“Dad, this month as you show me what You count as worthy, reveal to me more and more of my own worth to You. Blow my mind with Your generous love as You show me what is worth Your time.”
After one week of ministry in Chang Mai, this was my prayer. The Lord had shattered expectations and was showing up big time in many little ways. He was teaching me that the smallest details are worth His time when it comes to His children. But I must admit, that when I typed this prayer on September 12th, I really wasn’t expecting to hear much about my own worth.
I never really gave my own worth much thought and God knew that. Maybe that’s why bar ministry didn’t work out. He wanted me to recognize my own worth before I went and told others about theirs.
Last week, I had just finished skyping with my parents and was sitting with Jesus, when He interrupted every thought and every emotion:
You are worth My time Amanda. I love spending My time on you.
This is something I had never deeply thought about: that the God of the Universe wants to spend His time on me. Now maybe that isn’t theologically correct, since God is outside of time, but you get the point. I am worth His efforts; I am worthy of His love. He chooses to romance me, to pursue me, to delight in His daughter.
How amazing is our God that He not only saves us from our sin and draws us out of the miry pit, but that He goes even beyond that to bless us and lead us into more goodness! He could have left me complacent and comfortable in America, but He didn’t. He delights in me so much that He chose to bring me to the other side of the world to meet new people, love His children, and walk in new depths of love, redemption, destiny and healing alongside Him. Our God is SO good!
During this realization from the Father, it became so clear that while I may have signed up for the World Race, filled out the paperwork, and physically sent out the support letters, God was the one who chose this for me. In Ephesians, Paul tells us that God laid out plans for lives long ago. He has established “good works” for us to walk in. God chose the World Race for me before I was born. He handcrafted this adventure when I was just a child.
While you were “preparing” for the World Race back in America, I’ve been preparing for you. I am in every country, present at each ministry, awaiting your arrival. It has been so much fun planning out the details of our time together. The special surprises I have waiting for you, the places to lay down your head and rest at night, the divine encounters I have arranged, and the lessons of identity and destiny, they all await you. Amanda, daughter, you are worth My time and efforts; you are My delight.
I will never forget sitting with God at a plastic picnic table in Thailand as He revealed more and more of my worth. At the beginning of this month, I knew I was walking into a lot of “unknown territory” with God. I had reached the “end” of what I knew and had experienced before. So what a sweet moment it was, when my Father drew back the curtain of the unknown only to reveal more of His heart and a truth I have missed for so long:
“You, my daughter, my sweet Amanda, you are worthy of so much.”
