That girl has it together.
She has what counts.
She speaks, and people listen.
She lights the room.
And blesses so many.
Who am I?
That girl, she is special.
She must be God’s favorite.
She must be the apple of his eye.
He really loves her.
Who am I?
Look how he blessed her.
Who am I?
Who am I if God doesn’t show me that I am worth something?
Who am I if God doesn’t push me a little bit further ahead than her?
Do I still count?
Sometimes, we look at our faith walk, like a race of worth. Sometimes we look at our blessings as medals of accomplishments.
It only looks like we are winning when we are not losing.
Do you ever feel this way?
Imagine for a moment, if the disciples had let this kind of thinking creep in.
If Peter looked at John to say,
“If you are beloved, I am not loved.”
If Elizabeth looked at Mary to say,
“You birthed Jesus, my womb is now worthless.”
If Jesus turned to his father to say,
“You reign higher, my lowly position has no place.”
How would Christianity look today?
Might living this way send us down a similar road as Satan? A road of orphanhood?
I praise God that these movers and shakers of faith didn’t move away and shake frozen in their boots – as God chose to bless some and not others.
Sure, the disciples had their moments, “A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.” Lu. 22:24
I have these moments too. I have moments where I want that girl’s stuff so badly. But, I am realizing that my needy declarations are, more than often than not, just proud questions demanding his marks of approval.
Questions like: “God do you love me? Do you count me worthy enough to bless me too? Why are you forgetting me and exalting her?”
I kind of want to be God’s favorite loved child. Do you?
I kind of want to finally secure my place in his eyes. I want people to think, “that’s the girl God blesses.”
I am prone to think my blessings count me worthy,
but God says – and always says –
my son has already marked you approved.
He was marked, to forever mark me – loved.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time 2 Tim. 1:9
God pursues our holiness, many times, on our behalf; he knows what is best for our heart, our needs and our spiritual development.
He looks at his gifts to us, much like we look at ones for our children, likely asking,
“Will it delight them or spoil them?”
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. Lu. 15:31
He is less concerned with the everyday, all the time blessings because he knows, everything he has is already ours.
He is not so much interested in playing into our insecurities, he is interested in healing them.
I wonder, do we realize, just like the lost son at home with his father,
that we aren’t missing out on anything?
That the whole time, even though a brother strayed and was blessed,
we already had everything we needed to begin with?
Jesus never sets a value on one child over another.
All the same, all the time, equally adored, accepted and loved, he waits with arms wide open for: the losers, the winners, the victorious, the downtrodden, the proud, the humble, the rich, the poor, the sinful and the less sinful, the loved and the unloved.
He doesn’t have super-pipes of one-directional love. His love flows unhindered, ungated, unrestricted, all the time, into all the hearts that need his love, his gifts, his blessings and his perfect ways.
We are all worthy, every moment of every day, because Jesus Christ was crucified, covered, guarded, uncontained, glorified and magnified.
Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.
Updates for #RaRalinkup Friends:
1. Visit this Thursday when Abby McDonald will share another powerful sucker punch to the devil’s work.
Don’t miss it!
2. Join us on the #RaRalinkup Facebook page for an almost daily dose of encouragement.
3. Attending She Speaks? Sign up for the #RaRalinkup breakfast.