Your Life Matters!

Some years ago, a friend was worried that her Facebook account was unsafe due to computer scams and online hackers, so  I offered to have a look at her page. I was soon able to reassure her that all was well. The last entry I checked on her profile was Life Events. All it contained was one word: 'Born'. I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw it. I showed it to her, and she laughed along with me. It did look forlorn all by its little self!

If all that we did in life was to be born, that would be tragic, wouldn't it? It's sometimes not made sufficiently clear to new believers, that the point of our salvation is not simply getting a ticket into heaven. Life as God intends to give us, is as much about life in the here and now as it is about life after death. 

It is also about growth into Christ-likeness and maturity.

Over the past 20 years and more, God has been persistently wooing me. He has taken me on highways and byways, storm tossed seas, steep pathways and rugged mountain treks. He has transported me from a life of doing, to a life of being. And so I've learnt that the doing becomes a natural result of the being, with the emphasis on the kind of person God is calling me to grow into. Being born is great but growing up in Him is better, isn't it?

Does your life matter? Absolutely. Every person in the world is important to God our Father. He cares. Deeply. He desires that each of us seeks and finds Him. The paradox of the Christian life is that when I find God - my search has only just begun! Because the more I seek Him - the more I need to keep seeking Him and also looking for the fruitful life of the kingdom.

Your life matters, because God has work for you to do. Your life matters because the best gift you can give to God is not only what you do, but the person that you become. Unfortunately the path to forming into that kind of person is not through a life of ease but usually through hardship and trial. Helen Keller was an inspiring woman, who was deaf, blind and dumb but who made a significant impact on the world. Here's what she said: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller

The trail to my own spiritual growth has been not one of ease, but through life's conundrums and challenges which have often made me throw up my hands in despair. Rarely have I been thankful as I've stumbled upon uninvited items on my path, like finding rubbish that's been thrown-away by careless picnickers. But as I take each item and examine it with care, I finally understand why God has allowed it in my life. And when I learn the truth it whispers, I can rejoice that God is teaching me patience and discipline, love and commitment, perseverance and humility. 

Your life matters! Every good deed, however small is noticed by your Creator. Every time you act in ways that please Him, speak words that bless and build, work hard to do what's right or worship Him in spirit and in truth, you can be sure that not only is it noticed but it also creates ripples of lasting significance in the kingdom of God.

So if you are discouraged today, let me reassure you. There is One above who notices you even if no one else does. He understands your pain and your longings, your hopes and your dreams. He catches you when you fall. He is proud of every step you take as you trust in Him. He knows your heart. He is so glad of the person you are becoming. And even through the mystery of suffering, as you follow His leading, He will use it all for your good and to showcase the glory of the Eternal Awesome Loving God who will reign forever!

Your Life Matters! Oh yes, it does! So keep growing. Keep shining!

Today. Tomorrow. And all through eternity!

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Gen 1:35

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matt 10:29-31

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 8:10

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30