I am on a journey. At 42 years of age, I am re-discovering who I am. I say re-discovering because I’ve taken this journey before. Sadly, though, my first go at this led me into all kinds of mess, because the guide I chose was not God, but myself, and I was more convinced by the culture around me than the design placed within me.
Thankfully, I survived that journey, but not without a few telling marks. Mine is a tragic story of a long walk in the wrong direction. But there has come a turning point for me! God has been faithful enough to not give up on me! And He has led me to a divine fork in the road, where I have been graced with the choice to know something more than what I have discovered so far.
In truth, I am a little embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to even begin consciously searching out who I really am. I am a wife, with many children. I have influence in the lives of many other young women. How on earth have I expected to serve in any real and beneficial capacity in such roles without really knowing who I am? That is a question I’ve surrendered to God’s incredible ability to take my insufficiency and infuse it with His all-sufficient goodness and power. Somehow, as ignorant as I’ve been, He has blessed me to be able to serve others and not lead them astray. As I’ve submitted myself to Him, He has made something out of the confusion and chaos of my inner life.
That being said, I am being called out of that inner chaos now, and I sense a divine reordering of proportions I cannot quite fathom. All I know is that it’s time for me to come into full alignment with the design which God has made for me. I have been on the potter’s wheel for many years, but I sense, in this season, that the shape and design which He has always had in mind are finally going to become visible to me, so that my cooperation will have something more to agree with than merely blind but trusting obedience.
What I want to share about this new season, in the hopes that you will look forward to your own such season (and possibly be inspired and encouraged to run toward it sooner), is that, as a woman created by God, you and I have designer labels. I used to spurn designer labels because I thought them a waste of money and an unnecessary fuss over a simple name. But as I step into this journey of discovering what womanhood means in the eyes of God, and who I am in light of that, I get it. We reach for the finer things because we long to be finer women, women set apart, distinguished by value. There is something in us that understands the value of a name, and the power of such a name to elevate our status and impact our confidence.
How I pray that, as I begin to discover who I am, as a woman bearing the designer label of God – made in His image and likeness – I will understand the value of His Name, and its power to elevate not my status, but my purpose in life. I pray that it will impact not only my confidence, but my influence in the lives of other women. I pray that the discovery of who I am will lead more women into the discovery of who they are, and that designer jeans and handbags will become for us more than an outward manifestation of the cry of our hearts, more than a way to dress up the insecure search for more value and confidence.
We are stamped with the name of the One Who Created us as a masterpiece of His perfection! May we become all that He has intended for us to be, and so mark the world with the design He has created in us. I look forward to sharing insights with you on this journey, and I hope you will join me as I open my life up to the Master’s plan: that we may be true women, made in the image and likeness of our Creator.
“We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God’s idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be.” -Elisabeth Elliot
Here’s a link for more encouragement on the journey: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/true-woman/blog/
Photo Credits: Courtesy of http://www.pixabay.com
She Dances Over Graves 