Sheila Walsh - Youre Worth It!: God Knows the Truth of Who You Are

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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YOURE WORTH IT!

Copyright 2015 Sheila Walsh

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-6385-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6386-2 (eBook)

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Contents

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Fathers care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So dont be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows .

M ATTHEW 10:29-31

I believe within the heart of every woman is a deep desire to be fully loved and accepted for who she is. To feel worthy . I believe we all desire the security and affirmation of a love and acceptance that cannot fail. If were married, our husbands can only give us a limited measure of this kind of love. Loving parents, good friends, and beloved sisters in Christ can also do their part but in the final analysis, its just not enough. There is only one source for this kind of love and acceptance we craveand thats in God, our creator and heavenly Father.

How do I know this desire for that kind of love is a nearly universal quest for women? I know it in part because I want that kind of love.

I also know it because for the past two decades Ive ministered to more than five million women from every walk of life through our Women of Faith conferences. Six of us women formed a team in 1996 to travel to approximately 20 cities a year where we have listened, sung, worshipped, laughed, cried, and shared our hearts with other women. Some I visited in prison, some are June Cleaver moms, some are successful businesswomen. Some are brand-new Christians, others are seasoned veterans of the faith. All are different in many ways, but all have the same desire to feel valued worthy .

Many of these women pray, attend Bible studies, they may teach Sunday School and yet theres something vital missing from their faith. They will rarely speak to friends about itthey think theyre the only ones who feel as they do. But they speak to me about it. They privately acknowledge that their present Christian experience simply isnt enough. There must be more but what?

When you think about it, its odd that we should feel this way. After all, we women work hard at what we do. If we have a job, we give our all to our bosses. If were moms, we do our best to raise good kids. If were wives, we try to meet our husbands needs as we hope hell meet ours. If we have responsibilities at our church, we plunge right in to fulfill our calling.

Many of us have additional responsibilities unique to us. We may care for an aging parent or we may deal with adult children who have chosen the wrong path. Our grandchildren may need us in a way we had never anticipated. If were single, it seems like we pull double duty, performing tasks that could be cut in half if only we had a spouse.

With all that goes on in our busy lives, is it any wonder that so many of us are tired, discouraged, and, despite all we do, still feeling unloved, unfulfilled, unworthy? And yet is that the way God wants us to see ourselves?

No, Im certain its not.

Like many of you, Ive walked the walk. Shame, yes . Confusion, check . Questions, yep . Depression, oh yes ! Frustration, amen to that too .

But because Ive walked the walk, Ive also been able to discover some answersGods answersto my feelings of unworthiness and unloveliness. In this short book, Id like you to take a journey with me. This journey begins where we are right now, right this very minute, and will take us past feelings of worry, doubt, rejection, shame, confusion, and all the other negative (and wrong!) self-perceptions we have.

If deep in your heart there is a fervent desire to be known and accepted and loved and valued for who you are just as you are, please come with me on our brief journey. Despite all you may feel now, you are worthy!

Somewhere in the side streets of our soul is a place where [our] secret self lives.

M IKE Y ACONELLI

Within us is the secret place where the doubting, condemning, and self-nagging come from. Where defeating voices accuse us of being worthless to God. Theyre constantly telling us we dont measure up to some phantom image we have of a Super Christian Woman who never fails, always looks as if she stepped out of a magazine, and whose house makes Martha Stewart look like a slacker.

Please be advised the phantom Super Christian Woman does not exist. You are not her. Im certainly not her.

Although I dont know the exact words your secret self uses to undermine your worth, I know mine. I know how they came to be too. Some of you already know my story, but for those who dont, perhaps this is the place to tell you how early tragic events in my life caused me to build a secret self that would one day cause my world to crumble.

When I was five years old, my father was in a car accident that may have contributed to a blood clot that eventually caused a massive brain aneurism and precipitated a marked personality change. Dad became violent and had to be taken to a psychiatric hospital where he died at his own hand. My dads death took its toll on our entire familyincluding me. Because of my dads brain injury and the unreasonable anger he directed toward me, I was convinced he hated me. To feel the brunt of your own fathers anger (and lack of love) is very destructive to a child. It was to me. It affected me profoundly, following me into my adult years.

At age eleven, I committed myself to Christ, yet my pain of having an earthly father who seemingly hated me caused me to remain fearful. I wondered, would my heavenly Father ever turn on me as my own earthly father had?

The Sanctuary of Gods Word

At that young age, I began to take refuge in the powerful verses of Psalm 91. Many of you know this psalm as well as I do. You, too, have made it your pillow when youve been overwhelmed.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High