LOVED BEYOND REASON !
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:4
THERE ARE TWO TRUTHS about human beings that matter deeply. We are all of us rag dolls. Flawed and wounded, broken and bent. Ever since the Fall, every member of the human race has lived on the ragged edge. Partly our raggedness is something that happens to us. But we ourselves also make our own deposits into our raggedness by choosing to be deceived when the truth is before our eyes. We choose to grumble when a little humility can heal our hearts. We deliberately betray when we’re bound by oaths of loyalty. Like a splash of ink in a glass of water, this raggedness permeates our whole being. And our words and thoughts are never entirely free of bitterness.
But the Second Truth is that we are God’s rag dolls. He knows all about our raggedness, and he loves us anyhow. Our raggedness is no longer the most important thing about us. We were not created ragged. From the beginning there was a wonder about us that caused God himself to say “Very Good” as he looked at Adam. There was a wonder about us that caused the psalmist to say we rival the divine beings called ‘angels’ in glory and honor. There is a wonder about us still that even all our fallenness cannot utterly erase.
There is a wonder about you. Raggedness is not your identity. Raggedness is not your destiny. We may be unlovely, yet we are not unloved. And we cannot be loved without being changed. When people experience love, they begin to grow lovely. This is true even at the physical level. Psychologists say that the excitement of being in love increases your heart rate: the face glows, the lips look more red, and under-eye circles actually become less noticeable! Heightened emotions cause the pupils to dilate, so that the eyes look brighter and clearer. Brethren, you are loved eternally by God, for thus says the Lord God who made you, “Because you are precious in My sight, You are honored and I love you, I will give other men in return for you and other peoples in exchange for your life.” Isaiah 43:4
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin
amenn