Hephza..wha?
Hephzibah Project? What is a Hephzibah? You are probably asking yourself that right about now. Let me break it down for you. Hephzibah was the wife of King Hezekiah and was mentioned in 2 Kings 21:1. The scripture mentions her once and there isn't much said about her. So, what is the significance of this lady to me?
During a turning point time in my life, someone prayed for me and referred to me as a Hephzibah. I thought to myself..."Hephziwhaa??" When I got home I grabbed a Bible Concordance (reference book) and looked it up. The Concordance referred to the above scripture and said that Hephzibah was a Hebrew (or Jewish) name meaning "my delight is in her". This was a pretty interesting revelation for me. I realized that God delighted in me. I honestly felt like God couldn't be anything short of devastatingly disappointed in me at that point in my life, but here I was looking at this name for me and reading the words "my delight is in her".
This was a huge thing for me to learn and I want you to hear it first off. God, created you. Yes, you. The scriptures say "...you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13). When he made us, what he made was perfect, beautiful, unique, and full of purpose. God DOES NOT make mistakes. When the world looks at us they see our outsides. Sometimes they see (and point out) what they call flaws. Sometimes even people in our family can criticize us and make us feel like we are less than we are. When you look in a mirror, what do you see?
For me, at this point in time, I was feeling pretty much like a total failure. I felt like I had made a lot of mistakes and that there was no way to fix the huge mess I had made of my life. I had known better and still done some things that were, well let's be honest, just plain stupid. I kind of figured for the rest of my life I would have all that mess hanging over my head. This was all a BIG LIE! God wanted me to know something completely different. He loves me; just the way I am. He made me perfectly and when I came to Him and asked for forgiveness he cast my sins away into the "sea of forgetfulness". When God looks at me, He DELIGHTS! He is proud. A proud Papa! He doesn't see our boo-boos or screw ups. He doesn't see our bad skin or chubby knees or crooked eyebrows either! He sees a beauty that runs deep. He sees His daughters who he created to do great things and achieve much.
So here is the key: all the time I spent worrying about what people thought of me, whether I was pretty enough, what clothes I picked out, all the ways I was "falling short" of the status quo...none of that matters! What truly matters is who we are inside and how God sees us and I am here to tell you, He thinks you are fantastic! He wants you to see yourself through his eyes. He wants you to know you are perfect in his sight.
I decided I wanted to be a Hephzibah. I wanted to live my life in the joy of knowing that God delights in me because I am who he designed me to be. I live my life for Him and see myself beautiful inside and out. How could you be anything less when you were made with such care?
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalms 139:14
During a turning point time in my life, someone prayed for me and referred to me as a Hephzibah. I thought to myself..."Hephziwhaa??" When I got home I grabbed a Bible Concordance (reference book) and looked it up. The Concordance referred to the above scripture and said that Hephzibah was a Hebrew (or Jewish) name meaning "my delight is in her". This was a pretty interesting revelation for me. I realized that God delighted in me. I honestly felt like God couldn't be anything short of devastatingly disappointed in me at that point in my life, but here I was looking at this name for me and reading the words "my delight is in her".
This was a huge thing for me to learn and I want you to hear it first off. God, created you. Yes, you. The scriptures say "...you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13). When he made us, what he made was perfect, beautiful, unique, and full of purpose. God DOES NOT make mistakes. When the world looks at us they see our outsides. Sometimes they see (and point out) what they call flaws. Sometimes even people in our family can criticize us and make us feel like we are less than we are. When you look in a mirror, what do you see?
For me, at this point in time, I was feeling pretty much like a total failure. I felt like I had made a lot of mistakes and that there was no way to fix the huge mess I had made of my life. I had known better and still done some things that were, well let's be honest, just plain stupid. I kind of figured for the rest of my life I would have all that mess hanging over my head. This was all a BIG LIE! God wanted me to know something completely different. He loves me; just the way I am. He made me perfectly and when I came to Him and asked for forgiveness he cast my sins away into the "sea of forgetfulness". When God looks at me, He DELIGHTS! He is proud. A proud Papa! He doesn't see our boo-boos or screw ups. He doesn't see our bad skin or chubby knees or crooked eyebrows either! He sees a beauty that runs deep. He sees His daughters who he created to do great things and achieve much.
So here is the key: all the time I spent worrying about what people thought of me, whether I was pretty enough, what clothes I picked out, all the ways I was "falling short" of the status quo...none of that matters! What truly matters is who we are inside and how God sees us and I am here to tell you, He thinks you are fantastic! He wants you to see yourself through his eyes. He wants you to know you are perfect in his sight.
I decided I wanted to be a Hephzibah. I wanted to live my life in the joy of knowing that God delights in me because I am who he designed me to be. I live my life for Him and see myself beautiful inside and out. How could you be anything less when you were made with such care?
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalms 139:14
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Erika