DAILY DEVOTION: May 3

You, with your quiet strength that you see as too timid and weak. Your strength that endures under trials and difficulties, that keeps you from reacting in the flesh, keeps you from saying something you don’t mean. You see it as weakness, but friend, it is a gift. Your hold your head high and maintain integrity in the face of adversity. Your strength may be quiet, but it is powerful. It doesn’t need to declare how mighty it is. It just is. I see it.

And you. You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders; those around you assume it’s easy. You think it’s weakness you can’t carry it all, that the load feels too heavy. But I see it as a gift from God; He wants you to accept His grace. As the tears escape one by one, God asks you to unload your burden onto Him. You think He wouldn’t give you what you can’t handle, but the truth is, we’re not made to. His yoke is easy, His burden light. Your willingness to let go and accept His grace is a gift. I see it.

And you, with your joyful exuberance. You see the positive in the midst of struggle; you rejoice in the what ifs and maybes life throws at you. You give yourself space and permission to explore pain and anguish, but stubbornly refuse to stay camped in that valley. You choose to see God’s hand even in the dim light. And you always see it. Some may say you should be a realist, but I say you are simply hope personified. I see it.

We have such misconstrued perceptions of ourselves. We look in the mirror at our naked souls and ridicule the places we think are imperfect. Our views are distorted, confusing strengths for weaknesses. But God sees His face in you. The very eikon, the mirror-like representation, of Himself in us. And flipped in that mirror view is the right perspective of who He created. You are not a mistake. Your gifts not a mistake. 

“Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” (2 For 3:18, The Message)

—Monica