I woke up dreaming that I was visiting classrooms in a school and a little girl was holding a picture she had drawn. With her big eyes looking up, it was as if she was saying, “Look at me. I am worth it.”
That image reflects our generation as women, maybe even as humans. I wonder if we all may be fighting to be noticed.
I’m sure our grandparents generation fought it too, but their evaluation was based on the comparison of their closest circle. Success of the little girl is no longer based on if her parents or her teacher like her work. The evaluation is based on the eyes of strangers who we call our “friends” who like and comment. The opinions of strangers, who may only care if someone will take notice of them and like the picture they are holding up too.
In this race, no one wins, until we decide to put down the picture and surrender. Surrender to the fact that life is not a notice competition. Surrender to the fact that we were made for more than this. That this is, in fact, a trick, and we as a generation are falling for it. We are taking the bait, hook, line, and sinker…and we are dying on the line.
Have you ever gone fishing and taken the hook out of a fish’s mouth? When the fish is fighting you, you can’t get the barbs out. But if the fish will surrender and be still, the fisherman can take out the hook.
So how are we set free?
We surrender.
God is looking at us and saying, “Put your pictures down. You will only find completeness with Me. Stop trying to fill the gaps with admiration, attention, and being noticed.”
We don’t need to live holding our lives together, trying to prove we are good enough. God wants us to surrender to Him and live free.
Let’s put down our picture and hand God the pen. He is the author of life. When we surrender and ask Him to write our story, we will find that the completeness we are striving for won’t come from the admiration of others, but rather will be found in our admiration of our God, who is waiting for us at the tip of surrender.
