“Resistance vs Acceptance”
“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for a high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out loud for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”
1 Peter 2: 9-10 MSG
Do we really believe this truth? Do we really know that His grace restores us and brings us true healing? Or do we allow the enemy to take what is not his? Do we also allow the enemy to reign over our thoughts?
If we make the choice to really believe we are CHOSEN, CALLED, and ACCEPTED, then whom shall we fear? Should we allow our fear to keep us isolated? And if so, why and what are we are really feeling and believing?
To be honest with one another, in hopes we can surrender our “masks”, let go of unmet expectations by others, which births humility and ultimately sets us free! Free to be who God designed us to be: Loved, Valued, Accepted and Secure in HIM!
This week I struggled with these simple truths. I had to fight the resistance to believe that I am accepted and chosen. My “mask”, which hides my true face from others…and which I wanted desperately to keep on…was being taken off in several instances throughout my week. Yikes! I was anything but comfortable; fear and rejection drove my emotions, and this resulted in negative actions.
My thoughts kept me isolated and prevented me from truly connecting with others. I had to press into my core lie: “I am not good enough!” I had to press into my own resistance and accept that I have been found worthy. It was time to make the choice to move from rejected to accepted!
When negative thoughts come in like rushing water, flooding every fiber of our being, fear, anxiety, rejection, and abandonment (to name a few) greet us as we awaken…and the battle begins. How will we choose to meet these emotions? Will our fear of losing control and not getting what we want win over? Or will the fear of not being accepted, loved, secured and valued prevail?
Like a rushing river, these thoughts begin to take up “free rent” in our mind. They come to kill, steal, and rob us of our joy. But the TRUTH is that we are already victorious, and His power lives within us! Daily I must make the choice to prevent fear and anxiety from taking over, and to remind myself not to be concerned with thoughts like: “What will people really think?” “Am I really good enough?” “Can I lay down my ‘mask’ and reveal who I truly am?”
Instead I must embrace HIS truth, that I have been already been accepted, and better yet, that…
I am chosen!
Whenever I become aware that I am feeding my rejection, it truly leaves me exhausted and depressed! But when I press in to the discomfort of my emotions and move out of myself, I can truly experience the fullness of His joy! I need to make the conscious choice to accept that I am broken and in need of His LOVE and GRACE daily!
Prayer for today,
Jesus, thank you that we have already been chosen! Please help us press in to your many truths, and push away the lies that plague us daily. We humbly ask for you to take off our masks that keep us comfortable and content. Whisper into our ears, that because of you, we went from: “nothing to something, rejected to accepted.” Father, give us the courage and compassion to embrace who we truly are, and give us the strength to accept ourselves and live free and full!!
In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen!
Scripture truth for today:
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3: 13-14 NIV
-Elizabeth Bowman