Topic: Outside the Circle – Daily Devotional by Proverbs 31 Ministries 27 September 2022
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Outside the Circle
SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
“God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” 1 Corinthians 1:28 (NLT)
When I was in high school, I was actively involved in lots of activities. But due to some childhood trauma, I was also painfully insecure.
I couldn’t find my footing to save my life. You’d find me on the sidelines at the varsity football games with the cheerleaders, but I wasn’t a legitimate member of their group. They didn’t care for me much. But I don’t fault them for that because I didn’t care for me much either.
Maybe this is your story too. Something happened in life to push you outside the circle. Now, on one hand, you don’t want to give too much power to the opinions of others, but on the other, you don’t want to live with a lie embedded in your soul.
God loves you. He designed you masterfully. And He does His best work through humble, broken people who know they need Him.
One day I cried out in prayer to God, knowing I had a flawed view of myself but at a loss for what to do about it. The Lord whispered to my heart, Susie, you’ve felt outside the circle your whole life, but that circle is actually an illusion. It has no value in heaven. Then I pictured Him drawing a circle around me when He whispered, You’re inside My circle, and that’s the only one that matters. The truth settled into my soul that day.
God consistently uses people who seem to be outside the circle, and He seems to love to do so. He takes regular, flawed, weak people and positions them to interrupt the enemy’s plans and establish His ultimate purposes on the earth:
- Joseph was an outsider, as far as his brothers were concerned. Then he became an insider in Egypt. God promoted him and positioned him to save a nation. (See Genesis 50.)
- Moses was an insider raised by Egyptians. But God called him to be an outsider and align with His people, Israel, at a significant cost to Moses, so that He could lead them out of captivity and into freedom. (Read the book of Exodus.)
- Jesus was an insider — seated in heaven, one with God and the Holy Spirit — and stepped down from His throne to enter the womb of a teenage girl. He who knew no sin became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God through Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He became an outsider so we who bear His name would become insiders — heirs to the Kingdom, filled with His Spirit, assigned to carry out His purposes on the earth. Hallelujah! (Read the Gospels.)
- Paul was an insider: a Roman citizen and a persecutor of Christians. God knocked him off his horse and called him to be an outsider. Paul then followed Jesus and walked with those he’d once terrorized, and God used him to change the world. (Read Acts 9.)
Over and over again, God upsets the status quo. He purposely chooses the weak, the outcast and the marginal for His great purposes, as 1 Corinthians 1:28 says:
“God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.”
How many people go through life thinking they are outside a circle that holds no value in heaven? What would change for you if you understood and embraced your place at the table of grace? What if you genuinely saw yourself as the apple of God’s eye?
Maybe you feel left out like I did — outside the circle of others and even outside God’s circle. Friend, while others may not choose you, God will always choose you. He created you just as you are, and He has a purpose and a plan for how He wants to use you — just as you are. What others think of you and what you think of yourself will never compare to how God thinks of you, His daughter!
And the best news is that if we wish to see ourselves as God sees us, all we have to do is ask Him for His vision, His perspective of us. He delights in every detail of our lives.
Heavenly Father, I love You! Awaken fresh faith in me. Forgive me for giving more weight to what I think of myself than what You think of me. I want to know You more! Open my eyes to see what You see. Grant me a tangible sense of Your presence and Your love. Change me from the inside out. I want to walk and live and pray with such bold, humble confidence that mountains move and many come to know You. Stir up a passion in my soul, Lord! In Your Name, I reject rejection and accept acceptance. I refuse apathy, and I embrace engagement. Give me a fresh vision for where You are taking me, and put fierce faith in me to follow You there. I will guard my heart with all diligence, and I trust You to establish me in Your purposes for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
FOR DEEPER STUDY
Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)
Be honest: When you think of how God sees you, what comes to mind? Does your idea of God’s perspective line up with Scripture?
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