It's All For You!

It’s All For You!

Part One

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Have you ever looked in awe and wonder? Or have you fallen into the societal habit of sizing yourself up? Saint Augustine shared it this way, “Men go abroad and wonder at the heights of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and pass by themselves without wondering.” I’m guilty of taking my gift of sight and the modern day pleasure of a mirror and being inappreciative for who and what is looking back at me. The only room that’s never full is the room for improvement, the adage says. True. Nevertheless, when we understand who created us and why, certain things about us should illuminate when we see them.

Here’s what I’m getting at.

You were created, no, hand crafted…no, no, especially fashioned for certain things. The psalmist begins the 139th number by singing about how well God knows him. "Thou hast searched me, and known me..". It’s a clear indication of intimate relationship, the kind that doesn’t happen overnight but makes life worth living. Mothers and daughters have it. Fathers and sons have it. Husbands and wives have it. True friends have it. This kind of intimacy makes a world of problems melt away in an instant. Isn’t it wonderful that we, the created, the hand crafted, the especially fashioned can have intimacy with the same God who formed the Milky Way? Isn’t it wonderful that he knew not only what we would be, also but who we would be; that we were born purposed in him?

 Some of us are teachers. So much so that we could wake up after teaching all day with an hour nap and a half cup of coffee and do it all over again without skipping a beat. Some of us are builders. I see a pile of dirt, but you see architectural designs the world has never known. Maybe you love literary expression like me and want to safeguard it so much that you’ll stay up all night until the narrative is just right (true story). Perhaps you’re an orator. We recently celebrated the life of one of our nation’s most beloved activists and orators in the person of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Could you imagine Dr. King as a mailman or an accountant? What a waste that would have been. Of course there is honor in all labor but don’t you want to do what invigorates you; work that may tire your body but reenergizes your mind?

I do.

God wants that too. And he proves it through the prophet Jeremiah.

For I know the thoughts I think towards you…

We existed in the mind of God before our flesh ever came into being. Chew on that for a moment. Violets serve a purpose, as all flowers do, but did God have to make them so beautiful? He did that for you. The twinkle in the eye of your loved one. You know that look. The one that melts your heart. He created that for you. God’s love for us is evident in his design. When I do work well I am filled when it is noticed and appreciated. Imagine how we bless God by seeing ourselves as he sees us.

Build,

Nakeia