March 19, 2008
The Ultimate Validator
by Meghan Kleppinger, Editor, Christianity.com
Recently I watched the head administrator of a school welcome its newest class. She smiled as she looked out from the stage at an anxious, wide-eyed, and painfully uncertain group of students. She reminded the class of the competitive application process, including an intense panel interview, which led to them being selected for the program.
“You are here today,” she said, “because the application committee saw something special in you. They saw something that perhaps you haven’t yet seen in yourself.”
For days her words spun around in my head. What she said struck me in a powerful way because I know it’s what we all long to hear someone say about us. We are desperate for someone to tell us that we’re special, different, and that there is more to us than meets the eye.
The funny thing is that in our struggle to “find” ourselves and in our many attempts to have others validate our worthiness, we often overlook or forget the ultimate “Validator,” our Heavenly Father.
Scripture tells us that God knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13,14).
He knew before you took your first breath when you would take your last.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows our weaknesses and struggles, but He also sees our potential.
He knows all that we can be.
This is Easter week – a time when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. He came and died in our stead. He thought we were worth it.
Then, after he arose from the grave, just before He ascended into heaven, He left His children with a mission and a purpose: to go and make disciples of men (Matt. 28:9).
So what’s my point?
First, He knows us intimately – from the number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30) to the number of tears we’ve cried (Psalm 56:8). Second, God loved us enough to send His son to die for us (John 3:16), and finally, He trusts us enough to share who He is with others.
Sometimes it's scary to witness, but don’t forget that He wouldn’t tell us to tell the world of His great love if He didn’t think we could do it. This is the perfect time of year to share the message of who God is, and what He has done for mankind, with those who do not know Him. I encourage us all to remember who we are in Christ as we try to reach the lost.
It’s much like what that administrator said to her class… He sees in us what we don’t yet see in ourselves.
Intersecting Faith & Life: "God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him, He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love to Him... When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God." Oswald Chambers
Further Reading