God Made You on Purpose

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands. — Psalm 138:8 ESV

I like the idea that God only made me once. Like paintings — there’s something special about the first one. My cousin Joe just recently passed away, but for my entire life, he was a painter. An artist. My home is filled with paintings and sketches and illustrations he made just for me. In fact, one of the paintings he gave me proudly hangs in my dining room. It’s huge and abstract and purple and blue and black and weird. I love it. A few years ago, I asked Joe what it’s like to replicate art versus painting the original piece.

The short answer he gave is that the original is work, but fun. Any copies, exact or modified, are boring, if not mindless. Creating is just problem solving, and once you solve the original problem, it’s like you could train bright monkeys to do the replicating. (That’s a quote. “Bright monkeys.” Man, I miss Joe.) The question is not unlike asking a chef to create the most special French onion soup in the world and, after he or she has succeeded beyond any expectations, to keep making it every day.

God made you once. You were worth the work that first time. Then He threw away that mold because one of you is enough for Him. You’re enough. You are the sacred painting, the original.

God made us this way on purpose. It’s no mistake that we are formed the way we are. But why?

Why did God make humans in the first place?

Look at Isaiah 43:7:

Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made. — ESV, emphasis mine

God created us for His glory. Hang with me for a little Old Testament lesson. The word create in the original Hebrew is bara. When this particular word is used, God is the only subject — He does all the work. Only He can create in this particular way. We may be able to create a painting or create chaos, but as humans, we cannot bara. So when God made you, He did something that only He can do, and He did that for His glory.

This short Hebrew 101 lesson does have a point. We look at the original language of the text to see, according to Scripture, that we were made especially by God to promote Him, glorify Him, and worship Him.

If we are each as unique as the Bible says we are, then our calls to courage are each equally unique.

So what does this have to do with being brave?

If we are each as unique as the Bible says we are, then our calls to courage are each equally unique.

We each have to be brave in our own ways.

The painting of your life is a masterpiece that will never be replicated, and there’s a brave brush to use in this painting that will change everything for God’s glory and for your good. Maybe you want to move to another country to live and share about Jesus. My friend, that is brave. It really is. But so is being a stay-at-home mom. And so is being a cable technician. So is being an author or a baseball player or a chef. Courage looks different for each of us.

God made you on purpose and unique. God has called you to be brave. And God will equip you to do it.

Be Brave: In your journal, or here in the margins, list some ways your life is unique. What do you love? How do you like to spend your time? What ways do you see your life as different from anyone else’s?

Excerpted with permission from 100 Days to Brave by Annie Downs, copyright Annie F. Downs.

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Your Turn

How are you being brave? It likely looks different than the ways your family and friends are being brave because you are different. You were uniquely created for His glory so your story of bravery will be unique. Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily