My husband and I are epic thrifters. Most of our date nights include venturing out in search of a new thrift store that holds unknown treasures for us. It’s exhilarating and we love it.
We weren’t always this way though. In fact when we first got married, I was working in luxury retail, surrounded by exorbitantly wealthy people and thought that everything I bought had to be of the “finer things” in life.
Since the majority of those things were highly out of reach, I found myself spending most of my free time scouting second hand stores, watching for sales and shopping on the internet for the things I desired at a price I could afford. Maintaining my image became my obsession.
Then we had our first child and there was tension in my heart. The constant pressure to get my body back combined with the maintenance of looking culturally relevant and the added demand of being a new mom, snapped valuable energy away from my much needed time with God.
After three years of exhaustive striving, I found out I was pregnant for the 2nd time and I broke. As I lay in my bed nauseous from 1st trimester hormones, I heard a still small voice:
“Daughter, are the things you’re worried about eternal things, or things that will pass away?”
I felt a gentle conviction to create a list of all of my worries in my journal. Not surprisingly, I realized that most of my worries were fueled by the lie that I was not good enough and that I needed to maintain a certain image to be worthy of the approval of others.
Unintentionally, I realized that I had given ownership of my worth and value over to what the world said about me instead of what God said about me, and I was ready for freedom from this once and for all.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? “ (Matthew 6:25-26 NIV)
Jesus lays it out so clearly here – that we are worth so much more than what the world says about us so we can rest in the fact that God gave us value well before we were even born, establishing our worth through the sacrifice of his son Jesus.
When we see our value through God’s eyes, the anxiety to be someone, or seek the right possessions or image through the world’s eyes, dims and the light of God’s loving truth gives us the freedom to let go and receive the freedom he so eagerly offers.
Mama, we need not be anxious about anything. God is already in our future and is looking to provide everything we need for us. God wants us to be free like the birds of the air and not worry about things that aren’t eternal and cherish the things that are intangible – most importantly, time in his presence. Whatever season you find yourself in, God knows and sees it all and you are enough as you are now.
Reflection Questions
- Write down a list of things that worry you. Cross off any that are cares of this world.
- Now rip that list up, burn it, and/or pray a prayer of surrender to God. Give him each of your worries and thank him for carrying them for you. Now declare out loud that you are worth more than a sparrow! Journal how you feel afterward.
Esther “Annie” Rhoades is a mom to three, wild and free kids and has been happily married to her best friend, Jon, for over 10 years. Annie values experience over things and loves yoga with worship music, diving into the word, hosting, thrifting, making healthy goodies, and traveling.