Looking back now, there are many things I'm realizing.
So many things fell into place so perfectly, but I'm only just seeing it all.
I almost feel like how I imagine an artist feels when they step back from one detailed area of a piece to see the whole work in perspective.
More than anything else, I'm fully understanding the purposefully nature in which God creates out story and intentional design embedded design within us.
I could be in a different school, but I am where I am.
I could live in another town, but I am where I am.
I could still be living in California, but I am where I am.
God placed myself and my family where we are with great purpose and design.
And I started thinking, what about who I am as a person? Doesn't God's plan for my life transcend my personality, my abilities, my character? Yes, it does.
I recently found myself in the middle of a conversation where every statement began with "I wish I was..." and that kind of perspective gets discouraging in a hurry.
"I wish I was a better photographer"
"I wish I was confident enough to dance"
"I wish I was a better singer"
"I wish I was a better sympathizer"
"I wish I was more understanding"
Of course, these are the type of things we can improve about ourselves with effort and determination, but what a defeatist attitude to have about yourself?
Of course there are things I wish I was better at, things I wish I could do more fluently. I'm not a great speaker in groups of more than 5. (And we all know that most groups are more than 5)
I'd love to be more outgoing, the type of person who can control the social climate of a room. That's not really my skill set though. And what I'm coming to understand more clearly is that God made me the type of person that I am with the struggles and skills that I have for a reason.
If you've been in a church for more than 3 Sundays or ever stepped foot in a Christian bookstore, you've seen Jeremiah 29:11
And of course, we we know this. We can say "It'll all happen according to God's plan" or "God has a plan for us all" but I think there's more to this verse than that.
In the midst of all our chaos, God is there, and there is a reason behind what is happening. I feel like we understand this pretty well.
I feel that, as Christians, we seem to forget that God's plan extends into how he created us. We know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We know that, but to accept that truth and make it our own? I'm not just talking about your exterior, either. I'm talking about your personality, your strengths, your skills, your interests. All of it. God made you with a purposeful design, your presence is intentional. Let that sink in for a minute. God has created billions of people, each of them designed intentionally and with a purpose.
I am who I am for a reason. I am where I am for a reason.
You are who you are for a reason. You are where you are for a reason.
God made you the way you are, and he simply doesn't make mistakes. God gave you the traits and strengths you have so you could serve him. He would not fashion you in such a way that you are incapable of bringing glory to his Kingdom. God wants you to be the way you are. Not to say that you shouldn't improving yourself, but the things that form an innate fiber of your being are not to be changed. Do not wish to change the things you cannot change, because God has a plan for you, just the way you are.
Remember that God worked in mightily ways through people who believed that they were incapable. Just look at Moses! He believed that he was not meant to lead a group due to some speech impediment, but God used him as he was. When Israel was being oppressed by the Midianites, God chose to use Gideon, even though Gideon believed he was too weak.
You see, God was and will be purposeful and intentional in planning of everyone's life, and that is something that I want to challenge you to consider.
Essentially, to quote Veggietales, "God made you special, and he loves you very much"
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