I was quite troubled this morning as I sat on a couch at church.
I've been progressing towards serving others as a life coach for burned out and frustrated Christians, of which, I believe, there are quite a few. I also have a passion for working with young adults in the throes of the Quarter Life Crisis, although I still have lots of QLC moments myself.
There are a lot of young people with big dreams these days, and I think I'm one of them. We're the ones who are walking off the map. It's supposed to be a walk of faith that also looks for an internal compass rather than the step by step guide to an Americanized sense of accomplishment in the spiritual or the physical. A lot of times, instead of a walk of faith, it seems like a death-march of procrastination, waiting, and groaning.
Part of it, I think, is this American idea that we have to be famous in order to truly be successful. So we get in this place of thinking that we're really great and have some great ideas (that much is true), but we have to do a lot of clever marketing and get really lucky in order to get found out. I read a great book by Robert Bly called, "The Sibling Society," where he elaborated on this idea of American grandiosity and our over-fascination with celebrities. We get this idea that if we are not well-known and have our own talk show appearance, then we are not really loved. If we're not really loved, then we're really not worth that much anyway.
It occurred to me today, that I'm already famous in the Kingdom and that God's already discovered me, and I thought, "that's pretty cool." That makes me feel loved. He's the captain of the fan club and loves to cheer me on more than anything. He doesn't want me to procrastinate, because that comes from doubt and negative thinking. He wants me to be the person I was designed to be, not a scared little boy groveling on the floor. Even when I am that scared little boy, paralyzed with fear, He's pulling out His wallet, opening it up, and looking at my picture and has a big goofy smile on His face. I believe that God believes in me, and that blows my mind because most of the time, I don't believe in me.
He knows who I really am, when I am pretending that I'm someone else.
He calls out the good in me, because He put it in there.
He's holding His breath in expectation, waiting for the next step...
He's found me out, and likes what He sees
He has a big goofy smile when He looks at me (not a look of exasperation)
Comments (7)
That's a nice thought. And it makes me smile.
How true. I see this every day with the youth. They feel that if they arent known even in other social circles then they arent worth anything, let alone being known in all the world.
I've actually been thinking about this a lot. With the Olympics now underway and one name that seems to be displayed and mentioned continuously, i've thought...what if Michael Phelps never went to the Olympics. Would that make him any less talented at what he does? Of course not. I guess we all view different talents or skills as more "sacred" than others and more worthy of attention. I just wonder about those children who dont have talents that are widely accepted as the "norm" for deserving praise.
I love that God notices all of us. Even the 16th placed swimmer in the Olympics. They arent shoved out of the running to win the gold, they get something much better...they win his heart. How awesome to know that we are individuals to him. That we are unique and known intimately by him. That even the smallest skill is a treasured one in his eyes.
Thanks for this reminder. It is always nice to remember that God values us all for who we are, not just for what we can do.
this is a cool post...
definitely encouraging...
wow, this makes me vary happy, and is encouraging to me so thank you!
hope in Jesus in the only thing that really lasts. He is the only One who will never forsake us, His love is limitless and His faithfulness unending, thank You Jesus!