God's Masterpiece
When I was a kid, I was horrible at basketball. In fact, I would have to improve just to be considered lousy. When it came time to choose teams, the captain who was about to get stuck with me would first look up and down the playground, hoping against hope that another potential teammate was approaching—someone's brother, someone's sister, even someone's grandmother. When he was convinced that no one else was coming, he would point at me and say, "OK, I'll take Godsey..." the way they said "take" clearly implied "stuck with." Somehow, I didn't feel chosen. In fact, I had the feeling that if it hadn't been my ball we were using, I wouldn't have even gotten to play.
I was on the team, but I never really felt like I belonged. I was on the team, but I never really felt like the captain wanted me there. I felt like they had gotten stuck with me on a technicality—they had the dumb luck of living in the same neighborhood as me—and if they could have, they would have let me go
I think all of us can relate to this feeling. We all know what it is like to be the last chosen and the least talented in at least some area—academically, athletically, musically, and so on.
There is one place where we never need to feel like an outsider; and that is with God. You may think that you are such a disappointment to God that he wonders why he ever loved you to begin with. That's just not true. At Remnant we just started a series on Ephesians called "Live Well." One of the cornerstones of Ephesians is that God accepted you into his family not because he had to, but because he wanted to. God created you to "live well," not just live
You are part of his plan. From the beginning, he has wanted you to be a member of his family. You are part of his plan. From the beginning, God has known that you would arrive at this moment. Ephesians 1:11-12 says..."for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago."
Before time even began, God had a plan that included your life. God knew where you would be in your life right now. You may have had a rough ride through life, your life may not have gone according to your plan, but God's love for you has never changed. You may have regrets, and most people do, but God's love and plan for you has never changed. From the beginning he has known that your life would bring you to this place today. Even though your past may be littered with failure upon failure, it doesn't change the fact that God loves you, he chose you, and he believes in you. You have been on his mind from the very beginning. George Gobel used to ask, "Have you ever felt like the world is a tuxedo, and you are a pair of brown shoes?" A lot of people feel that way. Whether the feelings are self-inflicted or a result of the stings and stabs of others, many, many people go through life feeling less than valuable and unwanted. But take hope! God values you more than you can imagine. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” You are a masterpiece! That is certainly different than feeling like out of place brown shoes.
It is so easy to look to others to fill the void in our own lives, and usually about as fulfilling as a hungry man eating wax fruit. God is able to fill that emptiness with his love and grace. You can find the satisfaction you've always wanted and needed. All you have to do is ask?
Still horrible at basketball... Jerry