regret, fear, anger, or anxiety for you. And your picture of God as a good Father could be blurred by the shadow of an earthly example. I am so sorry. I pray that healing and hope, protection and provision, would be yours in the days and months to come.

But when my vision is blurry and my emotions hazy, I try to seek the light of Truth to reveal the true picture.

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you…
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you. (Isaiah 43:1-2, 4)

For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8, emphasis mine)

Read these verses again. Slowly. Let each word sink into your soul and start to shed light on the type of Dad God desires to be to You.

Protecting.

Providing.

Present.

Powerful.

Passionate.

Yours.

You are his, and he is yours.

You have a Dad.

We have a Dad. Our good, loving, present Father. It is our right to be his!

 

Father, take the broken and rebuild it. Take the separated and renew it. Take the pilfered and replace it. Rescue our identity. Restore our value. Lead us out of the darkness of doubt into the light that you are our good, present, loving Father.

~Love, Your Daughters

 

Guest Signature Erin T

Categories // Guest Perspectives, Life, Perspective Tags // Body image, Daughters, Daughters study, Erin Nicole Thompson, God, Identity, Perspective

A Quick Glance in the Mirror

06.02.2016 by Kim Findlay //

Today it’s my turn (Kim’s) to add a few more thoughts on allowing God to change our perspective.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? What words would you use to describe your reflection? Your true self? Do the words that play in your mind describe your appearance, your actions, or your character? Do they build you up or tear you down?

Words are powerful. They have the ability to destroy and to heal. They change how we see others and how we see ourselves. Because those words we default to, the ones that creep into our fears and insecurities, they matter.

There are days when it’s easier to believe the words that are audibly spoken to us, regardless if they’re accurate or true. The challenge, if we really want to embrace the shift in perspective of how we view ourselves, is to believe the words God speaks over you.

Words of love.

Words of grace.

Words of compassion.

Where do you find those words? Where can you turn when the words screamed at you seem more real, more true than anything else?

God’s Word. His love letter to you, to us.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3, NIV

Soak in His truth. Believe His promises. Allow His words to be the ones you hear each time you gaze in the mirror, for you are dearly loved.

How is God changing your perspective about yourself?

Categories // Life, Perspective Tags // Body image, God's daughter, Grace, hope, Love, Perspective

Mirror, Mirror, What do You See?

05.17.2016 by Kim Findlay //

Here at Facets of Faith, we’ve been talking about how God has changed our perspective of ourselves. While our stories are unique, one thing binds us together: God’s redemptive work. He took broken women and created something new, something beautiful. Tracy and Jennifer shared earlier this month so be sure to check them out by clicking on their name. Otherwise, today it’s my turn (Kim) to share.

Perspective May Kim

It was a few days after my oldest daughter married the love of her life. Her wedding was beautiful. Her dress, the ceremony and location, their love. I may be partial but I don’t believe there was ever a more beautiful bride. She experienced a lot of loss growing up, so to see her filled with joy warmed this momma’s heart.

Pictures from the day had started to show up on Facebook and through texts. Stunning pictures of the bride and groom surrounded by their wedding party; magazine-worthy shots of the happy couple; even the storm clouds from that day seemed a magnificent backdrop for their wedding photos.

My heart swelled with joy as I gazed upon each picture until . . .

Joy quickly turned to embarrassment as I stared at the woman standing next to my beautiful daughter in one of those pictures.

Her ill-fitting dress.

Her pudgy arms.

Her plump body.

Shame flooded my face as I realized who I was looking at: me. Scrutinizing what I saw, questions assaulted me. Did I really look like that? That dress? My hair? What was I thinking?

Funny, thinking back I thought I looked nice the day of the wedding. Maybe not as nice as I had several years earlier after losing a significant amount of weight. But since then I had walked through a divorce. Aside from losing my youngest daughter in a house fire, nothing had come so close to completely breaking me. The pounds crept back on as I wrestled to find my identity, my value, even my worth.

Honestly, I felt like an utter failure during that season of my life. Words spoken in anger became the tape I played over and over. I longed to embrace God’s view of me, to believe what He said, but all I could see was where I’d failed.

And now it felt as if the picture displayed every flaw I held. A chorus of condemnation rang in my head.

Mirror, Mirror, what do you see?
I see a middle-aged, overweight woman looking at me.

Mirror, Mirror, what do you see?
I see a broken, unrepairable woman looking at me.

Mirror, Mirror, what do you see?
I see shame & grief & sorrow looking at me.

Tears flowed as I continued to look at that picture. Until slowly, another voice joined in. At first, the words were but a whisper.

You are treasured.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The whispers grew louder, stronger.

You are loved.

You are mine.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1, NLT

You see pudgy arms but I see arms that have wrapped your children in love.

You see an ill-fitting dress but I see a woman draped in My glory.

You see a plumb body but I see a woman pursuing Me, fear-filled broken heart and all.

Gradually, the truth of God’s Word gently washed over me, shifting my gaze from my physical body to what He had been cultivating in my heart. Healing work. Holy work. Redeeming work.

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7, NLT

I took a deep breath and looked at another picture. I remember the moment this one was snapped: it was just before the ceremony began and I stood in front of my daughter with my arms wide. She held tightly to my hands as the reality of the marriage commitment dawned in her eyes. I stood there, ready to embrace her, to try and bear some of the weight of her struggle. Instead, I watched my daughter stand firm while she learned to find her own balance.

As I took in the tender moment captured in print, I realized the size of my triceps no longer mattered, nor did the fit of my dress, or the shape of my body. She mattered, my sweet girl who had endured so much. We mattered, the sorrow we survived and the joy we welcomed together. I mattered. Not because of my physical appearance but because I was made in His image, and I am His.

And so are you.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10, NLT

What do you struggle to believe about yourself? Are you willing to allow God’s truth change your perspective?

Kim Signature

Categories // Life, Perspective Tags // Body image, Grace, hope, Perspective, wedding

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