One of a kind...

  Ever try to be something you're not? Try to force yourself to be a certain way in order for others to think more highly of you and what not. Haven't we all at some point, but heres the good news... God knew what He was doing when He made you. When He planned out each intricate detail of your figure, character, desires and future. His knowing and understanding surpasses ours by such an immense distance. Judging and comparing ourselves tends to come easy and natural, and its the quickest way to belittlement and questioning what God made precious. Yeah, you are precious in His sight. The apple of His eye. The light of His life. The reason He sacrificed His son. He loves you that much, and since He does, He took great time and care in creating you and designing plans for your life. But His plans can't be followed through if you continually try to be something that you aren't or constantly compare yourself to those around you. No... you as an individual are one-of-a-kind. There is no other YOU. No one can fill your shoes. Even if you think that your shoes would be easy to fill, they aren't. God made those shoes especially for your feet and no other. No one else can fill them. His life would be incomplete without you, thats why He made you and created you in the first place. He has set you apart for something great.
  This realization of individual beauty came to me tonight as I was reading Esther. It came in a simple verse that rocked my perspective. In chapter two verse fifteen it says...
When it was Esther's turn to go to the King, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the King's eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her.
Just as she was... with nothing added and nothing changed won over the hearts of everyone, including the King. Esther wasn't trying to be something she wasn't. She was an ordinary young lady, serving an extraordinary God who had great plans in store for her. A young lady who was just living her life and listening to God. A young lady who saved a nation of people. So my hope is that you take this verse and realize that who you are in Christ is enough. He has great plans for you... plans unique to YOU.