Thursday, August, 8, 2013

By: Gwen Hitt

Grateful for Being Me

Hebrews 13:5 .... be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, 'I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.'

Someone recently shared a story with me that truly caused me to reflect on how happy I should be to be ME. Now....please know that there are things about this "aging" body that I would like to change. I could probably utilize my entire word count limit for this devotion discussing these changes - LOL!

The story described a woman's encounter with three individuals. The first person was a beautiful young lady seated on a bus. The woman thought enviously, "I wish that I could be as beautiful as she is!" To her surprise, when the young lady reached her stop and got up to exit the bus, the envious woman saw that although this young lady was very beautiful .... she only had ONE leg and required crutches to walk.

Additionally, the story included encounters with a blind man and a deaf child. While each encounter was positive with the individuals seemingly unaffected by what could be thought of as disabilities, the woman walked away grateful for her present state. In the ending, the woman begs for forgiveness for complaining and whining over seemingly trivial matters. With much appreciation, she thanked God for her ability to walk on two legs, to have eyes that can "see", and ears that can "hear."

God tells us in today's scripture to be satisfied with what we have AND that He will never abandon us. I truly believe the Lord is telling us that no matter what our situation is....He is there to help us get through it.

I challenge you and me to always appreciate what God has created in us. Psalm 139:14 provides a model prayer for the manner in which we should show our appreciation ---- "I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well." God has created you to be YOU for a specific purpose and plan. Embrace who you are in Him!

Dear Lord, You remind me in Ephesians 2:10 that I am Your handiwork "created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which You prepared in advance for me to do." Help me to always be grateful to you for making me into the person You want me to be AND keep me in Your ways in order to fulfill the calling that You have on my life!

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.