By Pastor Sunday Adelaja
After such a stormy beginning my friends, let us now move a little from excitement into analytical deliberations. A logical continuation to all I have said above is that, you cannot be made to be so wonderful, only to end up being useless or irrelevant. It won’t be logical and it won’t be fair. God’s challenge with us normally is not the fear that we could get out of hand, but rather with our low self-perceptions. One of God’s biggest challenges with man, is to get man to actually understand and see himself as God sees him.
We have a problem in not been able to believe or see ourselves in such a stately and imperial status as God has placed us. Most men even those with the highest self-esteem, still can’t objectively see themselves nearly as glorious as God intends us to be. This is probably the simplest explanation why we can’t get ourselves to begin to do all that God expects of us. We find it difficult to actually believe that “I” can do this or that. We often think that someone else might be able to do what God is trusting for us to do. But when it gets to us, we think we are not good enough.
Come to think of it my friends, how is it that you would not be good enough. That which God created, not good enough? It is not consistent with what he has already done for us. It is not consistent with how he treats even a thing as small as the mustard seed. The most consistent view of ourselves in line with Gods view should be that of honor, respect and glory. We should never have a reason to doubt whatever God asks us to do.
“Low self-esteem causes me to believe that I have so little worth that my response does not matter. With repentance, however, I understand that being worth so much to God is why my response is so important. Repentance is remedial work to mend our minds and hearts, which get bent by sin.” ― John Ortberg Jr.
Remember He did not call us that mustard seed. He did not call us the bird of the air. He did not call us the lily of the valley. He called us the crown of creation. We are more glorious than all other creations. Even the big ones, we surpass them. We are greater than the elephants. We are more magnificent than the birds of the air. We are more significant than the trees of the field. We are more salient than the beautiful flowers of the field. We are supreme to all other creations. When I say we, that is talking about you my friends. When I say we, that is referring to the least of us. When I say we, that is referring to the weakest and the most helpless in the eyes of men. If that is so, what are we left with? We are left with changing our view about ourselves. We are left with upgrading our mindset. We are left with believing what he says about us. We are left with agreeing with him and his views. In regards to our persons.
“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.” Ps. 8:4-5
Now brothers and sisters, I think it should be clearer to you why God almighty should desire to use you. It should rather be clear now, why he would choose you to be the one to carry out his plans on the earth. This is because he knows his premium on you, he knows his price tag and the value he has placed upon your person. So even if you see yourself as mustard seed, even then you win! No one has the right to ever doubt the calling of God upon his or her life. No one has the right to ever think he would fail. Otherwise, it won’t be just in regards to God. It won’t be fair, after all His faith, trust and endowment upon us.
No matter how small you are in your own eyes, you are nevertheless not smaller than the mustard seed. If the mustard seed will have so much honor and dignity, you are even much more. Please begin to see yourself differently. Begin to see yourself in accordance with his thoughts about you.
Going back to the story of the mustard seed, oh what a glorious vision God has for it. God’s vision concerning the mustard seed is that it would not just be fruitful and multiply, God’s plan for this small and insignificant seed is that it would grow to have dominion upon all the earth. Could you try to compare God’s vision for the mustard seed with your vision for your own life? Won’t the mustard seed vision be much greater than what you are having for you own life? It should not be so. If Gods plan for a mustard seed is that grand, how much more will his vision for your life be much greater? He definitely wants you to be fruitful. He definitely wants you to multiply and of course. He definitely desires that you will feel the earth with his glory as the waters cover the sea. To be continued
“When you are destined for greatness, it shows in everything you do. It becomes you. Greatness becomes you.” ― Lorii Myers,