Made for Greatness

Remember when you were a kid and nothing seemed impossible? When your imagination ran wild and your daydreams included thoughts of heroic magnitude? When you could vividly picture yourself being the first to cross the finish line at field day, right down to your Nikes? When painting a masterpiece in art class seemed only a brush stroke away? If only someone could hear your Grammy-worthy shower vocals – you knew you were destined for greatness!

And then something happened. Little by little, seemingly small circumstances began to chip away at your self-esteem. You weren’t one of the first picks for kickball on the playground, again. You couldn’t reach the pull-up bar in gym, much less perform an actual pull-up. You mispronounced one of the new spelling test words while reading aloud in front of the whole class. The hurkie jump you mastered at home in front of the mirror was not middle school cheerleader worthy. And then there was high school…

Growing up, I felt bold. I felt daring, I felt adventurous. And then, I didn’t. As years passed, I took my cue from all of the other teenagers trying to make it through puberty and pre-cal and allowed the world to tell me I wasn’t good enough. I held on so tightly to that poor self-image that I packed it up with all of my other dorm room essentials and took it along with me to college. I knew my former super-hero self was in there somewhere, but she was buried so deep in emotional baggage that I thought I’d never see her again.

Then one day something changed. I decided that I wanted to be happy. I was tired of lugging that deflated ego around. I determined that if I wanted to be more joyful and more confident, then I had to do something about it. I recalled a friend in fifth grade telling me that I had one of those faces that looks sad unless I was smiling – you know the face. So I decided to start smiling, even when I didn’t feel like smiling, and to intentionally redirect my negative thoughts. I had had enough!

What’s amazing to me is that it worked. I really did begin to feel more cheerful and optimistic. My zest for life miraculously returned. I’m not going to tell you I have never had a bad day or a negative thought since because my family would be first in line to call me out on that lie. But what I can tell you, is that I believe God saw me in my despair and called me out of the darkness. He changed my path and my perspective.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

Our kid instincts were right. We ARE intended for greatness. And we were made for adventure. The God who spoke light into existence created each one of us intentionally and uniquely, right down to the last freckle. The Bible tells us that, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10).  You, my friend, are God’s masterpiece. He made you on purpose for His purpose. Cling to that truth on your good days and on your bad days. And keep smiling!