Shadow

It seems like there have been too many times in my life where I have made one of the following statements to myself:

She is a better student than me.
She is a better athlete than me.
She is so much skinnier than me.
She is prettier than me.
She dresses so much better than me.
She is a much better wife than I could ever be.
She is a much better "youth minister's wife" than I could ever be.
She is a better mom than me.
She has a cleaner house than me.
She is a better cook than me.
She is a better hostess than me.
She is a better physical therapist than me.
She is better at saving money than me.

And, seriously the list goes on and on. It's pretty embarrassing to admit that I have spent much of my life comparing myself to others. My guess is that I'm not the only one. My guess is that we have all done this at some point. It's tough. It's tough to compare yourself to someone else and then feel like you never measure up. Don't get me wrong...I have a pretty good self-esteem. I have confidence in who I am and in who I am not. But, I STILL struggle. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. But, I'm still growing. I'm still unfolding into who God has created me to be.

These past few months our ladies' class at church has been studying Beth Moore's most recent Bible Study on Esther. This study has been very powerful and I highly recommend it to anyone who is ready to be challenged in your faith and in your relationship with our God. Today was the last video session and something that she said made so much sense to me and I want to share the jist of it with you. One of the "themes" of the study has been that it's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow. You think? Um...yes. Just look at my list above. Why do we feel as if we're always living in someone else's shadow? Maybe you just feel you can never measure up to a friend or a family member or even an enemy. Maybe you just feel that you aren't doing all that you can do. But, what makes you feel that way? It's because you see others that are "doing more." Guess what? We were not created for this. I was not created to constantly live in someone else's shadow. I was not created to "not measure up" in so many areas of my life. I was created to live in one shadow and one shadow only.

Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Yes, that's right - I only really live in one shadow and that is the shadow of the Almighty. I live in the shadow of the cross of Jesus. You know what that means? I'm saved. I'm worthy. I'm God's. I will not go through this life living in the shadow of another person, hiding behind others, or longing to be something I'm not. I will continue to grow in my relationship with my Almighty God and I will stay in His shadow. I will be who HE created ME to be!

Philippians 1:6 ...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Have a wonderful week. I know that our life is starting to get a little crazy with our summer schedule but it's so comforting to know that we go through this in His shadow and with His shelter.

And, thanks for bearing with me. There will be some picture blogs coming up soon. I promise!!!