Have you ever heard or thought something that blew your mind – and you couldn’t stop thinking about it for days, even weeks afterward? That’s what happened to me while on the World Race in Madagascar. We were driving to a village and through some breathtaking mountains – they were gentle and sloping, lush and green. Below them were terraced rice paddy fields – green lines that made you feel like you were in Asia rather than Africa. I’m a big mountain lover – there’s nothing I love more than being in the mountains. I’d lucked out with a window seat and kind of lost myself in the splendor of it all when I heard the Lord’s voice. Very clearly, he said “Kara, I thought of you when I created these mountains.”
Wait – what? My mind was racing. Was this even scriptural? Could God really have thought of specific people and specific moments when he created the earth? Did he think of Mady, who loves blue butterflies, when he created butterflies? Did he think of Andrew when creating the Guatemalan coffee plant, knowing how much he’d enjoy sips over his morning devotional? I knew he “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 129:13), but I’d never thought about the fact that he knew us “before he formed us in the womb” (Jeremiah 1:5).
A few days later, the Lord highlighted Ephesians 1:4 to me: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
Before the creation of the world.
Wow.
If God chose us before the creation of the world, that changes everything. That means we are valued and loved beyond measure. That means we weren’t created to live in this world. That means the world was created for us and to showcase his glory.
That means we are loved beyond measure. That means our value isn’t measured by what another human thinks of us, what we do for a living, how much we make or how much success we’ve reached in our lifetime. That means our value was set by the creator of the heavens and the earth, at a time long before we can even comprehend. And that means that value can’t be changed.
(I wrote this as a devotional for Beauty for Ashes – below is the ‘activation piece’ if you’d like to dig deeper into this subject!)
3 Questions to ask the Lord:
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What is my value in your eyes?
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What lies am I believing about my worth or value?
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What past hurts do I need to process and heal from to walk in true identity and worth?
3 Questions to be discussed among friends:
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What are ways you see Jesus in each other?
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What are lies you have believed about yourself?
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When was a moment when you truly felt God’s love and presence?
