God Wants You Just the Way You Are
I’ve been sitting on this post for a few months now. I wrote the idea for this post in my notes a while ago, and every month as I sat down to plan out my content, I kept pushing it back. This was supposed to be released last Monday. However, I realized it was a holiday, and I don’t usually schedule on holidays. So, here it is. The funny thing is that I feel like this message is timely with everything happening. Actually, it’s not funny. This is precisely how God works.
If you’ve ever felt a nudge to get closer to God or find out what He is all about, but the thought that you need to get yourself together before going to God stopped you, I’m here to tell you that God wants you to come to Him just as you are.
Sometimes, we may feel like we’re not “good enough” to approach God. We think we must clean ourselves up, fix our mistakes, or become a better version of ourselves before we can stand before Him. But the beautiful truth is this: God wants you just as you are. He loves you right where you are, and His grace is big enough to meet you in your brokenness, imperfections, and doubts.
In fact, He wants your brokenness, imperfections, and doubts. He wants you to lean on Him, He wants you to bring all your anxieties to Him (1 Peter 5:7) because He will take care of you.
His Invitation Is For Everyone
Jesus said:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
(Matthew 11:28, NIV)
Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Come to me once you’ve figured it all out,” or “Come to me after you’ve fixed your life.” He simply says, “Come.” He knows your burdens, and He’s ready to exchange them for His peace. An inner peace that only comes from Jesus. And once you have it, you won’t want anything else.
It’s how I’ve stayed grounded in all this chaos, but I’ll get to that a little later.
You Don’t Have to Be Perfect
The Bible reminds us:
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NIV)
God doesn’t wait for us to get our lives together. He steps into our mess and shows us His love even when we fall short. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners—not after we became perfect. Honestly, we cannot be ‘perfect,’ so there’s no need to become perfect before coming to God. If we were to wait until we are perfect to go to God, we never will. So, I’m here today to encourage you; if you’ve been thinking about it - GO!
God Knows You and Loves You
The psalmist writes:
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me." (Psalm 139:1, NIV)
God knows everything about you—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and He loves you completely. You don’t have to hide from Him or pretend to be someone you’re not. He is your creator, so He knows you from the inside out - there is nothing you can hide from Him. God already knows what you’re struggling with; He already knows your mess and wants you to trust Him with it and bring it all to Him.
You see, that is the beauty of God; He waits for us.
A New Beginning Awaits
When you come to God, He doesn’t leave you the same. His love transforms and renews us:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)
God takes our brokenness and makes us whole. But it all starts with taking that first step of faith and coming to Him as you are.
God Grounds Us
When it feels like everything is going wrong and the world is on fire, literally like it is now, God's word has kept me grounded and focused. The first time I realized this was the second time I was dealing with grief - when my mother-in-law passed away a few months after my paternal grandfather.
I was dealing with so much sadness and then trying my best to be there for my husband after losing his mom that all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget the world. However, what truly helped me in this season of loss was reading/listening to the Bible and continuing with my Bible study. At that time, I was doing the Elijah Bible Study from Priscilla Shirer - a heavy Bible study, but it was exactly what I needed because it was so fulfilling.
And this verse, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NIV) is the verse that helped me the most!
When I look back at the first time I dealt with grief, when my mom passed, versus the second time, I realized that the biggest difference was my relationship with God. And I truly feel that that is the main reason why I felt so grounded and stable the second versus the first time - where I felt so lost and out of place. It could have also been that it was my mom, no loss is as impactful as losing your mother, but I don’t know, there was something in my soul that felt more anchored since I was closer to God.
The same thing is happening now. The world feels so hopeless and scary right now, however, I’ve been keeping my focus on God, His word, reading the Bible, and reading an amazing Bible study - Redeemer (a Bible study about the book of Ruth), by my writer friend, Dorina. And staying rooted in his word - helps me from not losing my mind over everything going on.
You Are Invited
No matter what you’ve done, no matter how far you feel from Him, God’s arms are open wide. He’s not asking you to change first; He’s asking you to come. Today, say “yes” to His invitation. Bring Him your doubts, your struggles, and your burdens. Let Him show you the depth of His love and the peace only He can give.
Lastly, a few days ago as I was reading the Redeemer Bible study and Dorina - shares that Ruth’s story in the Bible is an example of coming to God, I mean, how timely with this post, right? Again, this is how God works.
Dorina shares that if you’ve been feeling it’s time to start following God, or even getting back to following God, it’s never too late and she encourages you to write out a prayer.
Let God know how you’re feeling, write out all your questions to Him, and let Him know your desire to follow Him and discover the redemption He has for your life.
Prayer
Lord, I don’t have it all together, but I know You’re calling me to come to You. Thank You for loving me as I am. Help me to trust You and surrender my heart to You. Amen.
With Love, Heidy
My messages are always open for any questions or if you need a listening ear. Sending you a virtual hug.
More information about the Redeemer Bible study can be found here - it releases on February 11th.
Amen!