Prodigals = Heroes

I tried to write a blog the other day and nothing came to mind. So I was just trying to look up some quotes for my facebook, read this and quickly had to type up this blog post. 

I was inspired.

"I have come to know a God who has a soft spot for rebels, who recruits people like the adulterer David, the whiner Jeremiah, the traitor Peter, and the human-rights abuser Saul of Tarsus. I have come to know a God whose Son made prodigals the heroes of his stories and the trophies of his ministry." 
— Philip Yancey

I feel like a lot of people, including myself, spend a lot of our time and most of our lives trying to amount to something. We want to accomplish big things and end up on the top and "be somebody." Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. It's just the first thing i thought of when I read this quote. I feel like I spend so much of my life trying to be something big so that my parents will be proud of me, or grandparents, or people will like me, or even fame and popularity or whatever you can think of. Even with God. I tell the people around me every chance I get that God will always love them for who they are no matter what, imperfections and all... but then I don't apply that to myself. I feel like if I have the highest degree of schooling and the most money and the best family and I'm the most lovable person then God will be proud of me. I guess even through everything, I still have that thought sometimes where I feel the need to gain God's approval.

I find myself sitting around a lot, thinking of what I can do to ensure that God looks down on me and smiles. But, the harder I try, the harder it gets to achieve that. When in reality, I already have it. Deep down, I know that God is absolutely in love with me, simply because I am His child and He made me the way I am... but I still catch myself trying so hard to gain that approval. 

This quote really opened my eyes. The first part of the quote is something I've always said. Throughout the bible, we see all these examples of what God did with people. I usually refer back the the story where Jesus hung out with the tax collector. But the last sentence of this quote is what really got to me as I read it. 

"I have come to know a God whose Son made prodigals the heroes of his stories and the trophies of his ministry."

All those people that we look down upon became something big with Jesus. All of those things inside ourselves that we hate or we regret don't compare to what God can do with us. All of those who failed and whined and sinned and even denied Jesus became heroes. Those same people that screwed up and probably felt like failures were used by Jesus to do great, extraordinary things through Him. Those same people are the heroes in all the stories we read. They weren't perfect. They didn't live the most amazing lives and they weren't always at the top... but Jesus used them to do incredible things.

Reading this really reassured me of a lot of things. Peter and David and Jeremiah and all of the others didn't live their whole lives perfectly. They messed up. They fell. They failed. They were human. But the amazing thing is that even with all of their shortcomings, with God's love and His son, they ended up on the top. Not because they were famous or made the most money or did the most things, but because Jesus worked through them and showed love through them.

Jesus' love shone so bright through the same people that screwed up so many times. Through their failures, God's love was projected to the whole world.

Maybe I spend so much time trying to make something tremendous out of my life that I'm not letting God take care of it. I don't have to be perfect. Even with my failures, God and His love will shine through me, and that is far more important than the most fame or money in the world.

Just like the people in the bible.... They didn't make something big out of themselves on their own. God did.

<3 Amy