For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
(Ephesians 2:10)
Have you ever wondered why you were born now and not 500 or 1000 years ago? Why did God place you into a particular family, culture, and country?
God created you for this particular time and place so you would have all the right traits, experiences, and relationships to accomplish the purpose he has for you. Despite how you may feel about where you are in life right now, he has great plans for you. Plans for which he uniquely designed you.
It is important to understand that while God loves you more than you can ever imagine and is committed to your well-being as seen from his perspective, you are meant to fulfill part of his master plan. God does not exist to fulfill our plans; we exist to fulfill his.
The journey to fulfill that purpose can be done in fear and anxiousness if we choose to go it alone, or with confidence and peace when we trust in him to take care of the circumstances of life. This may seem harsh but it is critical you understand that God is God and you are not.
The prophet Isaiah explained it like this, “O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).
You were created to do the good things that God planned for you before you were even born. Your life has a purpose. Your life matters. You are significant.
Our Lord never asks us to decide for him; he asks us to yield to him—a very different matter.
— Oswald Chambers
Perhaps you are thinking, “Yeah, God may have had a plan for me but I have royally messed that up by the mistakes I’ve made.” Yes, you may have made mistakes, but that doesn’t disqualify you from still fulfilling God’s purposes. Through his foreknowledge and sovereignty, his plan for you incorporates your mistakes. Think about Paul’s life before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was transformed from a persecutor of Christians into the greatest evangelist of his time. Romans 8:28 promises, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
So, what is God’s plan for your life? How can you cooperate with him to accomplish what he desires?
God’s plan for our lives is usually revealed progressively, one situation at a time. Obviously, most of us would like to see the entire road map now, but that is not how God operates. He wants us to walk by faith, taking one step at a time in the direction he is guiding us. Doing that without fear requires a close relationship with him that involves communication and trust.
God is the creator and we are the created. Each one of us is “God’s masterpiece,” custom-designed by him to fulfill his purposes. Our ultimate significance is determined by how well we fulfill the plans our creator has for us.