Topic: Even Your Weaknesses Bring Glory to God [RICK WARREN Devotional 17 May 2024]
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Even Your Weaknesses Bring Glory to God
BY RICK WARREN — MAY 17, 2024
FROM SHAPED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
“My friend, I ask, ‘Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?’”
Romans 9:20 (CEV)
Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences—these are the five things that make you, you. I call them your SHAPE.
Accepting your SHAPE —the unique way God made you that brings glory to him—means you believe that God knows best. It all comes down to a matter of trust. Do you believe that God made a mistake when he made you? Or do you trust him, knowing that he has a plan for your life?
Many of us make these kinds of statements: God, there are things I don’t like about myself. I wish I had different hair or a different color of skin. I wish I were taller, shorter, skinnier. I wish I had more talent. I wish I could do ‘that.’ I wish I looked like him. I wish I had her smarts.
And on and on our lists go. This kind of thinking is basically telling God, “You blew it! Everybody else is okay. But you goofed up big when you made me.”
When you reject yourself, you are in essence rejecting God, because he’s your Creator. When you don’t accept yourself, it’s rebellion against God. You’re saying, “God, I know better than you. You should have made me differently, with a different set of strengths and a different set of weaknesses.”
But God says, “No, I created you exactly the way you are because I want you to be you—with your strengths and your weaknesses. All of it can give me glory—if you’ll just start doing what I made you to do instead of trying to be like everybody else.”
It’s actually quite arrogant to reject yourself. The Bible says in Romans 9:20, “My friend, I ask, ‘Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?’” (CEV).
Whenever we doubt God’s love and wisdom, we always get into trouble. The root behind these doubts is that you don’t trust God. You don’t believe God really loves you. You don’t believe that he really has your best interest at heart. You wish he had made you something different. As a result, there’s a spirit of bitterness in you that produces frustration and keeps you from being the person God wants you to be.
But you don’t have to live that way—there is hope! Job 10:10 says, “You guided my conception and formed me in the womb” (NLT). God wanted you, and he loves you. Believe it, and then trust it!
Talk It Over
- How can believing that God really loves you change the way you view yourself?
- What about yourself have you always wanted to change? How do you think God may have intended to use that very trait to bring glory to him?
- How has God used your weaknesses to bring glory to him?
Will you follow Jesus today?
God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).
Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life? If so, start by praying this simple prayer: “Dear God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
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