Trying to come up with a blog post this week has been tricky. Usually, I'm flooded with ideas. Earlier this week, a friend asked me if I would be willing to write a post, continuing a series she started. I agreed. It sounded like an awesome idea. But, as soon as I tried to start writing, I couldn't find an idea that was "good enough". She's a great writer and so are a lot of her friends. They create such vivid images and get their point across merely with the words they choose. So when she asked ME, I felt honored, but also inadequate. I'm no writer. I'm not an English major or an education major. I'm just a guy writing about what he's going through and trying to share the love of God with others. Ironically, my inspiration came from realizing this.
I often feel inadequate. I don't always feel that special. Sure, there are some things I'm good at. I can draw, I can play basketball, I know a lot about cars. But then I realized, even the things I'm good at, I'm not the best at. I follow people on Instagram who's drawings are much better than mine. I'm five foot three. I'll never be a pro basketball player. Everything I've learned about cars is because of my dad. And I don't know half of what he knows. And to think, those are the things I'm good at!
The list of things I'm really bad at goes on for miles. I'll spare you the time and just name the most prevalent thing I'm bad at, the one that stands out to me the most: communication. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm terrible at talking to people! I never know what to say and I can't start a conversation to save my life. I'm even bad at greetings. Someone says: Hey! My response: Good! My feelings immediately afterwards: *cue face palm* Sadly, this has happened more than once. Talking on the telephone, forget about it! I avoid that at all costs. I tend to be most comfortable texting or messaging people, mostly because I can think about what I am going to say before sending the message. But, I've messed that up too. I've said things I later regret and not to mention, it's a million times harder to determine the other person's attitude with just words on a screen. Are they serious, are they joking, are they being sarcastic? I don't know! Ahh!
The fact that I still have friends amazes me. People still ask me to do things for them, when there are plenty more qualified people that they could ask. I find it almost incomprehensible sometimes. But then I get to thinking, I've heard some of my friends talk about how they feel inadequate, jealous, uncool, mundane, like they're just another face in the crowd, or, to follow the theme of this series more accurately, just another common rose. They feel some of the same things I feel. That really gets me. But, I don't see those things in them. To me, my friends aren't just other faces in a crowd, they're the faces I can pick out of a crowd! I know them. I care about them. I LOVE them! I don't like them because they can do certain things, or because they dress a certain way. I like them because of who they are. If I've ever told you I love you, know this: I love you for you. Nothing you do will ever change that.
Guess what. That's how God loves us. He knows everything we've ever done and He still loves us. Romans 5:8 says: "But God commendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God still created us, knowing that we would choose to disobey Him. He then sacrificed His only son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us, so that we wouldn't have to spend all of eternity separated from Him. Isn't that amazing!? The God of the entire universe loves YOU. He died for YOU. He wants a relationship with YOU. I'm in awe that God would choose to love someone like me. To be honest, I am the worst sinner I know. I've done terrible things. I fall short of God's glory every single day. I'm the dictionary definition of a failure, of imperfection. Yet, God sees perfection in me because of the blood of Jesus Christ. God reminded me of this as I was writing these very words and I was filled with an indescribable joy that could only come from the Holy Spirit.
Know this dear reader: You are perfect the way you are. You are beautiful. And there's no such thing as a common rose. God made you special and He loves you very much.
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