[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]I want to share advice I would give my sister and friends from lessons I learned over the past few years… some the hard way 🙂
As a sister, let me save you some time and emotion.
When it comes to your confidence… you need to realize that there is nothing you could have now, nor will have that will make you a more confident person then who you are now. Your confidence is only a choice to believe in the originality of who God formed you to be when He knit you together in your mother’s womb. Hear me again… your confidence is a choice. Chose to be confident in who you are right now, in where you are right now, and most importantly in who God is now and forever. He will always remind you of who you are. Do not look to the left or right at your sisters and compare. God did not compare them to you when He created you, so your comparison will only bring forth things that are not of Him. Comparison is a tactic of the enemy. It attempts to steal your confidence, bring about jealously and insecurity. Remember you are strong. I believe that what God put in you is exactly what the world needs for such a time as this. His perfect love for you will eliminate any fear in sending you out in the world. Rise up to that call.
When things get scary… this is when your confidence in Him is really going to come into play. When things get scary you need to already know who HE is, so that you can be still, lock eyes, and know He has you. You’re definitely going to need a confident trust. Things will happen during your lifetime that will cause fear to want to flare up in you, and it will come in many forms. But my friend take heart; He will always be fighting on your behalf. Remember He sees it all, and HE is in control of it all. He is for you. When you are in a place of fear, everything in you will want to run, but I challenge you to run to it. It will build your confident trust in Him when you see that the very place that fear is, is the same place that fear will be conquered. Be encouraged by what God did for Moses, Joshua, Daniel and shoot, what He has done for me time and time again. When you let God lead, you might find yourself in some rather scary places, but remain steadfast in Him and confident that HE will bring provision and fight on your behalf. It’s in those times that miracles happen and nations change. Our definition of fear is the belief that something is a threat to you and will bring forth harm. Right now, instead of taking belief in fear, take belief in faith and know that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Nothing is a threat to the mighty hand of God.
When things in life change… even the angels who surround God day and night say, “Holy, holy, holy is He Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come.” When nothing feels constant in your life, He is he only thing that will remain the same. People will come and go, but HE will be forever, and there is not one thing that you could do to change that. He will send those angels on your behalf to encamp themselves around you. Even when you might sometimes feel alone, and the anxiety is tempted to spark up, remember that you are never truly alone. HE will consistently be there.
When you do not know truth from a lie… in the world you will always be faced with choices and temptations. The enemy’s plan is not original. He has done it since the first of us were created… Adam and Eve. The enemy will make you question the original truth. That’s why it is very important you remind yourself of the truth and are aware of the lies, otherwise they will begin to blend and you will find yourself in a place you were never meant to be in. Always remember what the enemy meant for evil God intended for good. Look at some of the things you are insecure about right now… stare them down… yeah that very thing may be just the thing God wants to use for your weapon of strength. Just shift your lens. Choose to no longer look at those things in your life as the problem, but look at them as the potential of something God wants to make good. You have to know scripture and know God to see that. Start reading it, so that you can start speaking it.
When you do not know where to go next… let His peace lead you. There will be moments that you will have to trust, and know that God’s peace will always meet you at every destination. His love knows no end. God will provide at every season the things you need, and He will match the pure desires of your heart. Be open-minded. What you think you need may not be best for where HE has you going, and what He will give will be what sets you a part for the purpose He has been waiting to reveal in you.
When love has hurt you … I want to tell you to not give up on love. I am sorry if you have heard the world throw out the word love, and it has hurt you and made you afraid of being known and afraid of stepping into relationships, but I want you to know God is the Redeemer. He is the creator, and He is the very essence of what Love is. When you experience the love that He created, you will experience freedom, you will fully be yourself, fully be known, and fear will be far away. Perfect love is only found with God our Father on this side of heaven. We are flawed; sometimes we hurt one another, and we have to ask for forgiveness, but be encouraged that love is real and those who know God know love. We can be made more perfect in His love. I love looking in the Bible at how Jacob pursued Rachel. Wait for that. You deserve someone who will wait for you, who will pursue you. Also, in a dating relationship don’t spend time fighting over the things that “MIGHT” happen in the future because looking back I believe that is just a tactic that the enemy will use to steal your present time. I regret the years of arguing over the future that never even came to be. The truth is you don’t know the future, and God’s word tells us not to worry about tomorrow that it will take care of itself. Be in the present, experience God’s perfect love and don’t give up on loving His people.
