“Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men
in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life”
Isaiah 43:4
I wonder what God sees as He walks around you. I’m sure He sees beautiful things in you, but you believe what other people are saying. People say: “You are no good. You’ll never be somebody.” But God is saying: “I see a jewel.” We are diamonds in the rough. Just keep on believing that. Keep on moving forward to your goal. Remember that there is something in you more precious than what others have said about you. The sculptor never gives up until he gets out of the rock what he sees.
I have a piece of wooden sculpture in my home that I did about 15 years ago. The sculpture isn’t what I intended it to be because as I was chiseling out the image that I had seen in the tree, part of it was knocked off by too much pressure. Because that part dropped off, I could no longer create the image that I had intended. So I looked at the piece of wood again. I walked around it thinking, “I’ve gotta change my concept a little.” I had to rethink how to retain the beauty of the sculpture though I had lost an important part of the wood.
Eventually, I modified my design. The modification is not evident in the finished form. People have admired that piece of wood for many years. They look at it and say, “Wow! This is beautiful.”
That piece of sculpture sitting in my home reminds me of your life and mine. Parts of our lives have been knocked off by our past. We’ve done some dumb things that have messed up the beauty God intended. But look what God has done. He’s saved us. Instead of discarding us because we have not turned out like He intended us to be, He has taken us—including our marred and chipped and rusted and knocked off past—and formed us into something beautiful. When people see us now, they won’t believe what we used to be. God can bring beauty out of your mistakes. He can take what you have messed up and bless it up. He can take the thing that seemed impossible to you and form it into something beautiful.
There is something in you more precious than what others have said about you.
