From the Outside Looking In

Do you ever sit and wonder how people see what they see in you? I do this a lot. Not because I don’t believe what they are saying, but because it’s strange to hear that others see the good in you that you strive to achieve. Let me explain.

Over the last two weeks, and it’s happened in the past, I have been given incredible encouragement about the way Christ shines through me; two within the church, three at my workplace. The first one came from a dear friend who, while praying for me, mentioned a few times just how much God loves me. Simple enough, right? I mean, we see and hear that a lot in the Bible belt. A quick “God loves you” is almost as rote as “how are you” while passing by someone in a hallway, but this is different. She could feel, during the prayer, the love of Abba over me. This has happened before where someone has said the amount of love the Father lavishes over me is overwhelming and that I am His dearly loved child. This is deep, personal and incredibly humbling. I love hearing this! I know how much God loves me majority of the time, but it’s so sweet to be reminded by others for those times when I question it. I smile at the thought of how much my Papa loves me specifically, intimately and unconditionally. I just get giddy all over.

Another instance happen via a social media site where I was told the light of God shines around me. I watched the sunrise this morning (the only positive aspect of this time change) and was looking at how this ball of fire in the sky not only illuminated the region that it was, but brightened up the entire sky. I have always longed to have the light and love of God radiate through me in such a way that I can brighten up the darkness around me. I know the darkness surrounding my own life and the sin which too easily entangles me, so to hear a sweet sister share that the light of God shines around me delights my soul. One of my favorite passages for my life is Matthew 5:16 which states, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Maybe, just maybe, by the grace of God, I am able to partake in that.

The next two stories I’ll combine into one, if possible. At my office, I am not overtly “Christian”. By that I mean that I don’t advertise my faith at the office through bible plaques on the wall, my bible laying open, or things similar. I am not speaking down on those who have that, but at my office I do not. I have a daily devotional book on my bookshelf that I read when I get in the office, but it is not on display and unless you are looking at it, you wouldn’t see it. So to my utter surprise, over the last week I have had three people comment that something is different or unique about me or flat out asked if I’m a Christian. Not being ashamed in the slightest, I boldly shared that I am a Christ follower and for those who simple said something was different, they had that “ah ha” look on their face. Through follow up discussion, one of them is a fellow brother in Christ, one is “on the fence” about Christianity and one “doesn’t know what to believe”. I did not go into the “Romans Road to Salvation” or start quoting a lot of scripture, but I did share that I know what I believe and where I will spend eternity and if they ever wanted to know more, I’m here. I will continue to share the gospel through my actions and attitude in the workplace and pray God uses me. I have a list of people I'm praying God would save hung up in my room that I pray over every night and two of these individuals are on the list. Maybe during my time here, the Lord will save their soul and I will get to be a part; if not, I hope and pray that God will place someone else in their path who can bring them to salvation.

I don’t know how people see what they see when looking at me, but I can say that I am incredibly thankful they do. I am thankful that God is choosing to use me and that I can be confident that I am passionately loved by my Daddy God and he has my future secure in His hands. I’m me because it’s tiring to be anyone else and that is good enough for me. May God continue to shine through me to penetrate the darkness around me. Glory to God for encouraging my heart to help dispel the lies of the enemy.