Don't Worry

by Katie
(Macon, GA)

I struggle with acne too. It has just been really bad recently. I am a sophomore in high school, and until now, I haven't had a lot of problems with it. A lot of my friends did, especially my best friend, and I would always think to myself, "Wow, I am thankful that I don't have a lot of acne." And to be honest, my fleshly desire was to be sort of proud of it. I know this is wrong, but it's hard to control.

Anyway, a few months ago, I started breaking out really bad. I have no idea what brought it on. I used to never wear foundation makeup, but now I have such a hard time leaving the house without it, because I am so used to seeing a clear face in the mirror and now I don't. I used to tell my best friend that she is beautiful without all of the makeup she wears, but now I can't do that anymore because I don't feel that way about myself!

I know that God doesn't see acne when He looks at me; all He sees are lost people and saved people. But it is so hard to accept myself, and even when I come close to embracing it and quit trying to cover it up, I am always so paranoid about what other people think. I just want to be able to relax in every situation and not constantly be thinking, "I wonder if he notices," or "I wonder what she's thinking right now," when I talk to people.

I started this devotion earlier this week, and it has already helped me so much. I never thought I would be one to worry about my appearance as much as other girls do that are my age, but this study has led me to realize that I do, and it is helping me change the way I see myself. I am relieved and encouraged to read the thoughts of other girls who are experiencing the same thing as me.

I wanted to close with a few verses from Matthew:

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)