I really enjoy online shopping, but the one thing I do
not like about it is that you never know what your purchased item will really
look like until you open the package. On the mannequin, it appears to look
amazing and desirable, but when you open the box it can be an entirely
different story. The material may be weird, the size of the item may be smaller
than what you expected, or you may just decide that the item does not suit you
like you had hoped. The most interesting part about this concept centers on the
moments before you open your package. You have the highest expectations for
your item, and you think, "I
am going to look absolutely flawless in this," or, "this is exactly the color I need."
Realistically, however, your purchased item because the complete opposite of
what you originally thought about it.
Ironically,
people do the same thing with us.
How many times has someone pictured you as one thing when you were really
something better than what they expected? Some people have a hard time
realizing that our greatness goes beyond what they see in front of them. When
how we act conflicts with how they think we should act, they tend to leave us
in their box. You might have a teacher that thinks you are always going to be a
C student and may barely make it into college; you may have parents that always
see you as a future doctor when God called you to be a pastor; or you may be in
a bad relationship where your significant other always thinks you will be a
nobody when God made you a somebody.
In
high school, people loved to put me in a box. I was very reserved and
soft-spoken so people would automatically obtain one-sided assumptions. They
never thought that the quiet girl who sat in the back row was actually very
animated on stage, had a witty sense of humor, loved to sing, and was an
excellent public speaker. Unfortunately, being put in a box did not stop in
high school. It also continued throughout college and in my past relationship.
I remember my ex-boyfriend asking me, “How
are you going to be a motivational speaker when you are passive?” It
was during this time in my life that I finally realized someone would always put me
in a box.
The most important thing to
remember is
this: despite whatever anyone else thinks or says about us, it does not change
who our Creator is and why He created us. God created us all for a unique purpose.
After the death
of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun,
Moses' assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you
and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of
Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to
you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far
as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the
Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man
shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with
Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. (Joshua
1:1-8 ESV)
When
people put you in unnecessary boxes, focus on what God thinks about you. The
great thing about God is that He can take us to levels higher than
any man can fathom. More importantly, He knows what it is like to be put in a
box because we do it to Him all the time. Think
about all those moments when you trusted God to mend a friendship but did not
trust God to get you in school. Or, think of a time when you trusted God to
give you a job but did not trust God to give you the right spouse.
Jesus is a prime example of someone that
was put in a box by nonbelievers. They did not want to believe
that He was the Messiah, but Jesus had to continue to focus on what God called
Him to do.
You
will die in your sins if you don’t believe that I am he. (John
8:24 NCV)
Only
God can break us out of the box that people leave us in. There are so many
doors and opportunities in our lives that we are going to have access to, but
we just have to trust that God knows what He is doing. Do not let the opinions and judgments of
others deter you from fulfilling what God has called you to do because they are not going where you are going.
Do not expect people to understand who God made you to be because they were not
present when He designed the blueprint for your life.
So
whether we are home or away, our aim is to please Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV)
Regardless
of the people that come your way, always remember it is about what God wants,
not what man wants. My challenge to you today is to break out of the box with
God, because once you do, you are truly free.
If
the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36 ESV)
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