Over the last few years, I've watched both afar and up close as people have searched for
SIGNIFICANCE. It's so very easy to get to the place where you feel as though your life or you specifically are the essence of being "too small or unimportant to be worth consideration; meaningless". Perhaps you feel as though your contribution on your job is meaningless. Or maybe you constantly feel like the people around you see you as unimportant. But I was reading in Colossians today and was really encouraged by a single phrase. Now, I have to warn you up front that I am
completely taking this out of context here, but I could not resist. Chapter 2, verse 18 begins by saying, "
Let no one disqualify you..." Another translation says, "Let no man rob you of your prize..."
I thought about it for a while and realized so many of us disqualify ourselves before anyone else even has a chance. While we anticipate being rendered as insignificant in someone else's eyes, we must first ask ourselves if we are significant in our own. Just like beauty, significance is in the eye of the beholder. Though there are times functionally that you may have less work-related significance; no profession or social interaction can ever have the power to define who you are. I Peter 2:9 reminds us that in the Kingdom economy of significance, we are a part of a "chosen generation" and "royal". As children of the King of Kings, we are to find our significance in
that and not in the day-to-day workings of our lives.
True, that is easier said than done. When someone is facing you with a look of disdain or when you don't feel heard or trusted or valued, it is difficult to remember that your search for significance should lead you to the cross. Your search for significance should remind you that God even made something as small as a mustard seed be a symbol for faith. If a
mustard seed has relevance and significance in this life, then how much more do we? When we measure our value and our worth, are we seeing the people whose lives are affected because we prayed for them or because we smiled at them when they thought no one cared? Are we thinking of the times when God has used a person or His Word to speak directly to us in answer to prayer--making us significant enough to warrant a response? Are we considering times when we have prayed or spent time with the Lord and simply felt the amazing warmth of the Spirit of the Lord comfort of his presence make us feel special and cared for?
Maybe that's the problem. Perhaps you've never had an encounter with God that gave you that comfort or that gave you that reminder. Today, my prayer is that each of you reading these Prayer Points will have such an encounter with God. I pray that your significance will be wrapped up in His presence and delivered with a bow. I pray that in the coming days, you will experience God in new, reviving ways that end your search for significance in the right spot--Him.
Be encouraged,
Pastor Andrea
Amen!
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