The other day I came back from follies practice to find a gift basket at my door and a very excited roommate waiting to see my face as I walked in. Inside the basket was a bunch of candy, t-shirts, and other odds and ends from my big. But the thing I enjoyed most was the note from her inside the journal she gave me. I read it over and over again wondering who in the world my big could be. Nothing was concluded about the identity of my big other than the fact that she has really nice handwriting.
But the Lord opened my eyes to something as I was reading over her note before I went to bed. At the end of the note she wrote "I am so excited that you are my little." As simple as that sentence was, it really struck a chord in my heart. I am somebody's little, whoever she is. I am apart of her family, whoever they are. But I am HER little and she is MY big. Which got me thinking, isn't that so how it is with the Lord?
In Ephesians Pauls tells us that "In Him, we were also chosen" and that "He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ". This was God's plan, for us to become a part of His family. He chose me to be in His family, to be His daughter. I am HIS. How easily do I forget this? How easily do I live like I'm not a child of God, like I'm not apart of His family?
I got baptized when I was 16 in the Nueces River at my church camp in west Texas. I remember that whole week leading up to getting baptized. I had been in a bad spot with the Lord for a while and was struggling with insecurity so deep I didn't think I could recover from. Satan had a grip on me, telling me I wasn't good enough for the Lord to take me back. But the Lord worked His way into my heart by His grace and I decided that I didn't want to be manipulated by Satan anymore. I was the Lord's now. I remember being very nervous about getting baptized, I was scared of what people were going to think of me and if I had the strength to live my life for the Lord. But the Lord brought a verse from a song to my mind as I walked into the water that Friday morning.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
the sun forbear to shine
but God who called me here below
will be forever mine
will be forever mine
You are forever mine
The last line kept repeating in my head as I walked out of the river that morning. I am forever the Lord's. Simple as that.
"Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14
I am marked with a seal. I am God's possession. He is MINE and I am HIS. How wonderful is that?
So thank big, whoever you are, for that much needed reminder this week. I can't wait to find out who you are.
