Welcome back for this weeks look at "Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl" by Lysa TerKeurst. Once again the chapter, "When I feel like I don't measure up" was a good one. Lysa sure has a way of making things real! As she shares about her attempt to earn the "superMom" award, which only led to failure in the end she brings up many good points and asks some powerful questions, she wrote,
"Satan delights in our feelings of inadequacy. He wants to help us stay there. He wants us to go to Bible study, learn the deep truths of God, leave all encouraged, and then come home and have a complete meltdown over ninety-seven brownies that didn't make the bake sale cut. He wants us to entertain a very dangerous thought: "Why doesn't Jesus work for me?"
She continues, "You see, if Satan can get us asking these kinds of questions, then we can easily justify distancing ourselves from God, once more reducing our relationship with Him to items on a checklist...But "Why doesn't Jesus work for me?" is never the right question. Instead, when circumstances shift and we feel like we fall short, we should ask, "How can I see Jesus even in this?"
The only way I can ask myself this question is when I pull back from whatever situation I'm facing and separate my circumstances from my identity."
Have you been there? Have you allowed your failures to define who you are? Have wrong thoughts and questions pushed you further away from God? I have. And if your honest my guess is you have to.
The wonderful thing is you don't have to stay there - that's the idea behind becoming more, God is constantly calling us, equipping us and maturing us. He doesn't intend for us to stay where we are at! As we journey towards more, we may fail again, but our situations will never change who we are - His daughter, one He loves!
So my friend, "we can take courage in John 15:9-11, where Jesus says, 'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete."
When you don't measure up, how do you remain in Him? Please share and join us again next week for a look at chapter 4, "Beyond Sunday Morning."
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I think I've lived much of my life feeling like I didn't measure up! Somebody was always better!! It has been a journey to move from this way of thinking and I'm grateful God continues to reveal His truth to me and remind me of who I am. As far as remaining in HIM, His word and time in prayer are vital!! And it also helps to look back and see how He has used struggles in the past, I know He will be faithful to use hard times again!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated what Lysa said, "If Satan can use our everyday experiences, both big and small, to cripple our true identity, then he renders God's people totally ineffective for the kingdom of Christ." She goes on to say that "Satan delights in our feelings of inadequacy" and that "he wants to help us stay there." She says to "pull back from whatever situation I'm facing and separate my circumstance from my identity."
ReplyDeleteShe reminded me that I should ONLY let Jesus measure my worth, not circumstances, people or even myself! We have to keep the bigger picture in mind, look beyond circumstances and stay focused. So thankful that God loves me and that I can choose to see Him working through all the circumstances in my life...making me the best me I can be!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts today, Jill. Very good study!!