What God sees in you

Personal Photo: I fell in love with tulips a few years ago; they are just so lovely and unique. I can't help but feel as though God views us in this way. That He works on the inside of us, so that we can bloom when He says it is time to. We never know the impact of what God is doing within us, and thinking about how important it is that we focus on what is coming, rather than what we are right now.

A few months ago, I wrote an article titled, 'God sees you,' which focused on when no one else sees the good we do, the efforts we make, the edits we make of ourselves, the ways we help others, etc. In that article, I wanted to remind us all that God sees us, He recognizes us, and He loves when we give of ourselves. This week, I want to consider not just that God sees us, but what He sees in us. We are His children, yes, but what does this mean, and how can we use the potential that God sees in us to influence and encourage us to stay firm in our roots of faith. This can be quite a challenge, when the world we live in is constantly looking to distract our focus and shake our faith. Truly, in our world of social media, tv ads, wayward movies, peer pressure, and societal unacceptance, we live in a culture that breeds unhappiness. I think that too often we find ourselves caught up in the whirlwind of it all, our peace gone, and chasing after an identity that we are trying to make our own.

My work week was a particularly hectic one and more than once, I found myself out and about, meeting new people, trying to keep up with the fast pace of the industry in which I work. I wound up at a country club, in a ballroom, and out to a steakhouse just this week. While the experiences are ones that help me learn, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I didn't belong. I like my quiet country evenings, my home cooked meals, my small-town home, and the simplicities of life. No one exactly loves to feel like a fish out of water, and putting yourself out there is exhausting, but I found myself in these moments looking for the Holy Spirit, seeking His validation for the person that I am and the things that I cannot relate to some of my peers about. What I found in the discomfort of these experiences was a strength that I think many of us overlook in ourselves. I have learned that when we bring the authenticity of who we are with us wherever we go, we find that the Holy Spirit has a better chance to use us for His glory and we find peace in the discomfort. Therefore, I wanted to take this article and consider this strength, focus on what God sees in us, how we can see it in ourselves as well, and use our spiritual identity as a way to leave a lasting impact in our life and in the lives of others.

When I think about what God sees in you, what He sees in me, I cannot help but think of Genesis 1:27, where we are told that "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Here we are told that we are created in God's image, that He sees Himself in us. When we welcome the Holy Spirit, when He has a home in our souls, God can see Himself working in us, can see His hand shaping our lives. The good that is in us, the conscious that we listen to, the intuition that we feel when something is just a little off kilter-- these are all the Holy Spirit. And sometimes we can fall off this wagon, can tune out God, can make us more unrecognizable to Him when we do not give Him the space He seeks in our hearts and minds. In this way, we can see the significance of appreciating how we are built, Who created us, and so on. To take it one step further, Ephesians 2:10 explains that "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." We are creations of the Lord, and He put great care into crafting us, not missing one single detail. We were not carelessly thrown together, but instead we were built for His purpose, built to be the Lord's precious child, and He has created us with love. This changes the way we interpret those moments where we feel as though we are a fish out of water, doesn't it? The value of our presence is not defined by our peers, by the media we consume, but rather we are valuable because we are God's workmanship. It helps find that peace when we are thrown off balance.

Speaking of peace, it has become clear that authenticity goes hand in hand with peace. What I mean by this is that we are often restless, uncomfortable, and unsatisfied when we are going through growing pains of life, trying to navigate uncharted territories, and straying from the person that God has called us to be. The quicker we realize that the harmless quirks that make us who we are, the preferences we have, the things that build our personality are all things that we can trace back to God, we find peace. And just as important, we have to recognize that if we have traits, habits, or preferences that do not trace back to God, that they are part of the turbulence in our lives. Identifying first that the definition of our authenticity comes from the Lord's dictionary and not our own is crucial in finding peace. And when we are able to find God's form of authenticity in our life, we find peace with it, peace with our differences from others, strength that the Holy Spirit brings along with that authenticity, faith in why we are unique, and so on. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us of this when we are told, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Here there is no doubt that we should be placing our trust in God and how He will transform our hearts and souls. This knowledge can turn our moments of awkwardness into opportunities to see how God will use us for His glory, chances to seek His peace in the authenticity of who He has called us to be, and more.

What this article is really about is our identity in Christ. How we define ourselves in a world of distractions and unrealistic expectations meant to only disappoint us. It is easy to get caught up in chasing other people's identities. Social media is a perfect example of how we compare ourselves and our lives to the edited, filtered, selected view of others that we see. We find ourselves unsatisfied with our looks, our homes, our hobbies, our relationships, our jobs, and more. And it is not just in social media, but when we are in the world, when we are around others, receiving judgement for things about us that we never gave a second thought to, when we are trying to navigate new experiences, and so on. The noise of the world is overwhelming, telling us to focus on it, spend time in it, and to give our power to it. The world is constantly telling us that who we are in Christ is not enough, and we need to feel bad about the pieces of us that make us unique. Because of this, we can often forget what we are told in Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." This verse is truly where the heart of the message lies; when we focus on what God sees in us, that He sees His beloved children, He sees a vessel for His glory, He sees His own workmanship, we can find peace with feeling like a fish out of water with our peers; we can realize that our individuality is what makes us an important commodity in this world. God made each one of us as His children, and when He looks at us, He can see the gifts, the intricacies, the details that He chose for us. We do not have to whittle ourselves away to fit the image that the world deems acceptable, but rather, we can find peace in the ways God is carving us to be more and more like Him.

Finding peace with the authenticity of God's work in us can help us accept the person we are, the ways that our unique identity separate us from the pack, how it gives us the chance to teach and show people about the love of Christ, and see every experience we are in and every person we meet in a different way. Because of 1 Samual 16:7, we know that "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." The more that we harness the potential of God's grace in our lives, we strive to quiet the sinful nature of our flesh, the closer we become to Him. We are precious in God's eyes, and when we seek the authenticity of our identity in Christ, we do not abuse God's love. The truth is that our identity in Christ is the single most important factor in finding peace. Accepting who the Lord has called us to be, tracing all of our thoughts back to God, and keeping our hearts and minds aligned with what He sees in us, rather than what the world tries to call our attention to, all bring us to a place of empowerment, of calm, and of faith in how God will use us for His glory.