The other night while watching a church service on the television, I saw something that intrigued me. The cameraman was focusing on some of the people in the audience and he focused on a young woman. She was a lovely young woman who was smiling at something the preacher was saying. She had a beautiful smile but the moment she realized the camera was on her, she stopped smiling. I watched as the young woman suddenly became self-conscious and uncomfortable. I felt sorry for her, knowing I would have felt the same way. I think it is safe to say a lot of us would have reacted the same way.
What intrigued me and stayed with me, even hours later as I thought about it, was the fact the fact that she was a lovely young woman with a beautiful smile. She had no reason to feel so suddenly shy and insecure. Her appearance did not change because a camera was pointed at her. What changed was the way she felt about herself! One minute she was comfortably smiling in her seat with no one paying any attention to her and the next she was on camera. Suddenly, people were looking at her and it made a world of difference to her!
Now please don’t get me wrong; I am not criticizing her. I do the same thing! You put me in front of a large group of people and I suddenly turn into a mute lobster! My heart pounds, my hands start sweating, and my legs start to feel as if they are made of JELLO. In my comfort zone, I am reasonably intelligent, funny, and love to talk. However, all of that disappears when you toss me out of “my bubble”! That’s when I suddenly become insecure, self-conscious, and shy. Everything changes when I am no longer in a place of comfort and security!
After seeing this woman the other night, it really got me to thinking about all of this. I decided to search for some words in the Bible. I searched the word insecure. It was found zero times! I typed the word self-conscious. It was found zero times! I typed in the word shy. It was found zero times! They were not mentioned one time in the Bible! I was amazed and decided to try something new. I typed in the word confidence. It was found in eighteen different books of the Bible! I typed in the word confident. It was found in five different books of the Bible!
I typed in the word courage. It was found in eleven different books of the Bible! Since I was on a roll, I decided to try a few more words. The words “fear not” were found in fifty-two books of the Bible. The phrase “be of good courage” was found in eight books of the Bible. The words “have faith” were found in fourteen books of the Bible. The last word I looked up was the word overcome. It was found in thirteen books of the Bible. The Bible had not wasted one drop of ink on the words insecure, self-conscious, or shy.
However, it had used words like “fear not”, “confidence”, “courage”, and “have faith” repeatedly. I must admit, I had to sit and think about this for a minute. If God had not thought those words were important enough to put in the Bible, then why do I let them have such a hold over me? Why did the young woman on the television let the camera intimidate her like that? Why do any of us let the feelings of insecurity, self-consciousness, and shyness control us? I think we let the world and Satan make us forget who we are.
“I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” Psalm 139:14. We forget that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by our Father. We forget that we are His unique creation, and He loves us very much. “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me” Isaiah 49:16. God loves you so much He has “inscribed” or engraved your name on the palm of His hand! If you don’t understand how much God loves you, I advise you to look up the word love in a good concordance.
Then, I recommend reading all of the verses that refer to God’s love for you. You cannot help but being overwhelmed by how much He loves you! He loves you so much, you were worth dying for! I believe with all of my heart, that since God loves us that much, He wants us to love ourselves. I am not talking about an arrogant and prideful love, but a healthy love in appreciation of the loving care He put into creating us. If we are that important to Him, then He wants us to learn to love and appreciate ourselves. We are someone special because He gives us value!
God carefully chose every detail of your being. He chose the exact shade of your eyes and hair. He took as much care in your design as He did creating the beauty of earth. You are a thing of beauty designed by the master Creator! I also believe He doesn’t want us to be fearful and timid. Like Joshua, He wants us to “be strong and of good courage”. When we get into situations that frighten or intimidate us He wants us to turn to Him for the courage we need. You want to know how I know? The words frighten and intimidate are not mentioned in the Bible either!
“For God has not given me a spirit of fear…” 2 Timothy 1:7. God wants to empower us to be bold women of faith! So I am saying to all of you “fearfully and wonderfully made” sisters out there, you are amazing! Your “worth is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31)! God created you, loves you, and believes in you. You are incredibly important to Him! When you begin to doubt how important you are, you just remember: You are so important Someone died for you! That tells me that you are irreplaceable and very valuable! Wherever you are right now, I want you to hold your head up and smile because you are someone special!
And you keep right on smiling, even if they point a camera at you, girl! Let us all challenge ourselves to try to see ourselves as our Father sees us. Perhaps when we realize how much He loves us, we will realize, we really are someone special, after all!
But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me. Psalm 40:17
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord,
she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30
Beloved, if God so loved us
We ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11
Katrina Douglas
