Pay close attention to these 3 main points:
1. I chose you
2. I set you apart
3. I appointed you
You are a woman chosen, a woman set apart and a woman appointed. You are not here by accident in this moment. It is no mistake that you are living right now with your won set of circumstances, dealing with your specific set of issues, all while working within your personalized set of skills and abilities.
God has made you and has placed you here... on purpose.
1. He chose you. You are involved in a divinely designed, carefully calculated, and eternally significant plan. For reason you may not fully understand or even agree with, God selected you as His own. His choice of you was based on a deep, intimate knowledge of who you are. So even if you can not fathom why God would choose a person like you to participate in a particular activity, He Himself is well aware of His reasons. He has selected you, and everything about you, to participate in the work He is doing at this point in history. God's choice of you for this leg of the marathon was by design.
Not because it has accidentally happened like this but because you have been known and Chosen by the Coach who sees you as uniquely suited, equipped, and capable of carrying out such amazing plans with such intricate precision.
You did not choose Me, but I chose you ~ John 15:16
if we're ever to live out the plans He has for us. Your value, like mine, is ultimately found in the underserved but wholly divine selection processes of God.
2. He set you apart. Being "set apart" carries the idea of being dedicated for a specific use at a specific time, being reserved for those opportunities when (and how and where) you can best be used, when you can most be yourself. You are a holy vessel of God, set apart for specific times when the uniqueness you offer can be fully used and valued "a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master ~ 2 Timothy 2:21
We were each created by a God to do our part. And if we fail to do it because we don't its valuable enough, great loss will be suffered. Someone, somewhere, needs YOU - in all of your uniqueness - to step up to the plate of your calling.
Rather than seeking to impress and outperform others, and rather than feeling ashamed by what you don't have and can't do, relish the opportunity to stand as a living, walking, eating, breathing example of what God's grace can do with a woman He has set apart, weaknesses and all, to be a sacred vessel in His service. You are a purposeful place setting.
3. He has appointed you. Being chosen and set apart is quite an honor, but make no mistake - it comes with great responsibility. Among the reason God chose you was to put you in a position to yield specific outcomes in your personal life situations. You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit ~ John 15:16
Therefore, you can trust that He has planted you right now in the place where you will be the most personally productive. Even if you are not inherently pleased with the person He's made you to be, even if you may not be abundantly happy with the circumstances you're currently living, you can be sure that God has planted you here with design and intention.
He has selected the "soil" where you're presently growing. Every kind of season and weather you experience has had to pass through HIs fingers before coming into contact with you. It's all been divinely designed to surround you with the conditions that allow your unique gifts and abilities to reach maximum potential. To grow. To yield. To produce.
Your seeds are designed to produce a crop that's uniquely yours. So there's no point in trying to produce fruit that is someone else's to grow. Your job at any given moment is to bring all your gifts, all your talents, all your propensities and all your passions into this thing called life and believe that they are good enough to produce the fruit that is expected of you.
Trust Him. He knows you, He has special plans for you.
I don't know all the things you're struggling with at this moment as you strive to attain a healthier self image. But I know that the only way to experience it is to fall back into the genuine, authentic reality of your value in God's eyes - the One who chose you, set you apart, and appointed you to bear fruit. He has loved you enough to make you like no other, and He's given you a task that is yours alone to complete with His abundant help and empowerment.
***All this was taken from Priscilla Shirer's The Resolution for Women. All credit is due to her and her alone. I only shared this because myself and my dear friends struggle with self-esteem issues and this really struck a cord with me. My prayer is it struck a cord with you. Please pick up this book it will empower you to resolve to being the woman God created you to be ***
