Last week, God gave me the same song (new to me) twice in two days from two different people. He was calling me to be brave, when I wanted to stay on fear's familiar shore.

It can be difficult to own your history, unvarnished and raw. At least it is for some of us.

My memoir writing class has stirred up unexpected, as well as expected, emotions. The act of committing black on white forced me to claim (again) the truth of my story.

I am sorely tempted to minimize what I experienced because I know many who have suffered more. But then I recall what a spiritual director told me: "Suffering is suffering. No comparison."

Unfortunately, my denial of my pain does not alleviate another person's suffering. It only cuts me off from a chance to experience God's comfort, and then share that comfort with another.

We must each acknowledge the reality of our suffering, so we can experience God's comfort, and then pass that comfort to another. (2 Cor. 1:2-4)

On the plus side, writing also reminded me of God's faithful presence. His redemptive hands of grace working behind the curtains of my past.

This morning I sat at my wood kitchen table, looked at small chartreuse orbs promising blue hydrangea, and read Psalm 139:13-16.

God made a promise when He created you and me. He knit us in our mother's womb and said, we are "wonderfully made."

Confession: I struggle to find certain aspects of who I am wonderful. I told God I wish I was not a highly sensitive person (HSP)**. Since God knows everything, He wasn't surprised.

If I believe God truly wants to know all of me, then I must trust He can handle what is in my heart. My doubts. My fears.

Of course, it means I have to be honest with myself. Not always easy.

And who am I, as a clay pot to tell God, the Master Potter, what to do? So in faith and trust (my 2013 word), I thank God for how He designed me.

I let faith in the driver's seat and not my feelings, although I acknowledge them.

Parker Palmer writes:

"Vocation...comes from a voice 'in here' calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God."

When I quiet my internal chatter, I can hear the still small voice of His Spirit inside of me. He tells me He loves me, and He didn't make a mistake when He made me a HSP.

And my friend, if you wonder if you are too loud, or too quiet, or too intellectual, or you're not enough because _____________, may I tell you: God thinks you are wonderful!

God never compares you to "so and so" and wishes you were more like someone else. Truly. Amazing.

Palmer shares a Hasidic tale: "Rabbi Zusya, when he was an old man, said, 'In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya!'"*

God wants you to be gloriously and uniquely you. Really.

Will you join me today in trusting God didn't make a mistake, and thanking Him for making you, wonderfully you?

What part of your personality or temperment do you struggle to believe is wonderful?

* Parker Palmer quotes are taken from Peter Scazzero's Daily Office, pp. 24-25.

**Link to a questionnaire to discover whether you or a loved one is a HSP. Thanks to Mick Silva for sharing this link.

Linking with these lovely communities:

Sweet and gifted friend Laura Boggess, 

Linking with encouraging and talented friend Jennifer Dukes Lee,

and the amazing Jen 

Linking with encouraging Emily at "imperfect prose" at

It's Five Minute Fridays, where we write for fun, and/or for free therapy for five minutes. Then we post our unedited work (I correct typos), and we visit the person, who linked up before us.

Our gracious hostess is the encouraging Lisa-Jo, and she selects a word as the guest of honor for each week's writing party.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Flickr user xlibber

This week's Guest of Honor is "Brave."

Start.

Dear Friend,

When I saw Lisa-Jo picked the word, "Brave," and the song, "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, I wanted to laugh and cry. Laugh because the teacher of my online writing class had shared that exact same song with me after reading what I wrote for a recent writing exercise.*

Cry because I felt like God was saying to me, "I see you. Keep going even if your knees are knocking, and you want to run far, far away right now." Not sad crying, but God, you are so amazing.

I don't know what you are going through right now. Or if you are feeling the need to be brave, or if you are even aware that you are being brave.

Honestly, I didn't feel brave when I wrote that piece down. I just needed to get the words out of my mind and soul.

But I hope you know that you can trust God with your brave scary words and fears and truths rattling around in the cage of your pain. If you've lived a while, you know what I mean.

God wants to set you free, and He wants me to be free.

Stop.* means I edited phrase to make it more clear.

Subscribers, click here to hear Sara's song.

Prayer:

May you pull away from fear's  shore and bravely sail toward new land. May you know you can be brave because you don't sail alone. God is sailing with you, and He knows where He wants to take you.

Be brave, my friend, this weekend.

Please visit The Gypsy Mama and link up and/or read other entries. 

© Soul Stops/Dolly Lee 2013.

Have you ever heard or said, "He looks just like his father," or "She has her mother's eyes." Usually we are referring only to a person's physical image/likeness.

Although we have never seen God the Father, how do we know what He is like?

• He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.- Colossians 1:15 ESV

Photo courtesy of Flickr user mujitra(FYI: not our girl and me.)

The Greek for "image" is "eikοn" and in Col. 1:15 refers to "his divine nature and absolute moral excellence."* It goes beyond the external to who Christ is in His nature/character.

When we look at Jesus' life, we get a glimpse into Father God's character (i.e., who He really is). We see Jesus invited to parties, and we see a God, who enjoys celebrating with friends.

We see a God, who is more concerned about motivation and thoughts than only external image. He holds us to a higher standard than mere outward piety.

• "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." -Jesus, Matt. 5:27-28 NASB

When Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, and told her to sin no more, we see a God who forgives and gives second chances. So grateful.

When Jesus wept at Lazarus' tomb with Mary although he would soon raise Lazarus from the dead, we see God's compassion (John 11:28-44). We see a God so moved by our tears that He wept.

Whenever I read this passage, I am so touched at God's very present-in-the-moment-empathy with our suffering. It gives me the courage to go to Him just as I am.

We don't need to put on a mask, and create an image to please Him.

But we live in a time where one's "image" is often composed of carefully curated images on Facebook, magazine covers, and/or other media outlets.

But I wonder how much of one's public image matches up with who one is internally (i.e., the real unadorned self)?

It is one of the issues I struggle with as a blogger. I cannot share all of my life with you; it would not be wise nor would it inspire any reality TV shows (maybe I should be thankful for that ). But I desire to be as honest as I can while respecting the privacy of my loved ones and friends, and my own heart.

Only God knows all of me (Psalm 139), and He still loves me...anyway. Amazing!

I am well aware of my failures, but I am learning to not condemn myself, because God doesn't (Romans 8:1). His Spirit convicts, so I can ask forgiveness, and change.

This is the slow process of letting Christ's image become formed inside of me so that it can be seen on the outside.

• Paul uses the same Greek word for "image" in Col. 3:10 when he tells the Colossian believers to "put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image  of the One who created him."

When one becomes spiritually reborn as God's child, we receive Christ's image; we have the possibility of being like Christ for the first time.

But we must make a daily choice: do we put on our old self (addicted to pleasing only self), or do we put on the new self, and like Christ, seek to obey God the Father above all else.

I give thanks that God sees Christ's image of righteousness in us even when we say, and do what we wish we had not. We are not our mistakes. We are God's beloved. (Repeating this to myself.)

And He is shaping us, and changing us one second, one decision at a time. He sees our yearning to be like Christ even as we stumble, fall, and begin anew.

We become more like Christ, as we look at Him, spend time with Him, and let Him transform us from the inside out.

This song, "Restless," resonates with where I am...restless apart from God.

Subscribers click here to hear Audrey Assad sing with lyrics.

What helps you to rest in the truth of being formed in Christ's image?

* Source is http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1504

Also linking today with sweet and gifted friend Laura, 

and the amazing Jen 

© Soul Stops 2013/ Dolly Lee. All Rights Reserved.