Am I Relevant?
Recently, a friend of mine was telling me she felt irrelevant. Of course, this friend is very relevant and an amazing female, but she just doesn’t believe it and questions herself. I realized thoughts like this are more common than we think especially as women. This statement had me dig in and study the topic - relevance.
The noun relevant means important or valued. To question our relevance is exactly what Satan wants us to feel. The enemy continuously whispers messages in our ear like, “You’re not relevant, you’re not special, inadequate, you’re too young, too old, not smart enough, you’ve messed up too much in life and you’re no longer useful.”
Biblically, being concerned with this is actually a form of pride and it goes against what God’s love letter (His Word) tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
God made us and nothing He makes is a mistake or not significant. Psalm 139:13-14, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Anything contradictory to what God says is a lie from the enemy, and we as women of God, have to recognize Satan’s tactics. They are tricks to keep us from stepping out in the strengths God has given us. A negative self-image keeps us in the background constantly questioning ourselves and our relevance.
When we allow Satan to whisper in our ear and permeate our minds, we don’t accept the real message from our Heavenly Father. A message of hope, truth, strength, compassion, peace and joy. Jesus says in the Bible that our identity is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Do we choose to believe Jesus and the Bible, or do we choose to believe others? The choice is ours. Believing other opinions instead of Christ’s Word is actually a form of idolatry. Why? We are placing people’s opinions above what God tells us in the Bible. We think the Israelites were crazy to worship golden calves, however, we do it all the time when we are more concerned with what others think than what Jesus says about us as his children.
How does this show up in the life of the friend I mentioned if she doesn’t feel relevant? She digs into areas that are not her expertise. That frustrates those around her whose areas of expertise it actually is. It’s a form of control and the Bible tells us to relinquish everything to the Lord. We need to trust God to work in our lives, otherwise we think we have to step in and handle it ourselves. Control.
An example where I caught myself doing this recently was when I was going to put my house on the market to sale. The real estate agent brought area comps/data and combined with her experience made a recommendation for the sales price. However, I didn’t happen to agree. I kept questioning whether I wanted to do things my own way and go against her advice. I am not a real estate agent and don’t have that knowledge, yet I was trying to step into her domain just like my friend is doing at her job. I realized that I was being hypocritical, and I was doing the very thing that my friend was doing.
God says we are made in his image. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” How could we ever think we’re not relevant? How can we start to question our usefulness in the very people God brings into our lives? Those who come along side us to help us in areas where we may not have expertise so that we can actually focus on other areas where we are knowledgeable. To do otherwise is showing God we don’t trust Him, and it also gives the people around us that same message.
We either believe the whole Bible or we pick it apart and choose the things that make us feel good. I have close friends that will tell me if the dress I’m wearing doesn’t look good on me, or if my hair is the wrong color. Surprisingly enough, many seek out people who will tell us that we’ve got it altogether. As long as they tell us what we want to hear, then we feel good about ourselves. Do we want someone to tell us what we want to hear, or do we want someone who tells us the truth in love?
A true friend that is walking in the Lord is a blessing from God. Sometimes their message may not be what we want to hear, but ask yourself, “Is their truth to what they are saying?” Ask yourself, who did God place in my life that He uses to speak truth? Am I willing to listen to them, or do I insist on finding others to affirm and validate what I am seeking to hear?
This is one of my more serious blogs I have written. In order to have hope which is what my website is all about, we have to realize that hope comes from the Lord. Our hope is that He loves us, will never leave us or forsake us. That hope is because our identity is in Christ and we choose not to look to others to define our importance. Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
People will let us down, and situations will disappoint us. The good news is we can be secure when we put our trust in the Almighty God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. A loving Father who will never let us down!