My Grace Is Sufficient

With the monopoly of social media in our society, it's easy for us to compare ourselves to both strangers and friends on the internet. We see pictures of thin, perfectly-polished young women laughing at parties, becoming engaged to Prince Charming, flashing their abs at the gym, winning the next Miss-(insert state) title...

And then we see ourselves.

We see our weaknesses, our struggles, our downfalls, our occasional loneliness, our singleness/struggling relationships, our barely-there bank accounts, our "fat" days... and we cannot help but size ourselves up to the utopian lives we see online.

I believe it's fair to say our generation of young women has it harder in the self-love department than any before us.

Consequently, it's imperative we intentionally overflow our self-worth tanks with none-other than God's love, girding ourselves in the Truth of the Scriptures to remember who we (really) are.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9 

Personally, I find myself wishing I had A, B, and C in order to match up with those superlative ladies I see online.

How come I don't have a fashion blog? Or a big fat ring on my finger? Or a flat in NYC or my own jewelry line or a waist as thin as a toothpick?

We don't need to be deemed flawless by the unstable beauty/life standards of the current pop culture. Living a brief life as quick as a passing wind, we are each given a specific number of breaths on this Earth.

What should we, therefore, make of our lives? Should we tirelessly exert ourselves to fit a mold created by the often fickle media? Or do we live for an audience of One?

We don't know the best way for God to show off His power in our lives, and we struggle because we think we do. We think the more "together" we look to the world, the better we make God look. But if we look at the life of Jesus, we notice His throne was a cross.

We'd prefer for every prayer to be answered with an Exodus-type miracle. Often, He answers. But sometimes, the Red Sea is not (immediately) parted and we have to walk through the trenches.

We don't have to have everything together like the hollow fairy-tales we see on our Instagram feeds. Thorns and crosses will come; there will be peaks and there will be valleys. But He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we feel small.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. - Psalm 46:5

We may not feel like perfect Barbie-doll beauty-queen straight-A-student bombshells every second of every day. But once we know who we are and whose we are, our circumstances may not change... but our hearts will.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. - Proverbs 31:26

We are called to focus less on becoming fashion models and more on becoming role models. God does not concern Himself with the latest trends of the world, He prefers working on the internal - producing a work in our hearts. He knows what is best. He plans to starve our doubt and feed our faith through the molding and renewing of our minds - not our wardrobes.

Though we are weak, we are strong. God IS. God is FOR YOU AND ME, dear.

Let's allow ourselves to become utterly blown away by God's agenda in our lives.

Let's forget about fretting over flashy statuses on social media, darling. Let's become crowns of God's joy to all who meet us. We are His princesses, after all.