God has been so good to me – He’s given me two children that I adore, protected my family, given me a job to support my children when I was a single mother, given me an awesome husband, and resources beyond my imagination.
But there are times when I forget to thank God for the blessings He’s showered on me. Imagine giving someone a gift and never being thanked for it. Doesn’t the slight sting? I know I feel slighted and just a bit hesitant to give that person a gift again.
Psalm 107.8 says, “Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!”
I want to thank God from the bottom of my heart for his gifts, and I hope to never be less than genuine with my gratitude and love.
I was having quite the pity party last night, and my husband sat through the whole episode with me without complaint. I’ve been planning my retirement for years, and I’ve stayed longer than I intended, but when I was asked to sign some paperwork yesterday to initiate the hiring of my successor, I have to be honest, it took my breath away.
I kept dwelling on all the emotions that stirred within me during the three-hour drive home, and by the time I hit the front door, tears were in my eyes. I felt a deep sadness that I wouldn’t be missed, I felt irrelevant, I felt…old.
After crying for 15 minutes straight, I blew my nose and remembered who my God is. He’s gotten me this far, right? But how easy it was to start leaning on my own understanding and not His. Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” I had spent the whole day on Friday being afraid of the future, and not putting my trust in God.
What did I have to be afraid of, anyway? I had prayed about my retirement date and felt a peace about it. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Me, a masterpiece? And God has a plan for my life that he prepared long ago? I’ve spent a lot of my adult life worrying about my family, my career, and now about my retirement. Today is a new day, and I feel much better knowing I don’t have to know all the answers. I just need to trust in my Creator.
Today I had lunch with a dear friend and I just enjoyed the few hours we spent together. Maybe that’s what God wanted me to learn from yesterday—that fear can steal my joy if I allow it to. I hope if any of you, my dear sisters, ever feel distressed over a situation, remember God is in control although a good cry and a shoulder to lean on doesn’t hurt either.
Last week I wrote about how God feels about us—that we are his beloved children. This week I’m going a bit deeper. God’s ways are not our ways, and the scripture and imagery I’ll be using this week really gives me a visual picture of how precious we are to God.
In Isaiah 49:16, the scripture says, “Behold, I [God] have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” God didn’t write our names or tattoo our names onto his skin. He actually had to carve out a piece of himself to let us know how important we are to him.
In John 10:28, the Bible says, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” That should be so reassuring to all of us. I can only speak for myself—I accepted Christ a few years ago, and yet time and time again I continue to do life my way, not his. But no matter how many times we backslide into a former life, we can rest on His promise that once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, God will never let us go.
The definition for beloved means dearly loved; dear to the heart. I believe that we (the world) are beloved by God, but I have a much harder time believing that I am God’s beloved child.
Our family just had a birthday celebration for my granddaughter and husband. I thank God for each and every one of my beloved family. And God has that same type of love for us x 10.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
I imagine giving up my son or daughter for the world, and I think, “Oh, heck no, not today—not ever.” I’m sure all of you feel the same way about your loved ones. My children are so precious to me, I would never sacrifice them for the world. But that is exactly what God did when he sent his son Jesus to save us all.
And then I think, “How can God love me? I’m so unworthy, I’ve made so many mistakes. How could I ever be God’s beloved daughter?” But I am. Because he tells me so in the Bible. Does anybody else out there feel the same way?
My personal challenge is to believe God loves me unconditionally, that he sees me through a different lens, and that I’m his beloved daughter. If you feel the same way, let’s believe together until we feel it in our heart and soul.
P.S. I’m still working on my editing skills. YIKES!
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