Created On Purpose

Recently I was asked about the title I chose for this blog. Why "Created on Purpose"? What's the significance?

Elementary school was not kind to me...particularly the fourth grade. I was a homely child with buck teeth and glasses. To top it off, my orthodontist installed this mouth apparatus that was the equivalent of wiring my mouth shut causing my speech to sound funny to the other kids. I was the target of relentless teasing. I remember one time - another "cool" kid told me that when God was looking through boxes for parts to make me out of, he grabbed the box of leftover junk. That stuck with me. Maybe he's right. Maybe I am a pile of God's leftovers.

Is that what I truly believe about myself? That I am no more than leftover junk?

I admit it, I struggle with self image. I don't always feel like I measure up. I am insecure. The world that surrounds me screams that I should be thinner, prettier, smarter, or more successful. I attend functions and feel inferior to the seemingly "perfect" people around. If I'm not careful, I begin to long for something other than what I am. I become disgruntled with the talents and abilities that God has given me. I begin to resent the path that my life has taken. If I were honest, I'd have to say that many times I don't really like myself.

I go through phases where I try to be different. I determine to change the outside in hopes that others will notice and I will somehow feel complete. I try to act like something I"m not in a feeble attempt at somehow becoming significant. My desperate attempts at change leave me feeling nothing more than empty...again.

Life circumstances threaten to crush me. I wonder if God truly did throw me together with some leftover junk. I question, did he put me here as an experiment to see how many blows His creation could take? Or worse yet, did He put me here and realize that He really didn't like what He created so He isn't paying attention to it?

When I start that downward spiral, I have to force myself back to the word of God. I have to immerse myself in the truth about what He thinks of me. He reminds me that I am CREATED ON PURPOSE.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I am not an afterthought. I am not leftover junk. His word tells me that I am His masterpiece, His design, His plan. He thought about how I should be designed. He has specific plans for my life. He finds me to be valuable and significant!

We live in a world that causes us to think that we aren't valuable because we lack what someone else has. God doesn't compare us to others...He values each one of us.  He loves us because He created us. He loves us because He designed us for a specific purpose.

It doesn't matter what kind of garbage life has handed you.
God loves you and has a purpose for your life.
It doesn't matter what others say about you.
God loves you and has a purpose for your life.
It doesn't matter what kind of terrible decisions you've made in the past.
God loves you and has a purpose for your life.

You (and I) were truly "Created on Purpose".

 

Psalm 45:11
Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.