Owning our God-given Goodness

 
I have been rereading a book by Heather P. Webb called Redeeming Eve.  It challenges us as women to find “the hope beyond the struggles of life”.  I come back again, yet again, to “nel mezzo vita mia”, seeking truth, seeker deeper waters in life and learning to risk, to live, to find God in places I never knew He went to.  Places without, places within.  I am half way through life and don’t want to waste the rest of the climb to the mountaintop.  When I stopped for lunch today, I sat out on the patio in the warm sunshine, listening to the sounds of the forest alive around me. Quiet, waiting, listening and pondering.  So many things are percolating inside.  I hope they will come out one day as a rich brew of the heart!

My book was opened to a passage in Redeeming Eve about our God-given goodness. 

“Glory comes from two places: the potential God has placed in us and our status as having been adopted into his royal family.  We are daughters of the king, but all too often we live as if we are street orphans.  We won’t own our God-given goodness.

We seem to be afraid to acknowledge the glory and the dignity that God has imparted to us.  If we were to receive that which God has given and call it “much”, we know that more is required of us. God might ask more of us if there really is something good in us to be offered to others.  If we recognize the extent of our blessings, the fullness of our cup, maybe we could be offering greater gifts of love and service to others and enjoying God’s delight in us as well.  That feels risky.”

Why do we shortchange ourselves and thereby give less to ourselves, those we are intimate with, our community and most of all, our God?  This isn’t about what we “do” but all about who we are which comes from being in relationship with Jesus. It’s about those absolutely fantastic outfits in our Designer wardrobe that are to be discovered.  Being the incredible glorious creature dressed in the exotic of extra-ordinary that comes with being a royal daughter. 

There is a lot to ponder, to search out, to grab hold of and move into.  Take up the invitation from a friend:  
“ My heart has heard you say, Come and talk with me.  And my heart responds, Lord, I am coming.”  Psalm 27:8

I come to ponder that I am a daughter of the king, with glorious future plans in store.  I come to ponder the potential, to deep breathe and be breathed upon so I may go in the power of the King.  I come to stand with my hands open so I can let go of, and receive what I need to take the risk and enjoy the delight God has in me.