And myself.
I look at a picture of another girl and am jealous of her knuckles. HA! Maybe the first time you have heard that one, huh? Or a girl who has her hand on her hip and her elbow has a point to it- yep, I find myself jealous of that too.
We can all relate to some sort of insecurity. I am speaking of all insecurities, but women most often have those insecurities in our body. We look in the mirror and notice the few imperfections, rather than seeing the masterpiece we are. Our eyes go straight to the “problem areas.”
God has really done a huge work in me in that I have been much better with dealing with my lymphedema, both physically and emotionally, but this post really isn’t all about me noticing knuckles and elbows.
This post is about how we see what we think about. Where our insecurities are, therein lies our eyes and how we see the world.
The same is true for how we see and view God. When we look for Him, we find Him. When we look for faults, we find them. When we look for blessings, we find them.
Do you think it is a coincidence that when you go through a break up, every song on the radio is about love?
Or when your day starts off on the wrong foot, most everything continues to go “wrong” that day?
Or when every show you watch talks about something you are currently facing?
Josh and I laugh at how it seems like everything we watch has something or someone with cancer in it. Does this mean that there was nothing on TV about cancer before my diagnosis? No, not at all. Just now, I am much more aware of it. I am sensitive to it. It is always at the forefront of my mind.
I once went on a World Changers trip in high school where we did mission work in the Atlanta area. We put shingles on a lady’s house. I had NEVER noticed shingles before. But, once we got home, I noticed everyone’s shingles. Dark shingles, light shingles, architectural shingles, old shingles—I noticed them all. Once again, did homes just now have shingles? No, they were always there. I just noticed them now. My “shingle radar” was up.
The point I am trying to make is that we see what we focus on, what we put our attention to. We just do.
I have been convicted lately of me always seeing elbows and knuckles. I know this sounds ridiculous—hang with me.
Yes, I notice them, and I might always notice them, but what if I was more intent on being sensitive to the Holy Spirit? What if I thought about Jesus so much that I saw Him in everything?
Have you ever noticed that when you spend more time with God, you see Him more? Hear from Him more? Feel His presence more?
That doesn’t mean He wasn’t there weeks, months, or years ago when you weren’t aware of Him. It just means you notice Him now. Your “Jesus radar” is up, whereas before it wasn’t.
Well, I think you and I need to be more intentional about noticing Jesus. I want to think about Him and talk to Him and be with Him so much that I notice Him everywhere. And when that happens (because it has happened), I see Him in the good, in the bad, in the mundane, in the busy—there He is.
I see Him every.single.time. When I look for Him, that is.
If you want your spiritual eyes to be opened, stop waiting for God to open them while you do nothing. Yes, He will and He can, but if we want to have those eyes opened each day, we must be intentionalabout noticing Him. And just like anything else, that starts in our thoughts.
I want to stop thinking about knuckles and elbows so much and start thinking about Jesus more.
Then I will notice Him more.
Then I will have deeper intimacy with Him.
Then I will sense His presence daily.
Will you be intentional with me about noticing Jesus? He’s always there. We just have to open our eyes.
Intentionally noticing Jesus,
Aly