Remember, God planned and packed you on purpose for his purpose. “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (Eph. 2:10 TLB).
You are heaven’s custom design. God “formed you in your mother’s body” (Isa. 44:2 NCV). He determined your every detail. “Who made a person’s mouth? And who makes someone deaf . . . ? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the LORD” (Exod. 4:11 NCV).
At a moment before moments existed, the sovereign Star Maker resolved, “I will make _________.” Your name goes in the blank. Then he continued with, “And I will make him/her _________ and _________ and _________ and _________.” Fill those blanks with your characteristics. Insightful. Clever. Detail oriented. Restless. And since you are God’s idea, you are a good idea. What God said about Jeremiah, he said about you: “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work” ( Jer. 1:5 NCV).
Set apart for a special work.
During a college break I made extra money by sweeping metal shavings. Several dozen machinists spent ten hours a day shaping steel at their lathes. Need a six-inch square of quarter-inch sheet metal? They could cut it. Need screw holes in the hinge? They could bore them. Need a thin-stripped tin? Just tell the machinist. The workers shaped the steel according to its purpose. God does the same.
He shaped you according to yours. How else can you explain yourself? Your ability to diagnose an engine problem by the noise it makes, to bake a cake without a recipe. You knew the Civil War better than your American history teacher. You know the name of every child in the orphanage. How do you explain such quirks of skill?
–Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life