It is late morning and the four of us - Anthea, Jackie, Rachael and I - have just had a leisurely breakfast. We meet regularly to enjoy each other's company and stay connected; a group of girl-friends who all have God at the centre of their busy lives, and whom God has wisely knitted together. We laugh a lot and depart again feeling loved and cherished.
This morning our breakfast venue is an old house whose three sections comprise the coffee shop, dress-hire, and upmarket second-hand clothes. Browsing the clothes, we begin in the kids' section, but soon drift across to the racks of lovely, gently-used, designer clothes. There are soft leather boots, cute hats, every length of jacket, blouses and dresses of every colour...There is even a room full of men's clothes. We look, touch, exclaim, encourage... And then Anthea finds the "little black number": a simple, fitted dress that falls in soft folds, with a glittery embossed pattern.
She is adamant that it will fit me; everyone else joins in. I appeal to the shop-owner: "But it looks like a size 10!" She agrees. But the others insist: I must try it on. Laughing, disbelieving, I do so, sure it will NOT fit.
But, gentle reader, my perception of my own body is WRONG. My dear friends are RIGHT: the beautiful dress does indeed fit, like a glove.
I am still trying to assimilate the mental shift caused by that dress. Can our perception of ourselves be so very wrong? What else do I "see" about myself that is incorrect? - that does not match reality, the facts of "me"?
God is gracious; He puts people around us who show us our true selves; and he himself calls us "friend". Won't you join me in "fitting into" that image of yourself, like I fitted into that dress? Be clothed in this truth: you are indeed a friend of God.
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