My wonderful husband made me a sturdy island from scrap woods and palettes. I've been needing an extra counter space for a while because of our growing boxed-meal business. But the islands I find here are either too pretty to be functional or functional but not the right size. So one day, I drew a picture of how I want my functional island to look like, gave it some measurements, showed it to my husband and the rest is history.
It's not the best island in the world. In fact, it's far from perfect. It is not catalogue material and has some rough edges. But for the function I need it to be, it is making me happy. Given the fact that the palette's life will end up as wood for fire pit if we didn't reuse it, it has turned out to be a pretty functional island. Every time I look at it, my heart swells with pride knowing it was once a throw-away material that we re-purposed.
"That's who you are in My sight." I felt God's tug on my heart as I caught myself staring at the island with a big smile on my face. "You always feel like you're not good enough; like you're not the best at what you do; like you're not an "expert" in the field I have called you in; that someone else can do it better. But you don't understand that by making yourself useful in whatever field, ministry or task I have called you to do, even if you are not the best at it, you please Me. Your willingness and availability, My child, is more than enough for Me. By being washed in My cleansing Blood and walking in My daily sufficient grace, no matter what state you're in, expert or no expert, You please Me."As tears rolled down my cheeks, I couldn't help but worship God for such a beautiful reminder from such an unlikely item. Many times, Ryan and I look down on ourselves, having achieved no great degrees, no executive places in the corporate world, no high ranks preceding our names, no high value properties to show for, no awards to brag about, being the jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none that we are. But oh how refreshing it is to be reminded of God's unconditional love. God truly does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. And wherever God takes us, He plants us and makes us bloom in His perfect will and His perfect time until He moves us again.
So if you're feeling like a throw-away scrap wood today, come to Jesus. He's still in the business of making something beautiful out of broken lives.
