1. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  [1Peter 5:6,7]

Emma scrolled through the dozen selfies she had taken of herself in her new workout gear. She studied each one like a doctor looking for a break in a bone on an x-ray.

Butt too flat there. Bad angle there. Eyes look too sleepy in that one. Too goofy in the next. After examining every detail, she applied some filter effects on the best one and posted. Satisfied but a little nervous with anticipation to see the response, she put her phone away, changed out of her new outfit and got ready for school.

On the way to school, her phone came alive with comments on her most recent post:

“That’s my girl!” One commented.

“Looking good!” Said another.

“Thumbs up”.  It continued.

“Thumbs up.” Again.

“I’m so jealous!”  A girlfriend commented.

She liked that one the best.

“What are you looking at?” her mom asked?

“Nothing,” Emma answered with a satisfied smile.

Another vibration. “Get over it.”  A dagger.

Emma’s smile flipped into a frown. She felt that ache in the pit of her stomach. Disappointment. Doubt. A gnawing sense of not being good enough.

I hate my body, she thought as she went through the long list of inadequacies, she knew everybody saw. Eyes too big, nose too small, jaw too square, legs too short…

“What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?” Her mom was picking up the darkening emotion that was sweeping through her beautiful daughter.

“I said ‘Nothing!’” Emma shot back, with a little bit too much intensity. “Leave me alone.”

Her mom sighed and kept silent. As they approached the school, Emma turned to her mom,

“Sorry mom. I love you.”

“Love you, too, sweetie. See you after school.”

She looked at her phone before getting out of the car.

“Get real!”

Emma’s face clouded over as she opened the door to get out. She slammed the door shut.

She felt as though she were tumbling. She didn’t see the faces of the people swarming around her as she headed to class. Her breathing was shallow, her heart in the tightening grip of a fist that would not let her go.

“Emma, wait up,” Lauren called as she hustled to her side. “You looked great in that outfit this morning!”

“Whatever.” Emma replied from her cloud.

“Are you okay?” Her best friend asked with sincere concern in her voice.

“I’m fine.” Emma said, feeling the shame of how silly she was being. It was just a few negative comments. Why should it matter so much? How could she allow a handful of haters to ruin her day?

Her phone vibrated: her Bible app had dropped the verse-of-the-day.  [Matthew 9:36]

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

She put her phone away as she and Lauren went into class.  As she sat down at her desk, she was oblivious to the morning routine.

Harassed and helpless. That’s what I am, she thought. Does anybody care?