My family recently spent some vacation time on the beach. The weather was beautiful. We enjoyed the white sandy shores and the crashing waves. Our daughters created sand castles, swam in the ocean, got stung by a jellyfish, and we spent time looking for sea shells. It was a beautiful time away and a wonderful experience enjoying some of God’s great creation.
Each time my daughters found a shell that they thought was a keeper, they would bring it over to my wife and myself. The shells came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some were beautiful, complete shells, while many of the shells my daughters found were broken. They were only pieces of shells. That did not matter to them. My daughters thought they were beautiful. Even though I had not really appreciated them at first, my family was able to see the beauty in every shell.
Thankfully, that is how our God is, as well. God sees us as his good creation. (Genesis 1) God also sees our brokenness, our flaws, and our scars. These marks, left by the struggles of life, do not take away from the beauty God sees when He looks at us. God knows our past and yet God sees remarkable splendor in the present.
In God’s eyes, we are precious and lovely. This truth is shared repeatedly in scripture. In 1 Peter it says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.” (1 Peter 2:9) In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians it says, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Ephesians 2:10). The Psalms say we are, “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalms 139:14) And the disciple John writes, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.” (1 John 3:1)
We may be damaged, broken, and scared, but God sees beauty within us. You may struggle with who you are, but God does not. God knows you, because God created you and in love God sees all that you are capable of being.
– Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