When it comes to beauty… you look in the mirror and do not feel beautiful do you? The reason you have not recognized beauty when you go to the mirror every day is because beauty was not what you have been looking for… that is why you have been missing it. You were looking for an image the world gave you, and you limited the definition of beauty to the standard the world gave you. The trick to the world’s definition of beauty is an unrealistic standard set to compare and compete, and we always need more or less of something to obtain the standard. It will send you on a journey to obtain this, but you will never really reach it because there actually is not a realistic image to reach. The trends will always keep you feeling like you’ve just missed. If you hold to tightly to the standards of the world for beauty you will never feel beautiful. It’s designed to always make you feel not quite there because it’s not real, and it wasn’t God’s design. When God created you, He created a work of art… not meant to be compared to any other form of creation. The image of beauty you were designed to reach is right in front of you. He created a new. original design for the world to get the joy of seeing. Go look around and you will not find one other piece of creation that looks exactly like you. Right where you are you will find all the beauty in the world and understanding this, you will find long lasting contentment. I hope you are reminded of what beauty is. You are beautiful because you were created in the image of God. There is no one else like you. Who you were made to be is more than enough than for what this world needs and I hope my dog love wet puppy food. You were born lacking no good thing, so never feel the urge to strive
Now, sisters and friends I want you to do something… go look in the mirror… take off the lens you have had on of insecurity, jealously, comparison, negativity, and self hatred… and stare at yourself. You are all together beautiful, my darling. Wow, He takes such great delight in you. Look at the color of your eyes, look at the strands of your hair, and look at the unique shapes and features. He made you and you are exactly how HE intended you to be. He created those details in your mother’s womb, details no other person on the earth has so He could reveal a new image of beauty and another side of Him. On this day for the rest of your life, choose to turn your eyes away from the ideal standard of what is supposed to make you confident, and choose to fix your eyes on the one who gave you the look He did to carry out with confidence.
Do you remember what beauty was to you before the world showed you what it says it’s supposed to be? Regain your confidence in that, because the truth is the world needs more of that and that’s why He made you as you are. You are lovely, desirable, chosen, called, purposed, a child, and deeply loved with great intention.
One last note, I want to send you off this summer with this: good times and bad times will pass, so really be intentional with your time. There is no time to waste. Don’t wait till your older and don’t wish you were younger. You are who you are and you are where you are so thrive in it, babe.
Oh and one more thing… something I have come to realize with God … If He can stop the waves of the ocean with just once touch then He can stop the waves of my emotion with just one touch and He has time and time again. When you feel overwhelmed just reach to Him.
I love ya girl – I get you girl – I’m with you girl
xo Sadie Rob[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
I came to know you Sadie from the Finding Freedom Bible Study series and I absolutely love the truth that God speaks through you! It’s so genuine and down to earth. It’s raw and relevant all the way. I hate that there’s so many insecurities inside me that cause me to resent, become jealous, compare myself or be tempted to shut down. The truth of the matter comes down to the lie we’ve all been taught to believe, that’s become so heavily engrained in us that when truth is spoken it can bring out the worst in us. I suppose to then give us the opportunity to choose which ‘version of truth’ we will believe. It certainly challenges the lies and makes us feel uncomfortable but it’s only in these places that change really occurs. So, thank you for taking courage in Christ and embracing the journey He has lead, and is leading you through. Your person changes, discoveries and convictions are causing a universal cleansing to raise up women after God’s own heart.
Blessings to you as you continue to powerfully and purposefully encourage and help set God’s children free.