“Don’t you know who you are? What’s been done for you? You are more than the choices that you’ve made, you are more than the sum of your past mistakes, you are more than the problems you create, you’ve been remade.” ~ You Are More, Tenth Avenue North

 

This was my earworm this morning when my alarm awakened me.  This song, repeating through my head, and I realized it had been there all night. Every time I would wake up to roll over, or uncover (hot flashes, don’t you know..) or re-cover (they don’t last forever..), there it was, scrolling through my brain like a marquee.  I have it in my music on my phone, but I’m not sure when I heard it last.  Apparently, it had wriggled its way into my heart and mind in order to show up in my dreams. 

After I was awake enough to fully realize it was there, I began to ponder the words more closely, searching out the lyrics in order to read them over several times (how I miss lyrics inside of CD jackets!).

Check this out: “ ’Cause this is not about what you’ve done, but what’s been done for you.  This is not about where you’ve been, but where your brokenness brings you to. This is not about what you feel but what He felt to forgive you, and what He felt to make you loved.”

Wow. That makes my heart smile.  I’m so thankful for His Love.  There’s something so freeing in the realization that it doesn’t matter what I do – or don’t do, doesn’t matter how I look, feel, or what I weigh. Bad hair days, good hair days, rattled, frustrated, busy, energized or tired, irritable (did I mention hot flashes?), or silly and happy.  The things that affect us on a daily basis, causing changes in mood or emotions; our choices, decisions, failures, successes – none of those things change HIM. None of those things change His vast Love for us.  How completely life-giving! 

Sometimes, I can be a bit on the irrational side – I’m “of an age” where these things begin to happen…sometimes, I take it out on my family, and they get ill with me.  Who can blame them?  They’re right – they don’t deserve to bear the brunt of my mood swings.  (I’m learning to keep my mouth shut rather than allowing frustration over minor things to spew out of it. Thank You, Lord, for Grace.)  I’m so thankful that God isn’t moved by my irrationalness (yes, it’s a word..kinda ugly, ain’t it?). It makes my heart soar to realize that He still looks on me kindly, with Love that I cannot comprehend and Mercy that I cannot outrun. Jesus saw the ugly mess that I can sometimes be before He ever went to the Cross – loved me anyway, and He carried it there for me so that I could sit here on this laptop and type out my feelings for you to read. 

I can be hard on myself. I bet you can, too (on yourself, not me...well maybe me, too?).  Most of us are our own worst critics, I think.  Thankful, thankful, THANK-FULL that the weight of regrets, missteps, and failures don’t define me.  When my self-talk turns to the “I can’t believe you did that – so STUPID.” I’m beyond thankful that His Voice tells me that I’m enough – that He loves me anyway – despite it, through it, above it, I am loved. So are you.  Immeasurably, vastly, immensely, enormously, exceedingly, extremely, greatly, hugely, mightily, tremendously, especially, exceptionally, powerfully, remarkably, abundantly, incalculably, incomparably, incredibly, intensely, supremely, surpassingly, deeply, eminently, extraordinarily, profoundly, acutely, astonishingly, dearly, decidedly, emphatically, particularly, truly, wonderfully – you are LOVED by the Ancient One, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Period.  It is finished, done.  (and yes – I pulled out my thesaurus for that..)  See each one of those words up there?  I challenge you to do this:  Read them each, individually, out loud, followed by the words: I am loved by God.  (For example – Immeasurably, I am loved by God. And so forth through the entire list.)  Go ahead. Do it now. I’ll wait. 

Finished?  How special are you?!?!?  Pretty special.  Want me to get my thesaurus out again?  No?  You get the picture, right?  If we’re loved like that by the very God Who created us – what on earth should ever make us feel less?  Exactly.  Nothing. On. Earth.

I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to sing.  I believe I will. 

Have a great day, friends!  J