What Do You See?

Our view of ourselves creates an invisible boundary around our lives. Proverbs 23:7 says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is the man. Whether we realise it or not, we all have inner pictures. A view of who we really are, irrespective of what others see.

Little

For a long time, I felt like a child. In my late twenties, I worked for a top Public Relations firm and had to attend a meeting with a CEO of a fast growing company. As I sat in his office offering communications advice, I felt like a fraud.

How could someone small like me offer someone successful anything meaningful? It didn’t matter that my boss believed in me because I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t make much progress in that season.

The same was true at church. Although I seemed strong and confident, I felt inadequate and was a bit embarrassed about leading. I worried that people wouldn’t want to be pastored by me. I could cope with guiding women of a similar age to myself. Anyone else? They were out of my zone so I fumbled my way through.

From the inside out

When we feel little on the inside, we will come across as small to others. When we believe that we will bungle everything up, we will falter and fail all too easily.

The problem is that God has a plan for each one of us. We need to be sure of who we are so that we can fulfil our true potential. God had to heal my heart of every hurt that made me believe that I was not able. He had to change my inner picture so that I could rise up and fulfil my purpose.

Many people struggle year in, year out to lose weight. But if I think of myself as a big woman, if that’s my inner picture, then however hard I try, I will probably end up reflecting the image in the mirror of my heart. This principle affects every area of our lives.

What do you see?

We can pray for promotion or increase on every side, but if we don’t think we deserve that breakthrough, our inner picture will keep us hemmed in. One way we can know that we really have faith is that we can already see our promises come to pass. We can easily imagine ourselves thriving in that new job or leading that amazing ministry.

The Bible teaches that what we can inherit what we can see in the spirit, or in our mind’s eye. When God was preparing Abraham to inherit a new nation, he kept telling him that he could have what he could see:

“The Lord said to Abram… “Lift your eyes now and look… for all the land which you see I give to you…” Gen 13:14-15

Why do you think Moses sent spies into the promised land? The purpose was for them to get a vision of their future home so that they could feed the faith of their fellow Israelites.

Work within

What are the promises that God has given to you? What are the aims that you long to achieve? Look inside and ask yourself whether your inner picture is of someone who able, strong and ready. If it’s not, it’s time to ask God to do another work within.

Most of us are carrying issues on the inside that are stopping us from stepping out. Old experiences make us shrink back. I want to invite you to come on (or remain on) a journey to inner wholeness. Allow God to change the picture on the inside. The next Healed for Life in the UK is just two months away. Join us for an awesome experience. In the US, our Champions event is even sooner. Hope to see you there!