"How can I help?" I ask.
"Can you tell me if this picture is popular? Have a lot of people bought it?" She asks earnestly. This question took me by surprise. Not at all what I was expecting when being asked for help!
"Yes, this picture is popular but which one of these is a better match for the area you want to hang it in?" I ask her. She grabs another picture.
"Is this one just as popular as that one?" She asks.
"Yes, they are both good sellers." I assure her. She looks at me with big eyes.
"But which one is most popular, which one of these has everyone else bought?" She asks me in a desperate voice.
"Ma'am" I say, "which one do YOU like better? Which one will look good in the area you want to hang it in?" Again the big eyed stare and a desperate look.
"Which one do you like? Is this one the most popular out of these pictures?" She breathlessly asks.
"Ma'am, I like this one over that one but how do you feel about it?" I again ask her.
"As long as it is most popular and you like it." She says as she thanks me and drops my choice and the "most popular" one into her cart.
I thought about her the rest of the day. My heart ached for her. She had to be in her late 60's. To be SO desperate to be accepted and only wanting "what is most popular." It made me wonder if she had ever known what "SHE LIKED!"
How many of us live for others? How many of us look through desperate eyes wanting to just fit in with the culture and people around us. I know this is not a 'profound' blog. We have all heard many sermons on this. BUT have we ever stopped to really think about it??
This encounter really shook me to the core. It made me take another look at myself and my longing to be accepted by society and those around me. "Is this popular right now? Is this acceptable to help me fit in?" Come on...I don't care who you are...our hearts have ALL whispered these questions at some point!
I am going through a devotional with my son, it is called Experiencing God, excellent and would highly recommend it!! Going through it has again reminded me that each person's relationship with God is uniquely different! Let me say that again...EACH person's relationship with God is UNIQUELY DIFFERENT!!! But "I already know this" you say to me!
"Do you?" I ask. "Do you really believe this?" If we did, we would all live with so much more authority, joy and confidence in our relationship with God! We can not let our past or people 'consign' who we are. I was unsure how that word worked when the author used it in the devotional. So I looked it up.
Consigned ~ deliver something to a person's custody.
Custody ~ the protective care or guardianship of someone or something.
So in other words, how many of us have allowed others, our past, or the enemy deliver into our protective care beliefs that are NOT what our heavenly father has for us??
We all live so small! We fully believe the lies that have been fed to us from these three; our past, others and the enemy. We hold them tight and keep them safe guarded from God's healing touch. We, at times, are like a small child holding a teddy bear to her heart as a shield. Her hand is gripped so tightly to the bear that it would have to literally be torn from her grasp. The lady, I encountered, reminded me of that small child. Her eyes begged so earnestly for my approval and those around her. Blind to her own wants and desires.
God is a God that SEES. He sees each one of us as his beloved child. At times frightened, holding tightly to the lies that we believe. He is so desperate to remove our grip from these lies. He wants to heal us in such a deep way, so that we can fully embrace a very real and personal love relationship with him!
A love relationship must take place between 2 people! God is practical and real in how he wants to relate to us. He finds and reaches out to each one of us where we are at. Once we accept to have a love relationship with him, we should be ever progressing in that relationship. Think about your own relationships. I can guarantee they have grown and progressed as the years have gone by.
The same should be said about your relationship with God. He is always initiating a love relationship with mankind. It is up to each one of us to accept and say 'yes' to that relationship.
Everything in your present life depends on the quality of your love relationship with God!
"Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength."
