All of creation is content to be what it was made to be, except man. Fish flourish in water. Ants are not depressed about their size; they are productive, building massive colonies. We waste time aiming at the bull’s-eye on someone else’s board, pursuing a race we were never equipped to run.
Let God, not you or the culture, define you and your distinction. You are His masterpiece. There are more than 7 billion people in the world, but no one exactly like you. Nothing about you is a mistake because God doesn’t make mistakes. He took extreme care in sculpting you with everything you need for accomplishing His purpose. When God created you, it was with a predetermined course in mind, an assignment just for you. “Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him” (Colossians 1:17, The Message). Because you are His creation, it’s important that God defines you and no one else. You will be tempted to forget this from time to time because so many competing forces want that opportunity: you, your family, friends, coworkers, enemies, and the media. You must resist them all. If you don’t, you will never become all God intended you to be. I admit it’s easier to adapt to someone else’s concept of you, accept that label (even if it’s negative), or mimic a friend than to spend quality time developing an intimate relationship with the only One who knows why you are here in the first place. Quality relationships always take work.
Before you were born, God selected your parents, your intellect, your looks, your race, your gifts, and your talents. Your mother may have told you that you were a mistake. Maybe for her, but not for God because He doesn’t make mistakes. It doesn’t matter the circumstances of your birth, planned or unplanned. God was not caught sleeping that day. You were in His mind before you were born. God told Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Notice that Jeremiah did not stop God midsentence to tell him about his dreams or visions for his life. He didn’t ask God to orchestrate his long-held desires. Jeremiah recognized that the sovereign God of the universe, who created everything, and who knows everything about everything, was speaking. Jeremiah’s Creator told him, “I knew you before the sexual act occurred that created you. I set you apart because I have a distinct assignment, an appointment for you.”
Those words don’t only apply to Jeremiah. Yes, the assignment was specific, to be a prophet at a particular time to a particular people, but the God of Jeremiah is living today and does not change. He has a specific role for you. It may be in your home, on your job, in your neighborhood, or on the world’s grand stage. It is uniquely crafted for you. He ordained that you would be alive now to accomplish it. What I love about letting God define us is that what He has in mind is usually more massive and exciting than we could ever imagine. Our race, gender, looks, pedigree, intelligence, natural abilities, and age cannot hold us back when we are in sync with His purpose. There is no greater joy than knowing that you are right where God wants you to be, doing exactly what He had in mind for you.
Cheryl Martin joins James and Betty this Monday on LIFE TODAY. This is an excerpt from Distinctly You by Cheryl Martin. Copyright © 2016 by Cheryl Martin. Published by Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Used by permission.
