Psalm 139 not only reminds us that (1) God is with us and that (2) we are objects of his affection. It also shows us that we have been crafted for a specific purpose.
Crafted for a Purpose
Vs. 15. You know me inside and out,
You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
How I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Vs. 16. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
All the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day. The Message Bible
Think about it. You are not a product of chance or accident. Even if your parents didn't want you, the truth is that you were shaped by design and for a purpose. Just like there is no snowflake or no fingerprint alike, so you are completely unique. No one is exactly like you. So why try to be like somebody else? Why try to copy or initiate others? You are a one-of-a-kind original. Tread your own path. Discover who you are and then be yourself. Live inside out. Let your true colours come shining through. You will feel better and the world will be a much better place as a result.
No one's story is quite like your story. Quit following the scripts that other people have imposed upon you. Stop being dependent on your environment to tell you who you are or who you are meant to be. Dig deep inside and draw out who God has crafted you to be – nothing more and nothing less. Like an onion, peel back the layers that other people and circumstances have projected on you and discover who you really are – at your very core.
You are not your surname, you are not your post code, you are not your educational results, you are not your ancestry, you are not your birth order, you are not your career or your job title. Sure, all of these aspects have contributed to your life and have been influential factors BUT you are not dependent on them nor do you have to be defined by them alone.
Here are some reflections questions that might be of hero as your journey further towards the full discovery of YOU:
- What did you love to do as a kid?
- When you were young, who did you want to be when you grew up?
- What is happening or what are you doing when time seems to stand still?
- If you could be or do anything you wanted to, what would it be?
- What would you do, even if you didn't get paid for it? [You might also like to read Discover for some more thoughts around how God has shaped you]
- What makes you angry? Sometimes this is insightful in discovering what problem you are called to solve.
- What energises you the most?
- What do other people tell you that you are really good at?
- Draw a timeline of your life so far, noting various stages and the transitions between them. What were your most enjoyable events? Most painful? How did these shape who you are today? What could the future hold?
- If you life was a story, what genre would it be? A comedy, a drama, a tragedy, a romance or an epic narrative? How would you describe yourself as the main character? [Check out The Story of Your Life for more on this way of looking at your life]
Here's to you being the best you, you can be!