Sabotage

On to my journey reading Holley Gerth's book You're Going to be Okay, I'm now in chapter 5 and right from the title, it grabbed me:  "You Can Keep from Sabotaging Yourself."

O my...

The chapter so far deals with the fact that many of us, consciously and more often, unconsciously, sabotage ourselves in many ways.  One of the first ones is emotional sabotage.  This one, has to do with expectations...

Oy vey...

I know all about this one.  I want to meet everyone's expectations and when that doesn't happen, which is more often than not, I fall into a pool of self-rejection.  The biggest problem personally, however, arises when I try to meet my OWN expectations for myself...which NEVER happens, meaning, I'm a permanent resident of the bottom of the pit.

Sigh...

I want to change my ways.  I long to be a better EVERYTHING...and when I fail... well... you know...

This is what I was alluding back when I was talking about being at peace with who I am... God designed me this way.  I know, I'm not using this as a cop out, though it sure sounds like one.  I'm using it as a self-affirmation. 

Either from the expanded version found in the Amplified Bible,

For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

Or in the simple terms of the New Living Translation:  

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2: 10 is clear... we are the product of the work of His Hands.  That is enough to makes us worthy of our own acceptance.

He planned, He designed, He modeled us as bearers of His image...the crown of His Creation, to be in this life to do the work he prepared for us, be it as the president of a country or as a person suffering a debilitating disease, constraint to a bed, unable to move.  We all have a purpose in His Divine Providence.  The problem is that often, the ideas we have in our minds regarding the purpose for our life does not match the original plan.  

The key is to trust the Plan Maker... for He is Perfect and so is His plan.  Let us remember to walk with Him, to keep our eyes on His Face and to have peace with the fact that:  

In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.  Proverbs 16: 9

Lord, help us to seek You above all else, and to forget about the lie that we must meet everyone else's expectations, especially our own...so we can stop sabotaging our lives.