Confidence in how God sees us...

We have all faced moments where our character and integrity has been questioned and misconstrued by people we love and respect. By family, close friends,  co-workers... People you can't believe feel or see you in a way they do.

There have been moments in my life this has happened to me, my husband, even my children and I sit back crushed crying out "I can't believe that is how they think I really am." "I thought they knew me/you/us."

I then dwell on it feeling utterly crushed. I feel insecure and question everything I say or do. "Will it come across right?" "Will my heart really be seen/heard?" "Why am I (we) being looked/thought about in such a way that is not us at all?"

It's in those self destructing moments God whispers, "Stop my child... that is exactly what Satan wants you to think! STOP looking for the approval of others and how they view this or that about this situation or that situation! Have you stopped to ask me is that how I view it? Have you stopped to ask if I view your heart(s) that way? Have you asked if I am in agreeance with them? Shouldn't my opinion matter more!?"

I think why some of our answers are no to those questions asked by God is because we are human and sinful and thanks to the fall we feel built up when those we care about and respect see us in a way that is glorifying to God. It hurts when they don't. We let those moments tear us down instead of turning to God to build us up and to be reminded it only matters how he sees us and knows how where our hearts truly are.

I was reading in my God time this morning on this very matter (isn't awesome how God brings exactly what he wants your heart to hear at just the moment your soul needs it the most!!) and God kept reminding me to have confidence in Him that he speaks on our behalf. He fights the battles of misreadings and we are to walk with confidence in who we are in Him. Who HE sees us to be when it comes out that others view us wrongly. That we need to turn our hearts away from that sinful "looking for approval of others" back to being aligned with God once again and only care about how HE views us.

After all, wasn't even Jesus' heart, words, and actions also wrongly accused and looked down upon badly at times as well? Yet he kept his head up and walked with confidence because he knew God saw him as he truly was/is.

So, take heart... the view of others isn't the end of the world. God views you different and knows all sides. He will fight the battle for you, even if it doesn't turn out as you thought, he has a plan and a reason.

Whether it is family, friends, work, or life in general remember to walk boldly with confidence. You are a child made in the image of Christ and even if the world doesn't view your heart for what it is/was in a particular situation, God does!

And that is all that matters!

Jeremiah 17: 5-10

This is what the lord says:

“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,

who rely on human strength

and turn their hearts away from the lord.

6They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,

with no hope for the future.

They will live in the barren wilderness,

in an uninhabited salty land.

7“But blessed are those who trust in the lord

and have made the lord their hope and confidence.

8They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.

9“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

10But I, the lord, search all hearts

and examine secret motives.

I give all people their due rewards,

according to what their actions deserve.”