God Sees Potential More than Fault

Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them!
    How grand in scope! How many in number!
If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable!

 (Psalm 139:17-18a, The Voice)

  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

 

 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

(Genesis 17:3-6,15-17, NIV) 

 

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:12-14, The Message)

 

The thoughts of the son ran thus: 'My hopes painted beautiful pictures, but they are fading one by one.'

 

His Father said: 'Destroy all those pictures. To watch them slowly fading is weakening to the soul. Dare then to destroy them. You can if you will. I will give you other pictures instead of those your hopes painted.'

 Amy Carmichael 

 

God doesn't see the way I do either; I look all the time into a distorted mirror that exaggerate some features and makes others disappear. God sees a true picture of me with all my faults and limitations, but more than this he sees a picture of all the possibilities and potential I hold. 

 

'Just let me get my hands on this one,' He thinks, 'and then just wait and see what the finished picture will be.' 

 

Sometimes God gives us glimpses of that picture to encourage us and spur us on. For me it is a long process, but in the end it is all about becoming God's picture of me. (Northumbrian Aiden readings, Dec.10)