By Judy Villanueva

“The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. (Zephaniah 3:17)

A fifty-something year old woman walked onto the stage, an unlikely victor in the talent competition my husband and I were watching.  She had a gap in her teeth and her dress was too short for a woman her age but with a twinkle in her eye and a smirky smile, she began her comic routine. Then, it happened. Upon finishing her schtick, the audience rose to their feet in an uproar of cheers! They loved her and as the sound of corporate approval filled the air the camera zoomed in on the woman. Overcome, she shuffled her feet and covered her face as tears filled her eyes. Enveloped in applause, she looked out at the audience stunned and deeply moved by the many voices that declared emphatically, “You are loved!  Well done!”  Aren’t these the words we all long to hear?

The need for assurances of our worth is a universal soul longing.  We look for it every day, aware and unaware, and hunt for proof that we matter.  I remember Tim Keller once saying that all of us

“…need someone we think the world of to think the world of us!”

So, we work hard, strive to look nice, endeavor to please, produce, and perform all in an effort to conquer the insidious fear that who we are is not enough.  Can you feel your need for applause?  Are you aware of the subtle drive to prove yourself worthy?  I am.  Especially when I’m not “doing” something important I can feel it creep up on me with indictments that I haven’t sufficiently earned my life.  I can also feel it when offered a compliment and, instead of simply enjoying the blessing of having done something well, I clutch the praise tightly, hoping to squeeze out a kind of worth that lasts.

But what would happen if we were to imagine that we are the ones on stage?  Imagine…

You walk out and stand there — being you. Your hair color, your height, weight, bone structure and temperament. You come with talents and gifts, rough edges and blind spots, good intentions and selfish ambitions, accomplishments and failures. The spot light reveals everything and all that you are (and aren’t) is apparent. Then, imagine…try to imagine… that after you’ve put all of you out there on the stage, you wait trembling for the silence to break…with a judgement of who you are.  And then it breaks!  An eruption of cheers fills the air and surrounds you. It’s ecstatic and happy and filled with joy — for you!  Feel it!

You are loved!  

Through tears you look up, curious to see the audience whose vigorous shouts of approval are healing and filling your soul.  Can You see Him?  It’s Your God!  Celebrating you, blessing who you are, and showering you with love.  He thinks the world of you!  And, there’s nothing more true than that!

“Thank you, Father, that in your eyes I find approval and a love that quiets my striving and invites me to rest.  It’s your applause that fills my soul.  Help me to stand before you everyday and listen for your cheers.  Amen.”

What about you?

Can you feel your need for applause?   Are you aware of the subtle drive to prove yourself worthy?

Have you ever thought about God rejoicing over you with shouts of joy?  What does it make you feel?

Where are you looking for approval?   In what ways are you trying to prove that you matter?

God thinks the world of you!  I pray you seek to know Him better.

Worship