God Don’t Make No Junk

This Summer we are doing “Summer in the Psalms” for our Wednesday night studies. In the month of July, we will not meet in person, (We are meeting for All Church Prayer tonight.)  So…each Wednesday I will post a devotional study from a selected Psalm. Today, Psalm 139, one of my favorites.

God don’t make no junk. My apologies to English teachers everywhere but the statement is true. When God made you He knew exactly what He was doing and He didn’t make no junk. David says in Psalm 139, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made and Your works (that’s you and me) are wonderful, I know that full well.” (verse 14) Perhaps there is no truth that has more power over us and in us than the truth that God made each one of us specifically and on purpose, just the way we are, and He loves us individually and uniquely with an everlasting love.

When our son Joshua was born he was a perfect kid. I know that you know I can be given to exaggeration but he really was just perfect. He was easy going, compliant, such a sweet disposition. He would mind. He was polite. When he was about 4 years old I looked at his mother and said, “We are amazing parents. We have this thing figured out.” And God heard that and just laughed and laughed. And sent us Jacob. Jacob was born with red hair and a redheaded disposition. He was fire and vinegar from the very first. If you said the sky was blue Jacob would argue to the bitter-end that it was green. If you made Jacob sit down he would say, “I’m sitting on the outside of me but I’m standing on the inside.”

When the boys were little I would tuck them in bed at night with a time of personal affirmation. I would sit on the edge of Josh’s bed and say, “Josh, you are so smart. I saw your test paper today. You are amazing. Josh, you are such a fast runner.” Josh would grin, shyly and say, “Aww, dad, don’t say that.” Then I would go in Jacob’s room. I’d sit on the edge of his bed and try to do the same thing. “Jacob,” I’d say, “You are so handsome.” Jacob would pop straight up and say, “And I’m funny. And I color great. And I can jump really high. And I am awesome at math…” How could two boys be so completely different?

As the years have passed both boys continue to be unique. Joshua, a grown man now and a father of his own two sons, is thoughtful, meticulous, very deliberate in planning for the well-being of his family. He sets his mind on a goal and will not be deterred, moving determinedly to accomplish it. Nothing gets in his way. Jacob sets his mind on a thousand goals. He is impulsive, impetuous and unbelievably intelligent. He is the life of every party and a friend to the world. When he got married a few years ago, I pulled Allison aside and said, “Allison, we love you and we apologize in advance for all of the crazy adventures Jacob is going to get you in.” He now has two sons of his own. It will be interesting to see how things change. My sons are so unlike each other. Different but both wonderfully blessed in their own right.

Well, those are my kids. If you were writing this, you would write stories equally as drastic in the differences between yours. God makes each one of us as distinct from one another as the stars in the sky or the blades of grass. From our fingerprints to our friendships, we are each one created in His image but totally, wonderfully, amazingly special. And He did that on purpose. He loves you and He loves me just the way we are. Wow!

What does Psalm 139 have to do with my two sons? I thought you would never ask. Here’s the deal, God has blessed you, just you, in a way that is planned and prepared just for you. Nobody anywhere has the skill set, the personality and the spiritual gifts that God has given you. You are one of a kind. He made you to be special and He is crazy about you.

He also knows your end from your beginning. He has your story all written out and He planned your conclusion before you could say “happily ever after.”  Verse 16, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”  He delights in you from the first to the last and He has thought of everything all along the journey.

Which leads me to the last thing. He has a specific plan for you, a purpose, a calling, a task or bunch of tasks, laid out to give your life meaning and value. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. You may be famous and do big stuff. You may plod along, grind it out in simple obscurity all your life but  YOU WILL BE IMPORTANT. God called you to a job that is uniquely yours. CEO of a Fortune 500 company or father of a family of 5, either way GOD IS INTERESTED IN YOU. If that doesn’t light your fire, your wood is wet.

I repeat, no truth that has more power over us and in us than the truth that God made each one of us specifically and on purpose, just the way we are, and He loves us individually and uniquely with an everlasting love. Live in that today. Rejoice in it. Repeat it to yourself over and over. “God made ME. And God don’t make no junk!”

Mike