Thoughts

Today has been a pretty good Monday. The weather outside is gorgeous, and I am hoping this means that spring is here for good. I loves these days because I am reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness. Winter can feel so long and dreary, but we have the comfort of knowing that soon spring will arrive, and with it, beautiful weather and happy people. 

I am also reminded on beautiful spring days of God's beauty - the beauty of His character and of His creation. Even though it's only the beginning of spring and the trees are still bare, there is a sense of something wonderful that is about to happen. We anticipate the budding of those trees, the sprouting of the flowers, the beauty of life happening right before our eyes. All of this happens by God's hands. I imagine it is even more enjoyable for Him than it is for us. 

God made everything in His creation beautiful. At the very beginning, God called everything good. When God created man, His creation was finally complete. He looked down upon His treasure and proclaimed that everything was very good. We were the last piece in the puzzle. 

Sometimes it's hard to look at the vastness of creation and remember that God thinks of us as more beautiful. I've had the pleasure of seeing some of the greatest sites in the world, and it is incredibly humbling to realize that the God who created these wonders of nature knows each and everyone one of us by name and thinks of us more highly than all of creation. 

The bottom line is that we are God's treasures. He loves us individually and personally. No matter how flawed we are, He is always ready to forgive us and welcome us back into His arms. I only wish that we could live up to this standard. I wish that we could treat each other with the same level of respect and caring that God shows to us. Too often I hear people criticize others, and unfortunately, I am one of those people. It's as if in that moment we think ourselves better than that person, like they are less of a human being, like they are less worthy than we are. This is a lie from the pit of hell! 

I don't know who you are or what you are going through today, but I want to give you this encouragement: God loves you. That phrase is tossed around so much in Christian circles, and I know I often hear it said to me without thinking deeper about what it actually means. I like to look at it this way. God's love for you is so great that even if you were the only person on the face of the earth, Christ still would have died for you. 1 Peter 3:9b says "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Every person is precious to Christ, and He would not have changed a thing, even if you were the only person He needed to die for. Such love is hard for me to comprehend. 

Another thing: don't ever tell yourself that you are not as worthy or beautiful in God's eyes as someone else. I sometimes fall into this trap of thinking that God has bigger and better plans for other people and that His plan for my life is going to be second-best. No! Another lie from Satan! God's plan for each person is different. Sometimes I wonder why for some people, life just seems to fall in their lap. They get accepted into the college they want, they get great grades, they get married to their high school sweetheart or the only person they have ever dated, and their lives are just perfect and happy. I don't know why this happens for some people and not for others (and I probably never will know), but I do know that this is not because God loves them more. Romans 2:11 says, "...God does not show favoritism." He just simply has a different plan for your life. And I can assure you that His plan for your life will be the very best. 

These are just a few things that I like to remind myself of on a daily basis - God is so beautiful and His creation is amazing, God thinks I am beautiful, no matter who I am, and God's plan for my life is unique and incredible. 

Lastly, I can't tell you how thankful I am that my God is a personal God. I don't have to worry about trying to be more "holy" than anyone else. In my relationship with God, it's only God and myself. I am accountable to Him only, and I don't have to worry about trying to beat other people into Heaven (what a relief!). The only person I have to try to be better than is myself. I have to daily remind myself to be a better person than I was the day before. Often, I fail in this regard, but I still need to try every single day. 

These are my thoughts from the past few weeks. I don't know who all reads this (if anyone), but I hope that you have a fantastic day and a good start to the week. If you have some nice spring weather right now, don't forget to go outside and enjoy the beauty of life and God's creation!