I am taking the week off from blogging. I have been writing a new book and my fingers are tired y'all! I am thrilled to have Melissa share her story in my place however. Her transparent experience with embracing her worth is a message I hope you will allow to sink deep int your hearts today.
I love the way God works. How He develops relationships that we never even had on our radar. A while back, I started down the path of developing one of those relationships. I trusted God with the friendship and the depths that I was being called into and watched that relationship bloom into more than I expected. Over the months, I slowly began to share some of my inner struggles, most specifically about my long time struggle with confidence. I shared that I was forever unsure about everything I had done in my life, from my previous job choice of being a teacher, to my choice of becoming a stay-at-home (twice), to my current creative journey as a photographer, and about whether or not I felt I was ever really “good enough” at anything. While my friend never said much that day, she continually lifted me up and clearly stored our conversation away in her memory.
When my birthday rolled around, my friend, learning through our relationship that words of affirmation is one of my love languages, gave me a journal. In it, she wrote me a note. She told me that when I shared with her my lack of confidence, she couldn’t help but question God as to how and why I would feel that way. She went on to say many kind things about me, all of which brought me to tears, as the words of God through a trusted friend often do. She concluded her note by saying this: “You are an incredible bright light and you’re the only one that doesn’t know it.”
While I obviously struggle with this, what I knew in that moment, and felt sure God was working to show me, was that I am NOT the only one that doesn’t know this. You see, there are likely dozens of women that struggle just as I do with their self worth. They struggle to believe that who they are or what they are doing is enough. They struggle to know if what they have become, or are currently becoming, is enough. I want you to hear that God is very clear on this. He made both you and me in His image. We are His creation. He breathed His breath into us to give us life. He calls us GOOD - Tob in Hebrew, which means beautiful, pleasant, rich, better, best. We are incredible because HE said so - not because we somehow have reached “enough” status.
While I still struggle most days to think that I am enough, I have to remember that God is always enough and an incredible creator. When I look around and see all that He made, I am in awe. I think about the end of Job, when God made it very clear what a great and mighty creator he is. Who am I to question if what He created, specifically me, is enough? Who am I to doubt anything God made? Do I question God’s other creations? Are the mountains high enough or the oceans deep enough? Of course those things are enough and I don’t question them. Because I know that what God makes is GOOD, very good, and MORE than enough.
I want to leave you with one final thought for the next time you might struggle with wondering if you are “enough”. I recently read the book Wild and Free by Christian authors Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan, where the topic of women’s self-worth is a big focus. Here is something Jess said that has really stuck with me: “When we critique ourselves or discount ourselves, we are doing the very opposite of worship. ... We are flat-out telling God He is wrong.” (Connolly, Jess. Morgan, Haley. Wild and Free. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2016.) She later gave this visual: “Can you picture them in heaven - the great crowd of sister witnesses cheering you on? Eve. Sarah. Mary. Rahab. Deborah. Abigail. Anna. Leah. Lydia. Rachel. Ruth. Martha. Hagar. Esther. Tabitha. Zipporah. One by one, hundreds by hundreds, thousands by thousands. Lining eternity, ever worshiping - and cheering YOU on. They have the blessed viewpoint of knowing what's really important in the end, and they want you to keep your eyes on the prize.” (Connolly, Jess. Morgan, Haley. Wild and Free. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2016.)
I promise you friends, we are God’s creation, and that is enough.
Melissa Kayser is a documentary family photographer, whose mission through her photography is to get families reconnected to each other and abide in God's love, so they can find rest in Christ. You can find her work at www.abidingmomentsphotography.com, and follow her on Facebook or Instagram.