Have you ever thought – I’ve gone too far? I’ve done too much? I’ve done too little? I don’t even know HOW to find my way out of this? Well, you aren’t alone.
What happens when we’ve gone through so much or brought so much upon ourselves that seemingly our value is diminished?
Can this even happen?
The Answer: No. Periodt.
A while back when I led the Singles ministry at my previous church home in Houston, Texas we hosted a Singles Brunch. As one of the icebreakers, we played the “Penny Game.” Everyone was given a penny and instructed to recant something interesting that happened to them in the
year on the penny. As I was passing out the pennies, someone made a comment that their penny was rusty, and they asked to trade it for a new, shiny one. At that moment God dropped into my spirit, “Just because it’s rusty doesn’t make it any less valuable. It just needs to be cleaned up.” That’ll preach – so let’s let it.
You may be this penny. You may have to work a little bit harder or dig a bit deeper to uncover the value, but it’s still there waiting to be rediscovered. Just like this young lady who forgot the value of her penny because of the rust, many people can’t see your value because you are covered in “gunk”. Some of it derives from self-inflicted pain because of relationships, disobedience, and sin. Others may have imposed some of it on you through abuse, neglect, or molestation. Whatever the source, it causes people to miss your true value because they can’t see the clean copy.
Thanks be to God, that He doesn’t see the gunk but recognizes our true value; He sees the Blood of Jesus. All we need to do is be soaked in the alcohol of the Word (Ephesians 5:6).
Although your value was always there, after a bit of heart surgery – man let’s keep it all the way real – some of us just need to repeat after David and say ‘create in me a new heart’, because this one been out of order. Now it can now be seen by the naked eye. Remember your value can never be diminished because God states your worth trading His Son’s life for yours, and no amount of gunk can cover that up.
I am reminded of the story of the adulterous wife in Hosea. God continued to tell Hosea to go back to get his wife. As many times as she left him, he was instructed to go back and retrieve her Hosea 3:1-3. This book shows a direct relationship with God and His chosen people, showing us
that as long as we return to Him, He will always return to us, and He is able to restore all of the shine that has always been ours.
The Prodigal Son is another story about perceived tarnished value. The son was at the end of his rope and planned to go back to offer himself as a servant to his father, because he believed that his value as a son had been diminished. But what happened? While he was still a far way off, his father ran to him, kissed him and clothed him back into his birthright. This is an amazing story of redemption. It illustrates that in God’s eyes, we are seen the way He created us and not by the things of the world we have allowed to define or defile us. Because He has sealed us with His Spirit and we are now in covenant with Him (Ephesians 1:11-14), He is not swayed by how “dirty” we have become in the world. He is waiting to make our scarlet sins white as snow (Isaiah 1:18( . Our Father’s love is truly amazing. But the struggle we often face is coming back to our right mind like the Prodigal Son and asking our Father to take us back. But I assure you, just as his father welcomed him before he could say a word, your heavenly Father stands at the door and knocks waiting to wash you in His Word.
Will you answer? Speak over yourself what your Father spoke in the beginning. Habakkuk 3:17 states He will rejoice over you with singing. You don’t need a new penny. You just need your shine restored.
*Adapted from NOT Another Singles Book copyright 2020* Purchase your copy here!
Scripture References:
24 Jeremiah 31:3
25 Romans 12:1
26 Psalm 51:2,7
27 Hosea 3:1
28 Hosea 12:6