Growing in Confidence

If you know me, you probably know I am a rather quiet person. I am never the loud, outgoing one at parties (I'll leave that to my husband), and I would rather be stabbed in the eye than speak in public. This has been quite a struggle for me over the years, because, truth be told, I hate how quiet I am! I always feel self-conscious and inadequate because I am (in my opinion) too quiet. I don't say enough. I get flustered. I have no confidence.

Today, God gently reminded me, yet again, that who I am rests in Him, and my beauty and confidence, my true identity, comes from Him alone. How fantastically liberating that I can live a life of confidence because of who I am in Him! For, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me." Galatians 2:20. My old self is dead, and I now have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit living through me. I don't have to try and be someone I am not, or live up to others' expectations (or what I perceive to be their expectations). I can just be me. And praise God everyday for who He created me to be. Because to God, I am beautiful. I am His child. He chose me (shy, quiet, inadequate me) to live a life serving and glorifying Him. If the knowledge that the God of the universe felt I was worthy enough to be called His daughter is not a confidence boost, I don't know what is!

Not only that, but as a child of God, I am now living this life as an outsider. Have you ever seen The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie? Picture those rich, high-society girls living the life of a simple farmer. If you have seen the show you know, it was no small task! Needless to say, they were not quite cut out for the "simple life." Anyone watching could easily tell that they were not from the small-town, rural communities, and were certainly not raised milking cows! That is what my life is like as a daughter of God. My place is not here on this earth, it is in Heaven with Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:6 states He "raised us up with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Dear friends, I am a princess of the King of Kings, and when others see me, I pray they see a joy and confidence in my countenance that makes them stop and think, "You know, there's something different about her."