"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
- Romans 11:29
How many times a week do you feel unworthy? I'm not talking about anything in particular, just about being who you are? Why you're not as successful as you thought you would be, not as healthy, not as diligent, not as committed to things you should, not as smart as you think you should be?
I hear from people from all walks of life on this very subject. It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are married, single or separated, nor whether they have a great job, basic one or none at all. They just sink into the pit of unworthiness, as if there was a specific measure of themselves to which they had to attain, but couldn’t.
They don't know where the thought comes from but it's surely in their head one day and stays for a while, drowning all sense of accomplishment.
Some of those feelings can be genuine as we look at stepping up our game, but at other times they may be due to us measuring ourselves against the wrong appraisal.
Well-known evangelist, George Muller was quoted when asked of the secret of his service to the Lord, “There was a day when I DIED, utterly died; died to George Muller. His opinions, preferences, tastes, and will, died to the world, its approval or censure, and died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends. Since then, I have studied ONLY to show myself approved unto God!"
Psalm 139 tells you that God was your personal creator. When God made you, he knew exactly what he was putting together. As he knitted your bones and sinews and brought to the surface the colour of your eyes, when he moulded your unique look and created your spirit and personality, what do you think was on his mind? Do you think he is a process worker on a production line repetitively assembling identical machines as they come down the conveyor?
If we don't dwell on Psalm 139, we can imagine we are simply a replica of someone else, that we're nobody special, and it wouldn't matter if we were dead. “Who would care?” we think.
When these thoughts creep into our heads, we need to look through the eyes of God, who made us for his purpose. He has given us gifts and a calling, and will not repent that he gave them.“You seem to have a calling, but I don’t,” you say.
Yes, you do. Nothing was made in you that wasn't designed for a purpose. George Muller spoke of the approval of God alone as his guide, and that should be our aim as well. It’s important for our own sanity to keep before our eyes the purpose for which we were born.
Do you think your life is a waste of time or space on this earth?
Shake that demonic thought out of your head and move back to a God-focussed life, where his goals are your purpose.
A friend’s mother used to say when these thoughts entered her head, “Here I sit in woe and pain, across the road it’s just the same.”
Over the past three years, I feel as if I have been body-slammed by a tag-team of world championship wrestlers. As soon as one was finished with me, the next one seemed to climb into the ring with a new set of tricks. I’m now missing part of my sight and hearing, live with constant pain, I’ve had to self-isolate for the past six months due to a low immune system, I can't go out in the sun at all without sunscreen for the same reason, and I now have trouble breathing. But, across the road, it’s just the same!
I try not to focus on the loss, and most times it works. I just call them flesh wounds in my walk. These injuries and difficulties mean little to me. At times they slow me down, but I am determined they won't roadblock me. God has work for me to do, as he has with you. He made me for a purpose as he has with you, and despite me making a late start, after my collision, I seek to bring to life that purpose.
I'm not always sure what he wants me to do next, but I keep doing the basics, and his way becomes clearer as I walk.
God sent us a Saviour so we can understand life; so we can rest in the assurance that God’s is alive and seeking our fellowship. He sent us a Saviour, so we can grow and fulfil our gifts and calling inside his love.
Next time you are feeling down-in-the-dumps, take a moment to think about how God feels?
Unlike us, ever since Adam and Eve left the garden, God has had to watch his beautiful human creation dying, being debilitated by all sorts of man-made problems because we don't heed his word. He sees us killing and robbing each other, drunk, overdosing, creating wars, stealing children, and performing every sort of evil under the sun. How does he feel?
His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, so that’s a long while to watch humanity destroy itself. How do you think he feels?
He sent us a Saviour whom we reject. How does he feel?
He sent his only Son so we can walk in newness of life, but we still walk in misery. How does he feel?
We are marvellous creations called to follow the desires of our creator who has so much in store for us. What God has promised for us we haven't yet thought of. He has blessings for us we haven’t even tapped into? Also, he has joy, peace and confidence which passes all of our understanding, so let’s grab that and run with it.
He loves you. He hasn't repented he made you. He waits for us all to awaken to his glory and taste in this life the world to come.
Today’s prayer: Dear Lord, thank you that I can assess my way and my walk with you from time to time. As you helped George Muller, please show me how to give my all to you, so I can use you alone as my measurement. Thank you for the promises, the gifts and calling on my life. Please help me to arise and use them to their fullness.
Photo by priscilla-du-preez
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