Prized Possesions

One of my favorite state mottos is that of Minnesota, which says, “I Long to see what is Beyond!” The old English dictionary translates the word “long” as: “To dwell in thought, to yearn.” (As bad as my English may be, I love words.)

We all long to see what is beyond. A mountain climber always longs to see what is beyond the summit in hopes of gazing upon his next challenge. A child longs to know what is happening at all times. A friend of mine from camp kept count of questions her second grade campers asked from the time they woke up until flag, a total time of about 30 minutes. She lost count in the 60s.

Like children, we long to know what is next and what is beyond our gaze. What we see is the present, what is going on in our everyday lives, but what we want to know is where will I go after college what will my job be, when will I get married, will I get married, will anyone marry me, Texas or South Carolina, Columbia or Nashville, Africa or Orlando?

I know that in the next year I will graduate from college, and that’s about it. Some of you may know your career, but are unsure where you will use it. My sister Meagan will graduate from nursing school in May. I envied her for knowing exactly what she’s going to do until she showed me a list of options for nursing. Who knew nurses could do so much?

Planning for the future is confusing, frustrating, and tough, but it’s not what God designed us to dwell upon. If our focus is on trusting our Sovereign Lord (who, by the way, spoke the world into existence, numbered the stars, knows them by name, knitted us together in our mothers womb, breathed life into us, knows the number of hairs on our heads, sent his son to live among us and die for us, defeated death, and will one day split the eastern sky) then we will not long to see what is beyond us, but instead long for the presence and manifestation of God. Our desire will simply be for Him.

There are those people in our lives that the advice they give is priceless. My grandparents are two of those people. This past July I visited them after I returned from my mission trip to Honduras. As I told them about my trip and my summer, the conversation moved to the subject of my future. My grandmother could see the apprehension all over my face. She looked at me and said, “Worries and confusion are not of God. God will not give you stress, or anxieties.”

As I read James 1:16-18, it reminds me that God has my best interests in mind.
James 1:16-18 says: “ 16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

God created everything. He created things so beautiful that they take your breath away; yet, we are His prized possession? God values you so much. Every time you remember that, you will see that He has you and your future in His hands.