God Understands You Personally
The world may not always understand us, but God always will and always has understood us. (Tips for going through stress.)
As I’ve been writing these, I’ve been realizing similarities between things that I’ve written and have a desire to offer a wider variety of experiences. For example, as I mentioned last Sunday, I realized that I was originally giving experiences where God was doing all of the work. What I realized this past week is that I’ve only been giving examples of trials that people can see. For the example and lesson this week, I want to bring up a type of trial that’s more internal. Today, I’m gonna bring up how I try to deal with feeling misunderstood.
These examples were chosen with much consideration. First off, these aren’t things that I’m holding against anybody who has subscribed. Second, these each contribute to a different aspect of how God sees us.
1. Personality
Personal Example: Personally, I am very sensitive to feeling misunderstood. For example, last year, I went to a Bible Institute that I loved… except for the fact that I originally had a very hard time talking with other people. People could tell that I was more on the introverted side, so most people usually wouldn’t talk to me (especially at first) because they assumed that I didn’t like talking to people. I eventually felt so alone and misunderstood that I started crying. That one came into my mind because the whole extroverted/introverted thing has brought up a lot of misunderstandings for me. People assume that I spend time alone because I don’t feel like being with others. In all reality, it just feels awkward for me to stand around not knowing who to talk with or what to talk about. Some people assume that I’m expressionless, which is not even close to true. I would say that I’m more on the introverted side, but people assume that I have introverted traits that I don’t have. There’s nothing wrong with those traits that people assume about me. Sometimes they can be great traits to have. I just don’t like feeling misunderstood.
Tip: When it comes to personality, we should define ourselves based off of how God views us. God has called us His favorite creation. God loves that everyone can help in different ways. God loves us for who we really are. Everyone has different personalities because that is how God wants us to be. Everyone’s special in their own ways. So… who am I? A dancer? An introvert? A daredevil? Someone said to have the gift of mercy? Easy. I’ll tell you who I am… I am a child of God. You are free to define yourself however you want; I just find a lot of comfort in the fact that God defines me that way. If you ever feel like you’re being judged in some way or another, just know that God judges you in the best way. God views us as loveable to an unbreakable extent.
Believers: 1 John 3:1a, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
Everybody: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Side Note: I am not saying that some personalities are better than others. I am not saying that personality is the same thing as character or attitude. I am simply saying that we shouldn’t define ourselves off of how humans view us but off of how God views us.
2. Occasions
Personal Example: Another example that comes into my mind was with a bike accident that I had earlier this year. First off, I was (and still am) very sensitive to the fact that people were (and still are… months later) spreading the rumor that I had a seizure while riding the bike even though I had straightforwardly told them that it happened because the breaks on the bike that I was borrowing turned out not to be strong enough to stop the bike when going downhill. On another hand, some people just laughed at me when I mentioned that the scrapes and stuff were from the bike accident. They started talking about it as if it was no big deal and as if I was just trying to make things seem worse than they actually were. Both of those instances made me feel really annoyed because I felt like some people were just being ignorant. I especially hated the fact that they were misunderstanding what had happened simply because they chose not to accept the truth of what had happened.
Tip: When it comes to occasions, God is with us throughout all of it. He saw every aspect of what had happened. He knew and accepted the truth of what happened before it even happened. If you ever feel like nobody understands what just went on in your life, know that at least God does.
Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteaous right hand.”
Whenever I have feelings brought on by feeling misunderstood such as anger, sadness, or annoyance, I need to constantly remind myself that those aren’t things that I need to dwell on. Those are simply earthly circumstances that I have chosen to see in a bad way.
Psalm 147: 5, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure”.