Have you ever felt like one of these daisies? Just one of a thousand? One that no one else sees? One that gets looked over for someone who is bigger, better, brighter, whiter, more pollinated, taller, and perfect? No one sees you, because you blend in. You try to achieve the standards that everyone around you tells you that you should achieve.. And as a result, you only blend in more. People look at you and well, they see everyone else. It's a heart-breaking feeling.
You do your best. You try so hard to be the best daisy there is. But quite honestly?
There will always be a bigger, better, brighter, whiter, more pollinated, taller, and perfect daisy. That's just how life works. Unless you are God, you cannot be the best... Not to everyone, at least.
When you look at a field full of daisies like the two above, you don't single out any of them. They all kind of jump up at you as they practically scream "pick me!! pick me!!" (no pun intended ;)).
We human 'daisies' do the same thing. We try to follow every mold placed before us of what we should be as a prospect wife or husband. We try to squeeze into the financial molds placed before us. We try to squish ourselves into the personalities that seem to attract the most people. We wiggle and squirm as we try to get the physical properties down... Brushed hair, white teeth, sweet-smelling (unless you're a guy, then it's not sweet.. but still attractive), clean clothes. We are wired it seems, to do whatever we deem necessary to attract the attention of "the one" we want to "pick us."
Here's my challenge.
Rather than trying to mold yourself into the 'daisy' you think you have to be so that you will be picked, why not allow God to prune you into the 'daisy' that He wants you to be?
Why not let Him, not some guy or girl, shape you into the one that He has created you to be? From the beginning, He has known who He wants you to be. He has known the plans He has for you. And better yet,
He knows who He wants to 'pick' you.
Read that again. Not who you think should. But who He wants.
As you allow Him to prune you, you might find that He is taking away from you what makes you look like everyone else. Thing by thing, detail by detail, He will remove all that makes you just like the other daisies, and make you you. It will probably be painful, but what is left in the end is what He wants you to be known for.
He will take the ugliness and make it beautiful.
He will take the mistakes and make them miracles.
He will take the flaws and make them perfect.
He will take the doubts and remind you of promises.
When He is done with you, you will not look like any of the other daisies... They might laugh at you, and you might feel overshadowed by them, but dear daisy, you are anything but overshadowed.
Rather, you have become a daisy that will stand out in a crowd. And there will be one person whose eyes will be drawn to you. They will see the work that He has done, and "pick" you because of that. They will "pick" you because you allowed Him to work on you. When they "pick" you, it will not be because you are bigger, better, brighter, whiter, more pollinated, taller, and perfect...
It will be because you humbled yourself and asked Him to prune you so that you can best bring Him glory. When we humble ourselves before Him and ask for His help, He will reveal the proper time for us to be "picked," outshining all of the other daisies.
Sitting here, reading your words,this momma is glad God "picked" you to be my daughter.
ReplyDeleteYour words echo the wisdom of Scripture Hannah.
We are not to be conformed to this world,(rom 12:1,2) and yet we live day by day, moment by moment TRYING to be like it. We place templates of the world over us and are frustrated when we feel less or not enough.
In Christ we are complete, whole and HIS.
That is truth and I am pleased to read you are believing that dear daughter of my heart..
I love you,
Mom
He picked us...
Man, I could have used this advice only a couple short years ago...
ReplyDeleteI know you don't know much about my past relationship, but it wasn't, well...it wasn't good at all. I let myself fall into the trap of letting someone else mold me into the world's idea of the "perfect person". But, like you said, once I let my Abba take His rightful place as my sculptor, well things turned out a whole heck of a lot better than I expected.
Was it easy? No. Is it complete? Heck no! I'm still a very rough work in progress...but its better to be a work in progress than a lump of clay that has been given up on.
But this journal also reminds me of another trap that people often fall in (and it's often the first trap before conforming to the world's ideals)...that feeling, like you said at the beginning of your blog, about feeling like one-in-a-million.
About a month or so ago, there was a Torah Portion about the work in the Tabernacles. Unfortunately, I don't remember which one it was at the moment. Anyway, my Rabbi talked about how the women of the tribe of Levi brought in the adornments into the Tabernacles. They would "primp" themselves up so to speak - and this action was not frowned upon.
To make a long story short, these women were doing just what any husband (G-d in the role of the husband) would want their wives to do...to love their husbands so much that they wanted to look nice for them. This discussion, of course, led to how G-d notices everything we do - and that we are not just one of the crowd...He knows us all individually.
Of course it felt a bit like a slap in the face...like my Abba saying "Amy! Wake up! I'm speaking to YOU!"
What you have said here is so true and it is something that any one of us does need to be reminded of every now and then. Whenever I begin to slip back into the habit of feeling like one of the crowd, He makes sure that I'm reminded that I'm not. Thanks for allowing Him to remind me through your words!
(And so sorry for the long comment ;) )
~Amy