Have you ever felt like God’s version of how He sees you is so far from who you are?

Have you felt like a fake around others because they see you as better or worse than you think of yourself? Do you believe God has a vision for you, but are impatient for the work on you to be finished?

In the story of Gideon in Judges 6-8, we hear of a man who was hiding from enemies and was shocked when God called him a “mighty warrior”. He saw himself as a nobody with no ability or authority; he was from a small clan and the least in his family. He even saw his clan as weak. Yet God tells him that because He will be with him, he will have all authority and power, able to fight a huge army as if only one man.

God chose Joseph in Genesis 37-50, who seemed to be an arrogant and insensitive, and a disliked by his brothers. While his father loved him, others saw him as a slave, a traitor, and a criminal as he went on a long, hard journey. However, God used him to interpret dreams and then to help nations through a drought.

God even saw someone like Samson, in Genesis 13-16, as useful and Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 4, as worth pursuing.

In each story God is present and instructional with each person, though it took time for them to learn what God was teaching them. What I have seen in my own life is He works on whatever is next not everything all at once. The work that He does is a process. I am learning how to be patient in my growth, and not jump ahead of where God has me.

Are you impatient? Are you beating yourself up for your failures or holding on to shame? It is time to let go of that. Pray and ask God to show you how he sees your struggles and shame.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you a free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2