In Romans 9:20 I read, “My friend, I ask, ‘Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?’” (CEV)
Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences—these are the five things that make me, me. They are called my SHAPE.
Accepting my SHAPE—the unique way God made me to bring glory to him, means to believe God knows best. It all comes down to a matter of trust. Do I believe God made a mistake when he made me? Or do I trust him, knowing he has a plan for my life?
Many of us make these kinds of statements to God: There are things I don’t like about myself. I wish I had a different hair color. I wish I were taller, shorter, skinnier. I wish I had more talent. I wish I could do ‘that.’ I wish I looked like him. I wish I had her smarts. And on and on our lists go.
This kind of thinking is basically telling God, “You blew it! Everybody else is okay. But you goofed up when you made me.”
When I reject myself, I am in essence rejecting God, because he’s my Creator. When I don’t accept myself, it's a rebellion against God. I’m saying, “God, I know better than you. You should have made me differently, with a different set of strengths and a different set of weaknesses.”
But God says, “No, I created you exactly the way you are because I want you to be you, with your strengths and your weaknesses. All of it can give me glory, if you’ll just start doing what I made you, to do, instead of trying to be like everybody else.”
I’m learning that It’s actually quite arrogant to reject myself. The Bible says in Romans 9:20, “My friend, I ask, ‘Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?’” (CEV).
Whenever I doubt God’s love and wisdom, I get into trouble. The root behind many of life’s problems is that I don’t trust God. I don’t believe God really loves me. I don’t believe he really has my best interest at heart. I wish he had made me something different. As a result, I have a spirit of bitterness that produces frustration and keeps me from being the person God wants me to be.
But I don’t have to live that way, there is hope! Job 10:10 says, “You guided my conception and formed me in the womb” (NLT). God wanted me, and he loves me. He shaped me just the way I am for his glory. Believe it, and then trust it!
In summary, I have no right to question God. Accepting my SHAPE, the unique way God made me to bring glory to him, means to believe God knows best. It all comes down to a matter of trust. Do I believe God made a mistake when he made me? Or do I trust him, knowing he has a plan for my life? There are things I don’t like about myself. This kind of thinking is basically telling God, “You blew it! Everybody else is okay. But you goofed up when you made me.” When I reject myself, I am in essence rejecting God, because he’s my Creator. When I don’t accept myself, it's a rebellion against God. I’m saying, “God, I know better than you. God says, “No, I created you exactly the way you are because I want you to be you, with your strengths and your weaknesses. All of it can give me glory, if you’ll just start doing what I made you, to do, instead of trying to be like everybody else.” The root behind many of life’s problems is that I don’t trust God. I don’t believe God really loves me. I don’t believe he really has my best interest at heart. And I have a spirit of bitterness that produces frustration and keeps me from being the person God wants me to be. But I don’t have to live that way, there is hope! God wanted me, and he loves me. He shaped me just the way I am for his glory. Believe it, and then trust it!
The Creator has control over the created object. The created object, therefore, has no right to demand anything from its Creator. It's very existence depends on him. Keeping this perspective can help remove any temptation for me to have pride in personal achievement.
Lord, I need you. Please give me Your strength for today and remind me in little ways that I can believe in, have faith and to trust you in everything including being the authority for my life, my self-worth and my future. You have my best interests in mind. Help me to not question or compare myself to others, so that I can serve and fulfill the mission you have in mind for me. I ask you for wisdom and guidance in this and for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, my preparation for a future job role and for leading a small group. I ask these things through you Son Jesus’ name, amen.
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