Enough - Worth Equals Peace

 

     Are you struggling to realize your worth? Are you constantly plagued with the fear of not measuring up or being enough? Than today's post is for you...

     I think many of us fall into this category. I know I do... It seems no matter how much we read on the topic of worth, it's still hard sometimes to realize what our worth actually is. Why do you think that is?

     In doing some studying for this post I discovered several things that definitely showed themselves to me in a new light. I decided to go back to two definitions. First, the definition of worth. And second, the definition of peace. So let's dive in!

• Worth is usefulness and importance to the world, to a person, or for a purpose.

     Deep within all of us lies a strong desire to be of use. We all want to make a difference, be noticed, and matter. We all want to be loved and cared for. We want to know that we're special, and that we have what it takes. We want to know that we are enough. Not only do we want to know these things, but we want to be absolutely positively SURE of them! That is why we go searching for our worth. We try to find it in so many places... Our looks. Friends. A guy. Status. Just to name a few. But we often forgot about the most reliable source till it's our last resort.

     If we would take the time to know God, we would find something so incredible we wouldn't be able to believe our eyes. But many times we do not go beyond just plainly knowing about God. The devil has been able to trick us into thinking there is nothing more to it than that, when in reality there is an ocean waiting out there for us instead of this flimsy old inflated kiddie pool. But isn't the beach so much better than a cheap Walmart pool? So why is it that we don't get to know God?

     Sometimes we feel like God is too distant, and wouldn't really care about us anyway even if we made the effort to get to know him. We feel like he'd probably just shove us off anyway because after all who are we to come before God. The thing is we don't know that we can get to know him. But he has opened the door wide open for us to come in. He wants to hang out with us, to have a relationship with us. When he created the universe he could've lived in it all by himself, but what did he do? He created man and woman. He wanted to have a relationship, a friendship, with somebody. He wanted to have the opportunity to tell us of our worth every single day. If you dive into the character of God there is so much you can discover. We need to stop taking it for granted.

     
     I have a question for you... Who is God to you? Is he a loving Father who calls you Sweetheart? Or is he an old coot waiting to slap you upside the head? You should really find the answer to that question because therein lies the greatest problem. How you see God shapes your thoughts about him, and it directly affects how you see your worth. When you know God, not just about him, you also know what your worth is. 

     There are countless stories in the Bible where God shows us what worth looks like. One of my personal favorites is about the woman with the issue of blood. {So, story time!}

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     There once was a woman who for 12 years  had struggled with a disease causing her to bleed constantly. No matter how many doctors she went to no one could help her. Now, back in those days having such a disease made you unclean. And if you were unclean you couldn't participate in the day to day life. Just like the lepers she did not under any circumstances have permission to show her face in public. Not until she would be clean again. So for 12 years she had been alone. I'm sure she will have been afraid many a time, and will have lost hope entirely. But then one day she overhears something. There's this Jesus dude whom everyone is talking about. Apparently he's a pretty big deal. She hears of the miracles happening everywhere he goes. She hears that blind eyes can see again, deaf ears can hear again, the crippled can walk again. And she wants in. She decides she is going to attempt yet again to get rid of this burden that's been weighing her down for so long. But this means she will have to take an immensely huge risk! Not just a little risk, but a ginormous risk! She is going to have to face humanity. She knows if she is found out, the end result will not be good. But she has to try. She has to find the answer to her ultimate question... "Am I worth it?". As she sneaks into the crowd her heart is beating. She is scared and her brain is running wild. She hopes no one will see her. She wonders what is going to happen. Closer and closer she gets to Jesus. The closer she gets to him the more her hope starts coming alive. She knows that within seconds she will have the answer to the question of her worth.

     Down on the ground, where no one can see her, she catches a glimpse of Jesus' robe. She knows it is her safest option if she doesn't want to get noticed, so she touches the robe. Instantly she is healed. Completely healed! But what is almost, if not more, amazing is in that very moment another glorious thing happens. Jesus stops. He looks around and asks, "Who touched me?" His disciples don't know if he's gone crazy because Jesus is right in the midst of a vast crowd, being touched from all sides. But Jesus stays determined. He knows very well what has happened, but he is waiting for the woman to stand up off the dirty ground so he can share with her the greatest gift she could possibly receive. The woman, realizing she will be found out sooner rather than later lifts herself up from the dirt, trembling. Breaking through the crowd she falls to her knees before Jesus, not feeling worthy of looking him in the eyes. The floodgates of all her pain and agony open up as she starts pouring her story out to Jesus. When she is finished Jesus does not rebuke her. Instead he says, "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

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     Wow!! Right there Jesus opens up the door for this woman to discover who he is. Plus he uses that moment to answer her question. Through his actions and his words he lets her know that she was in fact very much worth it. When he stopped and waited for her to make herself known he wanted her to fully realize she was worth it. He wanted her to know she was important enough for him to stop and announce her miracle. He wanted her to know she was not just some afterthought. He pointed her out because he wanted to let her know she was not forgotten. That he still cared very much about her, and that she was never truly alone. And when she finally opened up for the first time in a very long while, it was as if she herself was acknowledging she was worth it. With her own words she was saying, "I am worth it." What a beautiful experience.

     There's one more thing I want to take note of in that story. The last words Jesus says to her are, "Go in peace." Once all was said and done and the healing had taken place he told her to go in peace. Now that she had discovered her worth she had the freedom to live the rest of her life in a state of peace. This leads us to the definition of peace. In the search for the definition I found so many that it became difficult to choose which one fit best. So the one I have here is one that is sort of a combination of all of them.

• Peace is a state of calm and quiet in which you are free from warring thoughts, stress, and anxiety.

     The worth God places on your life is extraordinary! It is magnificent and glorious! When we believe it to be true, that worth can come and completely takeover our mindset causing us to be at peace. When we rest in the fact that we have worth, and that God sees us as worthy, we can begin to experience that peace. The choppy waters in our souls become calm. The blabbering voices of doubt become quiet. The raging thoughts of negativity are replaced with positive thoughts. The stress causing the chaos in our brains starts to die down. The fear holding us captive has to back off.

     When you know God and all He stands for, that is when you can finally be at peace. Plus knowing God, you discover who He is and what He asks of you. You start living your life with a purpose behind it. And in turn what comes out of it is a sense of worth. You finally understand what God's thoughts are towards you, and worth starts flowing into your life.

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Jesus, I pray you will come into my life. Into my every moment. I pray you will remind me every day of the worth you have placed on my life. Help me to trust what you say. I thank you for the opportunities of revelation that you are sending my way. I also thank you that I can live in complete peace. Because of you I can be sure that I am enough. My worth will never change. I am yours forever, and you will never let go. Your peace that passes all understanding will keep my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Thank you Jesus for your love! Amen.