2020-07-05 Psalm 139:13-16; II Corinthians 12:7-10 If God Can Be Trusted, Why Am I Like THIS?

If God Can Be Trusted, Why Am I Like THIS? (Psa. 139:13-16; II Cor. 12:7-10) July 5, 2020 Read Psa 139:13-16 -- The question before us this morning is, “If God Can be Trusted, Why Am I Like THIS?” I think it is near the top of issues for most of us, especially young people. We all have baggage in this area. One survey found that 95% of men and 99% of women would change something about themselves if they could. We know ourselves to be flawed people. One guy went to a Halloween party. Someone asked him to take his mask off. He wasn’t wearing one! It happens to everyone. Even a man as great as President Lincoln was once called two-faced. His reply: “If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?” Lily Tomlin was quoted as saying, “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should've been more specific.” Ever been there? Maybe every time you look in the mirror? Perhaps Woody Allen said it best, “My one regret in life is that I'm not someone else.” Wow – that’s a lot to carry around. And at some level, we all have such feelings of inadequacy – even wanting to be someone else. I always thought I was too skinny growing up. Hated wearing glasses. Overachieved in other areas to make it up. But did you ever consider that how you feel about YOU says a lot about how you’ll feel about God? It’s pretty tough to be unhappy about our physical appearance, personality, IQ or other abilities without consciously or unconsciously arriving at the conclusion, if that’s the best God can do, HE BLEW IT. And if God couldn’t get that right, how can I trust Him with anything else? I can relate, can you? So – does God speak to this? Yes. What is His perspective? Glad you asked. Let me answer with 3 questions. I. Did God Make a Mistake with Me? Actor Burt Reynolds told how he and Clint Eastwood both got fired from Universals Studios on the same day – obviously before they were famous. Reynolds was told he couldn’t act. And Eastwood was told his Adams Apple was too big. Reynolds says, “As we walked to our cars, we were quiet – but then, it’s always quiet around Clint. So, finally I said, ‘You’re in trouble, Clint. I can take acting lessons – but you can’t get a new Adams Apple!’” 1 The point is there is always someone who is only too happy to point out our real or perceived flaws, right? The world is cruel, hard place in that regard. And it doesn’t take us long to make our OWN list. But how you feel about YOU says a lot about how you feel about God, so the question that moves us to the heart of the issue is, did God make a mistake with me? Did you know there’s a verse that says, “Man throws the dice, but God makes the dots come up? Man throws the dice, but God makes the dots come up?” Actually that’s a paraphrase of Proverbs 16:33 – “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Do you know what that means? That means that there are NO ACCIDENTS! Your parents may have been good, bad or indifferent, but God knew they had exactly the right genetic makeup to produce YOU. You may have been wanted or not, expected or not. Your parents may have been married or not. But while there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair and every other feature. He determined your natural talents and the uniqueness of your personality. Those parents threw the dice, but it was God who made the dots come up, and God WONDERFULLY planned YOU because there are no accidents. Psalm 139:13-15: 13) For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15) My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” Know what this means? Listen, from the moment you were conceived, there was God arranging every single chromosome pairing to produce just the DNA architecture that became YOU. Isn’t that good to know? It may have been a chance happening from man’s perspective, but God was making the dots turn up just like He wanted them. The record is clear – there are NO MISTAKES. In an old Charlie Brown cartoon, Snoopy the dog is sitting by the side of the road, watching all the kids go by. Snoopy is reflecting to himself. He says, "I wonder why it is that some were born people, and others were born dogs. It just isn't fair." And then in the last frame he concludes, "Why was I the lucky one?" Well, the point is, whatever your talents, abilities, disabilities, strong points or flaws – you are the lucky one. You are exactly what God intended. With God, there are no mistakes. So work with Him. 2 II. Why does it SEEM Like God Made a Mistake? Pretty much the whole world helps us come to the conclusion that we are inferior and therefore God made a mistake. It starts young. I heard of one guy who said, “We used to play spin the bottle when I was a kid. If a girl spun and it pointed at you, she could either kiss you or give you a nickel. By the time I was 14, I owned my own house!” You don’t have to watch many TV ads to conclude that you’re flawed, right? So, if God didn’t make a mistake, why does it SEEM like He did? The answer can be summed up in a single word. If you can get this concept it can change your life. In II Cor. 10:12, “But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” The magic word is COMPARE. COMPARE. There is no single act that defeats us as an individual more than the act of comparing ourselves against others. That more than anything else is what makes it SEEM like God made a mistake. But the mistake isn’t God’s, it’s OURS. When we start comparing ourselves to others, really only two things can happen and BOTH are bad. We either come back with a case of swollen ego thinking how much better we are, OR we wonder why we can’t look as good, sing as well, make as much money, blah, blah, blah, blah as someone else. And yet -- we do it CONSTANTLY. What was it that got Satan in trouble? Was it not when he said, “I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isa. 12:14). What was it that got Saul in trouble? Was it not when they sang in the streets of Jerusalem, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (I Sam. 18:7). Someone has said, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” That’s a tough way to go through life, isn’t it? Comparing your worst with everyone else’s best – and yet that it our natural instinct. That is a destructive outlook. We conclude that we’re not pretty enough or charming enough or smart enough or gifted enough. So what happens? We settle. Young people, you take up with the first guy or gal who shows you any attention because you believe you’ll never attract another. Comparing causes us to pull the rug out from under ourselves. So what’s the answer? To take pride in ourselves? 