Becoming Who We Are Created To Be

   

This story is not new.  This story is not even original.  There have been so many hurt young women come through our doors over the last 10 years who are wounded.  The package may look different and the stories may seem very unique on the outside but the real truth is at the root the stories are all very similar.  Satan is not very creative. And may we never forget that he is ultimately a looser.
   
We are all created to make a difference.  We are made to carry the light of Christ to a dark and dying world.  We are earth changers and kingdom warriors.  But a battle rages against us at a very early age to try and convince us that we are not capable, not desired and not loved.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Some of us have to wake up to the battle.  If we never think that we are in a battle we have already lost.  But if we realize we were created for more than we have realized we might be in the midst of a game changer.  There is a great quote by Stasi Eldredge that says, "Inside a wounded woman is a hurt little girl."  The earlier we can be wounded the easier the job of the enemy is.  Most of us were taught a lie while we were very young.  Maybe we were abused or neglected.  But instead of letting this control us we have to make decide that enough is enough.  When we get fed up with being pushed around by the enemy we stop letting him control us.

Secondly we have to lay down our hurt at our Master's feet.  This does not negate the pain or the hurt.  But we truly can trust Him with our pain.  And we may have to be honest if we are offended because we expected to have a life free of pain and more like a fairy tale than a biography.  But let's think about this. Muscles that are not used atrophy.  Even in fairy tales it is not until the princess had to deal with hardship or heartache that she determines to rise above her struggles and become the powerful woman she was created to become.  Maybe we carry bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness toward others.  The honest truth is every single one of these feelings, if harbored, damages us.  We can be led to believe that forgiving someone is letting them off the hook.  But the truth is we are standing in the way of their real judgement when we refuse to forgive them.  If we stand in God's place to judge them the we are attempting to be their judge ourselves.  We are saying that we would do a better job than God would do in judging them.  But the truth is that bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness held onto are destructive and damaging to us, our health and our relationships.  No matter how bad the wrong done (and some of us have legitimately had some horrendous hurts) if we feed these hurtful wounds they will only grow more destructive to us.  But if we give them to God He can truly heal them--and He is the only one who can.

The more we know about our Bridegroom, Jesus, the more we will be empowered to walk in the truth of who are are created to be.  He loved us so much that He gave his very life so that we could be victorious.  And the interesting thing is that we have in us a desire to be loved and treasured.  We really do want to be a princess.  That is because that is EXACTLY who we are created to be.  Our Heavenly Father loves us so deeply that He sent His own Son to die for us.  And His Son, the Prince of Peace is going to return for His Bride (the church.) That is us.  We are the Bride of the Prince of Peace.  A Princess.  Remember that a plot was waged against us from the time we were conceived to keep us from believing any of this.  So if we find ourselves thinking this really is too good to be true we can remember that enough is enough.  This quote is a great reminder.

So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.  

There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all.  

The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.  

God's Spirit beckons.  There are things to do and places to go!

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.

It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a child-like, "What's next, Papa?"

God's Spirit touches our spirit and confirms who we really are.

We know who He is, and we know who we are:  Father and Children.

And we know we are going to get what's coming to us--an unbelievable inheritance!  

We go through exactly what Christ goes through.
If we go through hard times with Him,  

then we're certainly going to go through the good times with Him!

Roman 8:12-17

And the crazy good truth is that we get to live the happily ever after.  Our bridegroom has gone before us to prepare a place for us to live with Him forever.  He is coming back to take us to be with Him and the place we are going is better than any fairy tale.  There will be no more pain or tears.  And we will live in peace with our Father forever and ever.  So let's put on our tiara and rejoice as we walk in the inheritance that was bought for us at so high a price.  We are worth it!