I stumbled across an article this week. Nothing unusual about it, in fact, it was pretty standard. You know the kind? Get a celebrity body in 10 easy steps… that type of thing.
This exact one was about the beautiful Saturday night TV host, Tess Daly. In particular, how to get Tess Daly’s legs. I would normally skip right past these kinds of articles but today it made me a little bit angry. Why? Because you can’t have Tess’s legs; they’re hers! And you don’t need Tess’s legs. Why? Because you have yours!
You see, every day we are being drip fed a message that says, in various forms, ‘my life will only have value if I have… (insert a body part / qualification / experience / title, here). This is simply not the truth. And it’s certainly not how God sees his daughters. I mean, what kind of father would he be, or creator as well, if we are made in such a way that we are unable to succeed?
You don’t need to be anyone else, or be anywhere else in order to fulfil the call God has for your life, and let’s be clear here, there IS a call on your life if you know Jesus. The only thing you need to be is willing.
Psalm 68:11 says this: “The Lord gives the word; and the women who announce the news are a great host.”
Notice there is no description given for the ‘women’ in this passage? It’s not like applying for a job when they ask for a picture and you need to scramble around for one that makes you look clever, professional or even pretty. There’s no age or title attached to the description of what makes a great host. Simply, it states that WOMEN are a great host for carrying the word of God and announcing it. Now isn’t that an encouragement?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I love Tess Daly. And Claudia Winkleman. These beautiful women spend their life in a spotlight so it’s no wonder they have to use their time cultivating a beautiful body so they can be picture perfect all day long. But if we were to spend out time attempting to be like these other women, it would surely be to the expense of the life we actually live. Silly too, right? That we would want to be like a person who doesn’t occupy our world, our office, our home, our streets, our playground, our hospital ward, our college, our bus… because by doing so we would miss an opportunity to be the person God has created us to be in the very place he’s placed us. When my neighbour is in need they don’t me to have amazing legs, they need me to have an outstretched arm. When my friend is going through a crisis, the fact my roots need touching up is of secondary importance to me being able to be there at 3am to mop up tears and make sweet tea. When my work colleague is pondering purpose and potential, they don’t need a BBC personality to watch from a distance. They need me to share my story, and my faith, and point them to a saviour waiting to give them life to the full.
Ladies, you don’t need Tess’s legs… but you do need to be YOU.