3 No – the answer is to take pride in our Lord and what He intends for us. Look to Him. After Jesus’ resurrection he gave a veiled hint at the martyrdom that Peter would one suffer for His sake. Peter immediately turned to John and said, “Lord, what about this man?” (Jn 21:21b). Jesus replied, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” There’s the answer. Get your eyes off others and seek out what the Lord has uniquely equipped you to do. Don’t settle for 2nd best or try to be the 2nd someone else. Be the first you that God made you to be. How you feel about YOU says a lot about how you feel about GOD. III. Why Did He Make Me As I Am? A. To Keep me from pride Be honest now. How difficult would you be to live with if you looked like Mel Gibson, were as athletic as Michael Jordan and had the mind of Albert Einstein? Or ladies, what if you looked and skied like Lindsay Vonn or sang like Carrie Underwood. Be hard not to get caught in the pride-trap, wouldn’t it? Like the old Mac Davis country song entitled, “Oh, Lord, it’s Hard to be Humble When You’re Perfect in Every Way”? God doesn’t want that for us. The Apostle Paul was special – had even been to heaven by vision or real. He might have gotten very proud about that. Wouldn’t you? But II Cor 12:7: ”And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me – to keep me from exalting myself!” God afflicted him in some way to keep his feet on the ground. And if Paul needed help to keep him from being overly proud, how much more we? . To Perfect Me God has an ultimate goal for your life. He intends to perfect you. His intention is your perfection. Physical flaws and trials are part of the process. Jas 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Do you see that whatever the flaws in your life, it’s all part of God’s wonderful plan to perfect you, inside and out. When you begin to look at yourself in that light, it puts a whole different 4 spin on things. His intention is your perfection – and your physical make-up is no mistake. It’s part of the process to get you there. If the sand gets in the human eye, it causes irritation, then infection, and if not cared for, eventually loss of vision. But put that same speck of sand in an oyster. It causes irritation, then secretion, and eventually the oyster forms a pearl. Listen – your flaw or flaws are your grain of sand. You can let them fester and ruin your life – but God’s specific intention is that You cooperate with God in taking glory in your physical deficiencies as Paul did; you cooperate with God in allowing your physical deficiencies make you a better person inside and I promise you, you’ll be amazed at the pearl God produces. His intention is your perfection. Conrad Hilton, My Guest, tells of a poor Greek man who applied for a job as a janitor. Bc he couldn’t write his own name, he as refused. So, he made his way to the US, and in the land of opportunity founded a thriving company. Years later in his Wall Street office, a reporter said, “You should write your memoirs.” The man smiled and said, “Impossible, I cannot write.” The reporter was astounded. “Just think how much further you would have gone if you could.” The Greek man said, “If I could write, I’d be a janitor.” In the same way, I urge you – cooperate with the You that God has made to become the perfection He intends you to be. You’ll never be sorry. C. To Show God’s Glory The third reason that God has made you like He has is because He takes great delight in showing His glory through flawed people. And there is something PERFECT about your height, skin color, blemishes, shyness, and even your past to allow Him to get glory in a unique way. Concerning his own physical flaw, Paul said II Cor 12:9: And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses (all of them, not just this one), that the power of Christ may dwell in me. A few years ago, on our way back from a mission trip to Guatemala, my wife and I were in the airport in Houston waiting for our flight to Denver when we saw a man being pushed through the airport in a wheelchair. He obviously had not feet and no arms. We immediately recognized him as Nick Vujicic. We had seen him featured on 20/20 one night around May 2008. Nick is a 28-year-old Australian who was born without any arms or legs. He has one 5 slight toe like appendage on the left side that allows him to stand and maneuver somewhat. He is actually able to do amazing things, including putting a golf ball with a club tucked between his chin and neck. But the most important thing about Nick is that he loves the Lord. He was raised by Christian parents who encouraged his every activity and today he is married with 4 children, and has a speaking ministry to young people around the world, emphasizing the importance of accepting who you are and accepting Christ. His story is an amazing demonstration of exactly what we are talking about today. Conc -- God has made us with the intention that we give back to him every gift and every flaw that we have, so that when he turns it to good, He gets the glory. To refuse to be happy with what we are and cannot fix is to refuse His grace in our lives and that’s a serious matter. How you feel about YOU says a lot about how you feel about God. Let’s pray. 6