Do you ever wake up feeling horrible and weak? For no real reason? I suppose there are always reasons, even if you can't find them at the time...but either way it's annoying. It affects everything about your day, your outlook, your decisions and the state of your heart, unless you do something about it.

Doing something about it isn't the easiest course of action..we usually prefer to get down to some serious self pity and feeling sorry for ourselves. No?

Last nights message at church was about Fear. When we fear anything we immobilize ourselves, we climb into a box and seal it up, stopping the blessing of God's promises being poured out into our lives.

What I do know is that God tells us to not be afraid. 365 times he tells us this in His letter to us. God knows that we have this tendency to fear, to be afraid, to feel weak, inadequate and hopeless. He knows because He made you, lovingly formed you, designed you with painstaking care and pleasure. God ached all through eternity for the time when He could bring you into existence. You are His joy, His pleasure and delight, constantly on His mind, in His thoughts and treasured in His heart.

We rarely catch a glimpse of the way God feels about us. So many of us suffer from feelings of low self worth. We spend each day wondering if anyone really loves us, unsure of ourselves, struggling with feelings of insecurity. We are needy, aching for intimacy, acceptance and belonging.

If we really knew who we are in Christ and exactly how our Father feels about us, these thorns we endure would fall away in a second.

Your God is crazy about you. He died for you didn't he? We say that so often, that Christ died for us. It's easy to take anything for granted, to become used to a phrase when you hear it so often. Examine your heart, vow to never take what Christ has done for you for granted. You were bought at great cost.

Go to the cross, think of what Christ did for you. Feel the cost he paid so that you could be His. When you begin to see the price that was paid for your heart, you begin to understand the value that you have in God, what you are worth.

I know all this. It's easy to write. It's hard to apply it to my own life. I don't always feel great about myself, I struggle with all kinds of things and I need to know my worth in God. I know God is showing me..but man, why do these things take so much time! Isn't there some instant version He can whip up? I guess not.

Here's half a poem I wrote about God.

You are my faithful friend
You never leave me
You never misunderstand me and get in a mood
When I'm horrible, you understand why
You give me the space I need, you know it's not about you
You love me
You support me
You enjoy being with me
You spur me on to grow into all I can be
You're honest about my feelings but you always encourage me
You lift me with your love
You don't condemn
You don't judge
You fill my life with hope
You restore me
You died to save me
You are my God
My King and my Lord
My savior
You are my friend.