Insecurities

Genesis 2:25 “The man and his wife (Adam and Eve) were both naked and they felt no shame”

Wow, hearing this makes me a little envious of being born in the Eden days. Coming from a woman who is recently married, I could use a little ‘no sham-edness’ when I’m naked around my man. I mean you wouldn’t see Eve looking in the reflection of the river saying to herself “Ugh, look at these dimples, and the size of my thighs, I’m so fat. I hope Adam doesn’t notice all the pimples that are attacking my forehead too”. No, this simply did not happen in the beginning, there was no negative self talk, no insecurities, and fear was unknown to humans. Adam and Eve were created perfectly and did not need confirmation from anyone else but the one who created them.They simply saw themselves through the reflection of their Creators eyes. So what happened? To sum it up, Eve believed a lie that the enemy told her. What was the lie? That she could become something better than she was, that she could become like God. This, of course, led to the infamous ‘Fall of man’ where Adam and Eve disoboyed God and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. After this moment all hell broke loose on earth but as I re-read this chapter I noticed more and more of the Enemy’s lies to steal Adam and Eve’s confidence.

It says in Genesis 3:10-11 “They realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves”. Lets look at the first part of this verse. “They realized”. So Satan had already planted the lie that it was wrong for them to be naked. But I want to point out that, this lie was in the form of a thought. You see, when Adam and Eve were without sin and had not yet ate from the forbidden tree, Satan could not legally tempt them with sinful ‘thoughts’ because they were protected by God, and they were guided by His thoughts but once they allowed sin into their bodies, it was free range for Satan. Funny isn’t it how this was the last we saw of the serpent in the Bible. The enemy no longer comes in the form of an animal or a person from this point on rather his voice is disguised through their thoughts in their mind. And I bet it wasn’t the typical cartoon devil on Adams shoulder saying ”Hey its the devil speaking here, I want you to sin, because sinning is wrong and it will ultimately ruin God’s plan for the human race.” No, Satan is a little more clever. In fact, I believe that from the moment forward he has been using 1st person narrative in our own train of thoughts. In case you were daydreaming in grade 10 English class Ill give you an example of what this may have sounded like: “I’m naked, being naked is wrong. I am so embarrassed, what should I do?”

Then what happened after the thought has taken root? Action. Satan will always try to get us to ACT in rebellion towards God. Why? because when we stray away from God we loose our will to do what is right and we end up giving the Enemy our power by actively sinning. So Adam and Eve “Sew fig leaves together and used them as coverings”. This is so sad when you think about it, I mean they are basically slapping God in the face by covering up what He created as beautiful. Genesis 3:9-10 “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said ‘Where are you?”  To where Adam replies “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid”. I want to point out a few things here and the First is: God has a sense of humor. I mean the omnipresent God asks “where are you?” to Adam when He knows exactly where he is. Secondly: Like Adam and Eve, I believe we tend to run away from God when we know that we have sinned against Him. Thirdly: Adam says “I was afraid”. Wow it took a mere 3 chapters in the Bible for the spirit of fear to enter mans mouth and it has not left since.

Genesis 3:12 God answers  ”Who told you that you were naked?”. God clearly knows that Adam and Eve have sinned, but He uses this rhetorical question to make them ’Think’ about what they have done. God is saying “I never told you that you were naked” and “naked” was not a word that I gave to you. So who told you that being nakedwas wrong? You see, The serpents plan was to trick the human race into believing that we are not good enough, smart enough, funny enough or beautiful enough. The truth about God declaring us as  wonderfully made (Psalm 139) has been replaced with a lie from the pit of hell and a lie that we have all believed. Ironically it is the same lie that the Enemy used to trick Eve “If you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened and you will become like God..”(Gen 3:5) Sounds familiar doesn’t it? “If you just buy this product it will surely reduce the appearance of your freckles and blemishes and make you feel beautiful” “If you just buy these diet pills you will loose that unwanted weight and you can have a desirable body”. Either you choooseto be in agreeance with the lies that stem from the devil or you chooseto be in agreeance with God and allow Him to define you.

