Post No. 2, Chapters 3 and 4

She Doesn’t Look a Certain Way

Chapter 3

I can honestly tell you, before I started reading this book, my motivation for even purchasing it was that many of my clients were reading it and I wanted to be knowledgeable about what they were reading. It wasn’t because I felt I needed it. I felt I had worked on this area of my life plenty and by 48 years of age, I felt pretty secure in the fact that I felt pretty secure…(does that make sense?) Another reason I am reading it is because I love to be taught by Beth Moore; she is truly anointed in my opinion.

Beth’s third chapter reminded me of the June 17^th entry in “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. His first line is, “Jesus says regarding judging – DON’T”. Our insecurities come from comparing ourselves to others and when we do that we either find ourselves better than or worse than. Both places are a result of judging others and Jesus says don’t do it.

Also, I found that her suggestion of a “prominent false positive” was very intriguing to me. I totally buy into her assertion that “if” I had _______________________, “then” I would be secure. I do that when I see tall, thin, fit women since I am not any of those. I do it when I shop with people that have more money than we do and see them buying things I would love to buy but can’t. It’s not that I want them to be like me; I want to be like them.

Little did I know that beginning to read this book would shine a bright light on the areas of my live where insecurity subtly rears its ugly head. I recently helped host a women’s event at our church. I found myself afterward assessing what I said; how I said it and wishing I had said some things I forgot. My evaluation of the evening had more to do with what I had missed rather that what had gone right. Do you notice how many times I used the word “I”? My insecurities are very real when my focus is on me. They become more and more insignificant when I look at things and bring them into alignment with God’s Word. Did God accomplish eternal things that night? Yes! Was he pleased with his “girls”? I believe so! Was my heart’s desire to honor Him? Absolutely! Is He perfect and am I flawed? Yes. And I am good with that. I am an expert in my flaws already; I want to become more and more an expert in His perfection and to learn to “look and be” like my heavenly father!

God has been teaching me to see things as either temporal or eternal; to bring everything into alignment with how God views things. I echo with Beth, “When we allow God’s truth to eclipse every false positive and let our eyes spring open to the treasure we have, there in His glorious reflection we’ll also see the treasure we are.”

Good Company

Chapter 4

“He’s got what we need. It’s up to us whether or not we’re going to let the worst of us get the best of us.”( pg. 58) I loved this chapter because of how Beth outlines the lives of people in God’s Word with huge insecurities that ended up getting them into huge amounts of trouble. We are not alone. And praise God, we can learn from them to bring our insecurities into check.

So often in my counseling practice I work with people who rely on their emotions to make decisions or to evaluate the status of their relationships. Beth’s statement on page 55 regarding Saul winning The Most Insecure Man in the Word Award is so true. She states, “He won because he let his emotions get so out of control that his insecurity morphed into complete instability.” Nowhere in scripture that I know of does God say we should rely on our emotions; quite the opposite. In Romans 12:2 Paul writes that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our emotions are given to us, I believe, simply to let us know that something is going on. We are to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). Our feelings lie to us over and over again. I remember when I was first married to Tim we had an argument that lasted into the night. Tim finally said we would finish the “discussion” in the morning and went to bed. I was so mad and hurt…I can’t even remember now what the argument was about…that I got dressed and left the house in a very loud way. I got in our car and drove to Odessa on HWY 30 and then back East on the interstate to Kearney and back to our house. I was gone, maybe 45 minutes. The entire time I was fuming and thinking how sorry he would be that I had left. When I got home, you guessed it, Tim was fast asleep. He didn’t even know I was gone. My “emotions had gotten so out of control that my insecurity about my worth, to my husband, morphed into to complete instability.” Well, maybe not complete instability, but surely for the time I was not stable.

I had never, ever thought of Paul being insecure. But after reading Beth’s take on the scriptures she cited, it made sense. Her statement on page 57 was so meaningful to me. “The beauty of Paul wasn’t his super humanity but his unwillingness to let his weaknesses, feelings, and fears override his faith. Like us, the fiercest enemy he had to fight in the fulfillment of his destiny was himself.” I, too, am my own worst enemy. I would guess I am not alone.

It is so good that “Human flesh and blood have no weakness so strong that God’s strength is made weak. He’s got what we need. It is up to us whether or not we’re going to let the worst of us get the best of us.” (pg. 58) Well said!

(Chapters 3 and 4 written by Sherri Peterson. She is a Counselor and Pastor's wife from Kearney, Ne.)