When You Struggle to Feel God's Loveናሙና

Already A Big Deal To God

What if doing “big things for God” (or at least how many of us have imagined it—broad recognition, sales, and enterprise) is much less than what you’re called to? What if fame, “impact,” or “reach” doesn’t make you more valuable in the eyes of your loving Creator? What if you’re already a big deal to God?

Scripture:

“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works.” (Ephesians 2:10 AMP)

Some of my favorite fictional stories are the ones where the protagonist is a nobody in society—an orphan, a slave, a poor kid, a misfit. Then, to everyone’s great surprise, a messenger comes to inform him that he’s actually a very important somebody—a prince, a prophesied deliverer, an heir.

The protagonist then struggles to believe such great news. It disrupts his sense of self-worth, his perceived origin story, and his very identity. It must be too good to be true. The protagonist must grow into his newly discovered value. It doesn’t happen overnight.

When you’re born on the “wrong” side of town, with the “wrong” skin color, to the “wrong” parents, with the “wrong” interests, you’re made to feel that the very essence of who you are is, well, wrong. But what if the origin story hiding beneath your perceived origin story whispers something of incredible worth and intricate design? An identity of immeasurable value you get to grow into—a masterpiece (Eph. 2:10; Col. 3:10).

What does it mean to be successful or valuable in your society? And what does it take to be a “powerful” or “impactful” man or woman of God? Heather Thompson Day quotes Pastor Ronnie Martin in her book It’s Not Your Turn,[1] as saying: “If we’re being honest, the desire to do ‘big things for God’ is a convenient way to mask our desire to do big things, God or no God.”

Perhaps beneath this desire is some measure of “I just want to feel like my life counts, like I’m seen and valued.” But what if doing “big things for God” (or at least how many of us have imagined it—broad recognition, sales, and enterprise) is much less than what you’re called to?

What if fame, “impact,” or “reach” doesn’t make you more valuable in the eyes of your loving Creator? What if you’re already a big deal to God?

What if, because of the image of God already on us, our prayers of, “Lord, let my life count,” were transformed into, “Lord, help me see how much my life already counts”?

Every moment—mundane, maddening, magical—holy, wholly His.

Every chapter in your story already written, yet

mysteriously unfolding

with your God-given agency

to co-author with Him.

Maybe that’s the story the world needs to read.

Call to Action:

Here’s a writing prompt for today: How might your sense of value and beloved-ness change when you begin to pray, “Lord, help me see how much my life already counts”?

[1] Heather Thompson Day, It’s Not Your Turn: What to Do While You’re Waiting for Your Breakthrough (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2021), 118.