Would you take a priceless masterpiece and just throw it into the trash?
You probably would say no, of course not, but I am sure you probably have!
One of the things I love most about God is his unbounded creativity. He created the entire universe. His creativity extends from the colors of the sunset at night, to the beauty of molecules and the scientific formulae that guide the stars. It all is beautiful, wonderful, and creative. A mere reflection of the beauty and wonderfulness of an amazing Creator.
And one of the most beautiful things he created was people. How often do take one of God’s masterpieces and just throw it out in the dumpster, saying that someone won’t or doesn’t matter, that they won’t amount to anything. This is one of the many reasons I think Jesus had an issue with judging other people. We are all masterpieces in God’s sight.
And how terrible is it when we trash God’s masterpiece, especially when that masterpiece is us.
Perhaps we look to all our flaws. The wrong things we have done, the illnesses we carry, the weaknesses we have. There are 10,000 reasons we could count ourselves out. Maybe we have cancer, a criminal or prison record, maybe we’re bad with money, or have Aspergers, or maybe we have too much of a history, or maybe we just could never amount to anything useful. Maybe we have a terrible family, emotional scars or an abused past.
We all have a story. We all have a reason that we could count ourselves out and say that God could never use us. A broken masterpiece, covered with dirt and deserving of nothing but the garbage heap.
But, God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Whatever reason we have to count ourselves out, God has to count us in.
The amazing thing about God is that he delights in redeeming things and creating masterpieces out of brokenness just as much as he delights in creating something new.
Who else could take Moses, who could not speak well, and help him become one of Israel’s greatest leaders, forever altering the course of human history?
Who else could take Mary and Joseph, ‘simple’ ordinary people who probably didn’t think they would amount to much, and use them to raise God’s son, allowing the entire world to be reconnected back to God?
Who else could take the greatest persecutor and murderer of Christians, the “chief of sinners”, and make him Christianity’s most powerful advocate, shaping more of the New Testament and all future generations forever?
Who else could take David, a guy who committed the sin of murder just to cover up the sin of adultery, and allow him to be Israel’s greatest king and ancestor of Jesus?
Who else could take tax collecting thieves and turn them into Christ-proclaiming and Christ-exalting servants advancing what God is doing in the world?
Who else could take broken, hurting people, and out of their brokenness and pain, paint the most beautiful and compelling masterpieces all of humanity has never before seen?
Who else could do any of this?
It doesn’t matter if you thought your life would amount to zip because of your weakness. God specializes in showing up in our weaknesses.
What would you do differently if you knew that God would take care of you despite your weakness? Be bold! Have faith! Don’t give up! Your weakness is an opportunity for God to show up powerfully.
The thing that is awesome about God showing up in our weaknesses is that when God shows up in our strengths, we might get the idea to take credit for it. But if God shows up in our weakness, weakness we’ve tried to hide and bury, we can only give God the glory!
May you glorify God in your weakness!