God’s Workmanship

Last week, I wrote a few quick notes in my journal. I was running late for work, something that is engrained in my DNA I think. Of course, I had all of these thoughts and feelings running through me, but did not have time to write them all down. Quickly, I wrote down a few of them: I heard someone say one time, “I came to meet Jesus and love him because I first loved the people that invited me in, that showed me kindness and grace.” And I thought to myself, others see God’s people before they see him. People come to know Jesus because of His people. I wrote down these verses as a reference, 1 John 3:11-24. I encourage you to go read them and grasp the full concept of what God is saying. I wrote down these words in the margin, “WOW THE TRUTH.” And from the verses I was reminded, God is love and as His people, He calls us to love one another, so deeply that they may come to know him.

Today, as God would have it, I came back to this idea. I came back to thoughts about my purpose, to who I am, and to my inner struggle of what society says and what God says all around the idea of being confident in His love. So confident that I live for His glory in all that I do and say.

The foundation of that confidence comes from who I am in God, who God created me to be. I am God’s workmanship. I am beautifully made. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 In my devotional this morning, this quote was referenced on the idea of the word workmanship, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see” -Edgar Degas. God created me not to be someone to draw attention to myself, rather to help others see God. Seems kind of daunting if you ask me, yet, I believe something that we are all called to do, but struggle to know where to begin. For me today, I decided to start with myself. Start with being foundationally confident in who I am in God because this concept that we are so beautifully made, that we were created in Christ, but not just to be, to live into, to walk in, it is convicting and intriguing all at the same time.

What Edgar Degas says about art reminds me of a song, unfortunately I cannot tell you the name of the song, but if you figure it out, please let me know. Anyway, in the song I am thinking of there is a the lyric that goes something like this, “that they saw you in me.” The point is made that this singer did not want the glory, he just wanted others to see Christ in him. That is the kind of life I want to live. To be so confident in who I am in Christ, in who He made me to be, that those around me see His love, feel His love, and grow in His love. Which, brings me back to my inner struggle between what society says and what God says on this concept of beauty.

It is hard. I am human and I want to look good in the clothes I buy. I want to have whiter teeth, better hair, and a skinnier body sometimes. I love my tan skin in the summer, but when the paleness of winter sets in, I can’t wait to get to the beach. I struggle in my striving to be better, to want more out of myself, to work harder and be enough. I want to be a better teacher, a better daughter, a better friend, a better Christian, a better woman. I struggle with all of this based on what society says is beautiful. Based on what I see around me, what instagram tells me. And in my self-reflection this morning, I am called out. Because, does any of that matter? Is any of that what God says is my purpose or who God says I am? NOPE. My purpose, the bigger purpose for all of us, is to let God’s light shine so brightly that others see Him in us. So that the people around us feel loved, feel joy, feel peace. Not from what I do, but from what He does in and through me. How I look and all of the striving, God doesn’t care. He wants me exactly as I am today, in this moment. He is The Way and He created me, I am His Child. He is the light and love this world desperately needs more of. And when I feel the enemy telling me that I am not beautiful, I turn to God. I fight with the truth that He has given me, that I am grounded in:

…I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Psalm 139:14

That is the foundation of who I am in God. I am God’s workmanship, not for my glory, but for His. Because in Him, there is hope, love, peace, and joy.

5With love and blessings,