Now I will be the first to admit that I have a serious problem in getting into agreeance with the enemy. I guess it just seemed normal to me because as a young girl I watched my mother do it all the time and after a while standing in front of the mirror and naming our flaws was a normal pass-time for me and my sisters. I cannot count the many of times I have told myself “I would be so much happier if only I could have a thinner and toned body, I mean then I could fit into these Jeans and wear that type of shirt, etc”. And because I had allowed that thought to take root, I was speaking as though it was the truth and this led me to take action. I began restricting necessary foods, working out excessively, using diet pills until eventually I developed a very unhealthy eating disorder. I am happy to say that I no longer struggle with an eating disorder but I would be lying if I said that I do not sometimes agree with the lies that circulate in my head or outwardly confess my flaws when I am looking at my reflection in the mirror. But this is all about to change for me, and I hope that you are ready to destroy the stronghold of insecurities that are holding you back from becoming fully confident in the flesh that God has given you as well. It is time to slap the devil in the face and steal back the confidence that is rightfully ours.

                 How to replace the Eden Lie with the Truth?
Thoughts:  Remember how Adam all of a sudden ’realized’ he was naked? Well the next time you ’feel’ insecure about something it is because you have allowed a thought to take root in your mind and heart. The Bible says “As a man thinketh, so is he”. So whatever thoughts you hold onto, or meditate on, they will eventually become your reality. The next time you walk in front of a mirror, decide before you look at your reflection to say something positive about yourself to yourself. Get in the habit of cleaning up your mind, and meditating on ‘positive’ thoughts. To start, why not focus on the exact opposite of your insecurities. For example “I love the size of my hips, they give me shape, and they look really good in these jeans”

Speaking: Adam says “I was afraid because I was naked”. Everyone who is insecure about themselves has a tendency to speak about it. It is a fact that whatever we think about in abundance will set into our heart and will eventually come out of our mouths. The Bible says “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Why do we love to talk about our flaws? Why is it socially acceptable to rip apart Gods most precious creation? Ill tell you why. Because if Satan could get our mouths speaking a lie, the sooner it would take root inside of us, the faster that lie would travel to someone else, the more it would affect other people, and the more desperate we would become to find our confidence in something or someone else- other than God. What I am trying to point out here ladies, is that our words have power. We can change our lives for better or for worse by what we allow to come out of our mouths. If you want to be a woman of complete confidence then you need to get your mouth in line with the word of God and stop agreeing with the lies that surround you. Start speaking the truth out loud ”No, that thought is a lie and I choose not to think like that or speak like that” ”I don’t have to rely on cosmetics to make me beautiful. I look to the lord, He makes me beautiful from the inside out” (Psalm 34). The Bible says that we overcome evil with good. It may feel a bit silly at first saying things out loud like “I am not afraid of getting older, I will embrace it, and I look good for my age”  “I love the way my body fills out these jeans” “I find my confidence in Christ alone”. Like Joyce Meyers likes to say “fake it until you make it”. Eventually, speaking positive about yourself will come naturally and the condition of your heart will be transformed until you no longer believe the Eden Lie.

 Who told you?: If there is anything that you reflect on after reading this blog  I hope it is this question. I believe God is asking us that same question today. “Who told you that?”  Who told you that you are insecure? Who told you that you look fat? Who told you that you need to look this way to feel confident? Who told you that you don’t look attractive when you are naked? God knows exactly who it was that told you those lies, but He still asks ”Who” because it is important for youto know where these false statements are coming from and to know that if it is not from Him then it is not the Truth. In today’s society the enemy does not have to whisper in our ear anymore, there are more efficient ways to get the mass population to believe the lies that separate us from the security of God. If you look around you there are movies, music, television, magazines etc all projecting the same lies that stemmed in the Garden. We are not good enough, rich enough, healthy enough, pretty enough, strong enough, etc. But yet why do we continue to buy into them? We keep feeding the serpent’s ego and in turn giving free range for his lies to pollute our mind, mouth and heart. Then we wonder why we feel so insecure when we stand naked in front of a mirror,or wear no makeup in public. I am not saying that we should be extremists and not watch tv or movies but rather be mindful of which ones you are buying into and the messages that they portray. Instead of flipping through the ”Best and Worst” beach bodies magazine and comparing your body with the celebrities,why not flip to a page in your Bible and read the promises of God.I guarantee His word will penetrate your mind and soul more than any other source this world has to offer.

 My hope is that starting today we can take a step forward in cleaning up our minds and our mouths and choose to believe what God has to say about us instead of repeating the Eden lie to ourselves and to others.