Masterpiece

I've had my worship music on repeat all day today, and I'm glad I have because some lines are really standing out to me...one in particular:

"Your love for us a masterpiece..."

That line has so much in it, and only now do I realize it! God is the Creator of the universe, he created the stars and the planets and the oceans and every living breathing thing, and yet he loves ME! He loves me whether I talk back to my mom or yell at my brother or fail my math test. In the grand scheme of things I am a pin prick on a pin prick, but he takes as much time loving on me and forgiving me, as he did in creating the heavens! That's amazing; sometimes I don't think I'm worth that much attention, but I'm SO WRONG!

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart..." Jeremiah 1:5

Did you catch that? Even before I was a thought in my mom's mind, God knew me. He knew what I would look like, sound like, act like, and he set ME apart. He set YOU apart too; you are God's masterpiece, your life is His work of art, your entire being was specifically formed by God's own hands, and that's pretty cool. The hands that made the earth that you are standing on, made you too. And those same hands will continue to push you along, and they will be there to pick you back up and dust you off when you fall.

One of my favorite songs in the song "Tapestry" by Hillsong United. The entire song talks about how our lives are "a tapestry of grace..." Our lives are meticulously knitted together by God himself, and he is still weaving. He's carefully constructing our lives, and though it will get messy and knotted up...He keeps on weaving--He's weaving his masterpiece, and it's gonna get a little crazy, but He's not one to let a job go unfinished. His grace never ends, it never gives up, and just because we mess up doesn't mean that He is done. His plan is amazing, and it's a mystery. We don't know how it will turn out, but if we put our trust in him, and believe that he knew how it was going to turn out even before were formed, I think that everything will be ok.

Let God...

Recently, I've come to realize the full extent to which I am blessed. Sometimes it's super easy for me to forget all the good when I feel completely consumed by the bad, but more often than not, I realize that all of the nasty stuff that goes on with me pales in comparison to all of the AMAZING blessings I have received. I have never seen God work in such crazy ways as I've seen these past few months; however, God throws the occasional curveball, and that seems to really send me spinning. I know that God does everything for a purpose. Even in the midst of difficulties, God is working it all out for my good. I recently had someone sit in my car with me for an hour while I cried about the bad, and she told me that God was going to do something good through it all. And after that conversation I realized that I had just been crazy blessed by God! Even though I was complaining about some things that seemed really awful, I just had someone sit in my car with me and listen to me sob about it! And I realized that God was doing something really good right therein that situation. I am blessed because even though bad things happen, God makes EVERYTHING work out for my good, and he brings people into my life to help me through it, and I may not see it at the time, but when I pay attention to how God works for me, it makes me feel all the more loved, cherished, and adored by Him. Sometimes I feel inadequate and small, and I cry and ask God why He's letting these things happen to me. And it's as I type this that I think I can begin to formulate an answer...he is allowing these "bad" things happen to me, so that I might be able to open up to whatever amazing things he has in store. Sometimes God needs me at my weakest in order for Him to do what he needs to do, and that's ok. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for good not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Everything God does is in my best interest, not to make me suffer, and I'm continually learning that. But for now I'm going to let go and let God--let God bring people into my life, and take them away, let God lead me down one path even if I thought the other was better, let God speak to me, and be willing to listen.