I am pleased to welcome Jaime Wiebel to the blog today to share some thoughts on being bold even while we feel unworthy. Welcome, Jaime! #BeBoldGirl
There are many days where boldness slips my grip. I wake up ready to conquer the world, be all that God has asked of me, but quickly begin to feel less than worthy.
Standing in the greatness of an awesome God, those feelings are nothing new. We see Moses fall to his face when he realizes whose presence he is in. In the sight of Jesus, John the Baptist realizes he is not even worthy to untie Jesus’s sandals.
In one of my favorite passages from Isaiah, we read about Isaiah’s vision of the Lord in all His Glory. Isaiah’s response in Chapter 6 Verse 5 is,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (NASB)
As believers, it seems common to feel undone, ruined and unworthy to serve or to be in the presence of the Lord. I think this is an appropriate response. One that is normal and one that we should not feel shame for. But often times, we feel guilty for feeling less than great and mighty.
We can learn something very vital from these three men and many others throughout Scripture. What we can realize, is that we are not worthy. We are not worthy of God’s goodness and greatness. That realization brings us to a place of need, a need for a Savior and to be made right before God.
Our worth and our value are not based on our feelings or our success and failures. Our worth is not based on our past, present, or future circumstances. It is also not based on our worship, our prayer, our lifted voices, or our service.
That my friend is not only good news, it is the Great News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. Romans 5:18 (ESV)
The one act of righteousness is not ours. It is the act of Jesus’s death on the cross that gave us the opportunity to be worthy and able to enter the Throne of Grace.
We are sinners. By human nature, we default to sinful lives. Mark 7:21-22 lists the deprivation that we are in, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come–sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.” (NIV)
These sins separate us, leaving a gap wider than the Grand Canyon, between us and God. The gap was filled by the cross.
Once we receive the gift God offers in His Son, we are justified! That means that we are declared righteous or made right, innocent and free in the sight of God.
Our value comes from Who we belong to. It is not something we did which means we don’t lose it because we feel less than worthy.
Hebrews 4:16 says,
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV)
Hold your head up high, approach the throne with confidence and boldness. Christ not only wants to justify you, He wants to pour out His riches on you.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of His righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)
In Christ, we are a new creation. May our souls rejoice as we realize what Isaiah was able to proclaim. Because of what Christ did for us, we are adorned as His bride in robes of righteousness.
We are His and nothing can take that away!
Being Bold In God’s Presence
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Linking up with Abby McDonald at #RaRaLinkup, and Crystal Storms at #IntentionalTuesday