Much More Than Less Than

We walked to the back of the store, dresses slung over our arms. Prom dress shopping. In the fitting area, two girls were already trying on their selections. Both girls were blonde, both girls were accompanied by their mothers, but that's where the similarities ended. They were two very different heights and two very different shapes, from different schools, with different tastes. And in comes our teeny-tiny, out of state, brunette to stir the brew with her edgy bent. I watched each one twist and sway on raised platforms; they grimaced and grinned in front of the huge mirror, long trains coiling about their legs as they stood on tippy toes that mimicked glass slippers. I wondered if they knew how beautiful they were. I thought back to my teen years and how insecure I was. I wasted so many good days; once-in-a-lifetime experiences with friends were soured by obsessing over being too fat or I had too many pimples. I wondered if these young women, who were by far more shapely and statuesque than I was at that age, were feeling the same way. I have been told, with many of us -- even the "best" of us -- we feel never "beautiful enough," and I was sure they felt that, too. A harsh word regarding one's choice of dress confirmed it. This gorgeous young lady dissolved in tears right there in the dressing room. She, for all her beauty, felt less than.

A week later, I was talking to a friend -- a male friend. He said something so harsh, so hurtful, I shut down. His comment tapped into that "less than" within me, and my spirit was crushed. That night, I tossed and turned; I was hurt. A friend had recently spoken five simple words that popped into my head: "Have you prayed about it?" So I did. As I prayed, it became clear to me, those hurtful words, were spoken out of his feeling "less than." Primarily, I guess I never thought about men struggling with insecurity, but furthermore, seeing such a wound inflicted upon me, not because he thinks of me as "less than," but because that's how he views himself? That was revolutionary to me. I prayed he would allow God to show him just how deeply he is loved. I prayed his eyes would be opened to how perfectly God designed him for the plans He has for him. I prayed he would find shelter in the Lord and confidence through his identity in Christ. I prayed I would be the friend he needs. 

And I'm praying today for all of our young men and women, for all of us who from time to time struggle with feeling "less than." (Which is a much better option than running up to each one begging and pleading for them not to waste their bounteous young lives on nonsense like, "Am I pretty enough?" I'd considered it that day in the dress shop, but arrest was not the plan.) I am praying that each of us will discover God's plan for our lives and who we are in Him. I am praying we can take our eyes off of ourselves and see one another through the eyes of Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us.