Athletic?! Me?! (Seeing ourselves as God sees us)
Have you seen the movie “Enchanted”? I personally love it! It’s one of my favorites. There’s a scene when Prince Edward’s servant, Nathaniel, asks him, “Sire, do you like yourself?” Prince Edward responds, “What’s not to like?” and then gives Nathaniel a big, cheesy grin for a few seconds.
There are times in all our lives when we start feeling a bit unlikable. The reasons for this happening are many. However, when we feel like this, God looks at us and thinks, “What’s not to like? You're perspective on yourself is not what I see.” We are his children and He loves us. He sees us as we truly are.
I had a friend tell me the other day that she saw me as “very athletic”. My perspective on myself was very different, and I very nearly laughed my head off. In elementary school, I was always the last one picked for just about any team, but kickball was the worst. Without fail, I ran as hard as I could, and kicked. The next thing I knew, the ball was rolling behind me, or if I actually managed to kick the darn thing, it would land squarely in the arms of the other team causing me to get an out. In middle school, trying to play volleyball created an equation for me that I still live by today: Lynnae + ball = harm or humiliation. It’s not pretty. Graciously, in high school they allowed you the option of walking around the top of the gym rather than playing the sports. That was the best part of my high school P.E. experience! Obviously, hearing that someone thought of me as “very athletic” just didn’t fit with my perspective of myself. I started to think about her statement and realized as an adult I enjoy running in a few 5k races per year, swim laps, and take a few dance classes. I still don’t see myself as athletic, but I began to realize why she would have a very different perspective than the teammates from my youth.
If we are unable to see ourselves as others see us in this life, how much further off would our perspective be from how our Heavenly Father sees us! He looks at us, and loves us. In Malachi 1:2 He says, “I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?....” We make mistakes. We are imperfect. However, He continually reaches for us and thinks “what’s not to like?”
