Underestimating Yourself and God (6-28-2020)

Underestimating Yourself and God Devotional for 6-28-20 Beginning Scripture: I Samuel 15:17 "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel." I read a devotional recently that spoke of the way we tend to underestimate ourselves. It started with a story about King Saul in which Saul, due to his own failures, was small in his own eyes, even though the Bible described him as a tall and handsome man. One source of Saul's underestimation of himself was his desire to win the approval of the people even though it was God who had chosen him. This desire to please others rather than remembering the God who believed in him, continued to be a problem for Saul. I got to thinking about this tendency in myself to underestimate myself. An important message for us in the Bible is that what ought to define us is not our estimation of ourselves. It would be better to define ourselves based on the fact that we are God's children - based on the belief that he can do great things in us with his love. I sometimes lack trust in God's ability to act as a creator within me. That lack of trust is why I can't see me the way God sees me. My identity should be "one who was created in God's image," who continues to be created by him each day. Then the next step is to behave as if God is doing this creative work in me. We're studying the 4th chapter of Hebrews in Sunday School today. Verse 15 says that Jesus understands our weaknesses because he had the same temptations as we do. It helps me to think of Jesus as human. I see his doubt and fear when he said, "My God my God why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) I know that I sometimes doubt myself and I wondered if maybe, just maybe, Jesus too occasionally had doubts about his own ability to handle all of the things he had to handle, healing all those sick people, going through all that suffering. He thought God had forsaken him on the cross, so maybe when he was exhausted at the end of the day he went apart from people to a quiet place and prayed to the Father to take away his doubt and fear and make him strong, to help him to do the work of the Creator. The difference between me and Jesus is this: If Jesus ever had doubts, he chose not to act on them. He chose not discouragement. He chose to do great things and to bring the kingdom of God to earth, to show people what the true loving and creative nature of God is. So, again, I figure that Jesus might have been tempted to underestimate what the Father could do in him, but he didn't sin by acting on that temptation to doubt God's strength in him. He went out the next day, trudged up the hillside and preached, and touched people, and healed. So to me, one of the points of Hebrews 4 is that God wants to save us in spite of the fact that we sometimes do not believe he can do so. We underestimate the ability of God to do great things in us and through us. How do I disobey God and fail to enter into his presence? Oh, I could list many times I do this. For example when I don't follow through on my promise to call someone to check in on them or when I decide to watch TV instead of doing something creative like writing or reading things that will spiritually lift me up - just to mention a couple. It is up to me to believe and trust God - to trust that there really is a universe aching to explode from within me into the world. And then I need to act on it. Don't underestimate what God can do in you and with you. Trust that he can be a Creator in you. And do what you can to nurture the part of you that is creative. I did some research on how to nurture creativity in adults and here are a few suggestions I discovered: 1. Taking a small amount of time each day to immerse yourself in playful, pretend or creative, artsy pursuits, can greatly alter the way your brain responds to challenges, accessing your limitless realm of thought. 2. Switch up your music and enjoy a kind of music that you're not used to. 3. Take time to doodle on a notepad or show your artsy side with a coloring book. 4. If you have a problem or task you can't figure out, or you've got a mental block, walk away. The simplest and most effective way past this issue is to give it a rest and move on. By focusing your attentions on a different task, you'll detach yourself from the woes of your current project. When you've returned, you'll often find that you have a refreshed and recharged perspective, allowing you to continue with your work. 5. Use your hands to communicate. Believe it or not, gesturing with both hands as you speak encourages your brain to think from different perspectives. https://www.aumcore.com/blog/2015/04/16/nurturing-creativity-in-adults-and-how-to-keep-it-alive-forever/ Finally, one little encouragement: When you are tempted to underestimate yourself, remember this little piece of advice thrown into my mind in a dream: Do what you can - a little at a time. Prayer Father send us your Holy Spirit full of grace and energy to transfer that grace and energy to us. We need it. In the name of our precious Savior Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.