How does God see me?

I had an amazing weekend recently and received some really good revelations about my walk with God. During the week, I usually attend a small group meeting. The meeting is made up of mostly 20-something and 30-something military wives. A few weeks ago, I was feeling particularly down about the fallout from my decision to live with my boyfriend and the subsequent decision to move out. I was feeling depressed, disobedient and upset with myself for disappointing God, my family and my own standards. While I was tearfully sharing my thoughts about the situation to the group, one of my group members reminded me that “you have to see yourself the way we see you . . . and the way God sees you.”

It made me think, “How does God see me?” We all will have times in our lives when we get discouraged, depressed and upset with ourselves. We will feel like we’ve let our families, ourselves and God down. But, God is a redeemer. He is waiting on us to admit where we are not strong so he can come in and fill that void and strengthen us through his word and his love.

As I pondered that question, I went home and studied my Bible to find out what God thinks of us. One scripture that stood out about how God sees us was Isaiah 43:1. “But now, this is what the LORD says–He who created you, O Jacob, he who has formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’ “

While it doesn’t speak specifically about God’s view of us and our lives, it does tell us that we are not to fear because we are not only with the Lord, but the creation of the Lord. And because of that, we are redeemed. We have to exercise faith in God’s word as truth. We are not set apart from him; no actions will keep us from his love because we are his.

Another story that I studied with fresh perspective was that of David. In 2 Samuel 11-12, the Bible talks about David’s sin against God in taking another man’s wife, Bathsheba, as his own and conceiving a child with her. We may think to ourselves, “Well, I’m not that bad!” But, the truth about sin is that God hates it all. David had to answer for his sin and God sent Nathan to carry the message that God was waiting for David to confess. As soon as David confessed his sin, (2 Samuel 12:13) God forgives him (“the LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die…”). David still had to pay a price for his sin, but God was merciful in his judgment and forgave David the instant he confessed.

Both Isaiah 43:1 and 2 Samuel 11-12 give Christians a place to understand how God sees us. And as we experience disappointments and setbacks, I encourage you to remember that we are God’s children and we are redeemed. God is waiting for us to confess and repent, as David did. If we can only see ourselves through God’s eyes even when things look bad in the carnal sense, we can see that we are always redeemed. God’s word is truth! We just have to put on our God goggles to view ourselves.