Life in what seems barren.

     For the past couple weeks, I've been relatively good at waking up early and reading my bible. Last night I decided that since I'm waking up early anyways, I should just work out, something I've never succeeded in maintaining. Needless to say, I now remember why I don't work out. My muscles and my bones hurt, I'm tired, and I still haven't gotten the endorphins I was promised. Still, I've been thinking about my future a lot lately and this is something I know I need to start now because it's only going to get harder as I get older. I want to learn how to take care of myself, to be healthy. Self improvement is something I've been kind of working towards for a while now and it's not easy but I do think it's important. 

    That's a part of what I want to talk about today. Last week, I had planned to write about worth and identity but I suppose that's not what God wanted. Hopefully, I can get there today. I know I've talked about worth before, it's something that I struggle with but also something that I'm passionate about. I believe that everyone has value, that everyone is loved and filled with purpose. I believe that human beings were created in the image of God. There are several verses in the bible that talk about how God knew us and loved us before we were even conceived. He knew us before we born and set us apart for a specific purpose. I wish Christians talked about this more. We live in a world where life has lost it's value. According to the World Health Organization, in the first ten days of 2021, more than 1.2 million abortions were performed worldwide and abortion is the number one cause of death in the world. Even before we had a worldwide pandemic, suicide rates reached historic highs. Life has lost it's value and my heart breaks for it. Jesus died so that we could live, not so that we could stand by and watch it be stolen. 

    One of the things I love about the bible, specifically bible stories, is seeing how everything works together. There are so many stories where God uses people and maybe it doesn't make sense at first but it hold so much importance in the bigger picture. I've been thinking about Elizabeth and Mary more recently. All we really know about Elizabeth is that she and her husband Zacharias were old, past childbearing years, and filled with sorrow from her infertility (Luke 1:7). We also know that "they were good and just people in God's sight, walking with integrity in the Lord's ways and laws." Zacharias was chosen to perform priestly duties within the the sacred precincts of the temple and there, an angel appeared to him and declared that Elizabeth would bear a child. In Luke 1:17, the angel tells him that his son would be the one to prepare the people, set apart to make them ready for God. Their son was John the Baptist. Further in the chapter, after Mary becomes pregnant, she goes and stays with Elizabeth who is her cousin. She remains for the duration of Elizabeth's pregnancy. That means Mary was there for John's birth and had an idea of what to do when her time came. Later on, in Luke 3, we see John's ministry. He preached from the Jordan River and crowds came to be baptized by him. In verse 21, it says that even Jesus came to him to be baptized and it's considered to be the launch of Jesus' ministry. As I said earlier, we don't know that much about Elizabeth. We don't know what she did with her time, other than serve God, but she was in a place of vital importance. Not only would her son prepare the way for the savior of the world, her experience and relation to Mary allowed for wisdom, guidance, and sanctuary. 

    In today's culture, success is determined by our status and income, by whether or not we're in a relationship, by how many followers we have on social media. These are the stereotypical things we hear about all the time, I know, but I think there's a lot of truth in it. There's so much we think we need to do because that's what everyone else is doing, doesn't that mean that we should be doing it too? Our individual purpose gets lost because it doesn't look like someone else's. But if everyone was doing the same thing, how much more would be lost? Another one of the things that I think about often is legacy. When Ruth lay at the feet of Boaz, did she know that one of her descendants would be king of all Israel? Did she know that one of her descendants would be the savior of the world? I doubt it but that didn't stop her obedience. Maybe you're not called to be a CEO or a preacher. Maybe you're not called to be an influencer on social media. Maybe you're not called to be "successful" by the world's standards. Maybe you're just called to be a mom or a dad, called to be generous no matter how much you have, called to love and be kind. Maybe you're called to be a friend and to encourage the people that come across your path. And if you are called to lead organizations or preach the gospel to thousands of people, than that's okay too. God is faithful to bring life to places you see as barren or worthless. Romans 8:28 says that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept the invitation to live according to His purpose. We have everything we need inside of us already and God is all around us, making a way, making sure we aren't alone. You have so much more to give than you realize! Some days it feels like all I have to give are my words. Writing is something I'm decent at and what I'm passionate about. God will make something out of what you love if you use it in obedience, He knows what He put inside of you, He gave it intentionally. 

Jesus died so that we could live! Use what you have, no matter how small. Stand up and speak out for what you believe in. We have no idea how God can use us or work through us. We don't know His plan but He promises that it is good and beautiful. I understand feeling like there are more questions than answers but your life is not a mistake. You were set apart from the moment time began. Ephesians 2:10 says that, "we are the product of His hand, heaven's poetry etched on our lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago." Even if your impact and your gifts seem small, that doesn't make them unimportant. That doesn't make you unimportant either. Live your life as a testimony to God's grace and goodness, especially the hard times. Don't disregard what you've been given just because it doesn't look like what someone else has. Life is such a gift! We don't know the impact we'll have and that's okay. Let your success look like friendship and generosity and love. Let God bring beauty from your ashes and joy out of the pain. Let Him bring life to the places that you see as barren. He's more than capable of turning your little into a lot. 

    I pray that this encourages you. There are so many examples in the bible of people using something that seems small to bring about something that's so much bigger than anyone could have imagined. Who you are and what you do matters and nothing can change that. Know that you are loved enough to die for and that you are never alone.

Yours Truly,

Rey.