What do you think Jesus looked like... a handsome Brad Pitt kind of guy... a muscular body builder like Arnold Swartzeneger? Although I suspect that as carpenter Jesus was probably quite muscular and not a wimp, from the Isaiah 53 I do not believe that He was especially attractive.
"Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought GOD's saving power would look like this? The servant grew up before God--a scrawny seeding, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried--our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us, We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him--our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed." from The Message
Do you feel like one of the less beautiful people in this place? Are you one of the not so popular crowd? Do you wonder if you will ever fit in, if you will ever be accepted? Do you feel like people do not even see you, and if they do that they do not care who you are? Are you lonely? This may not be a comfort, but Jesus knows how you feel. He walked this earth rejected by the very people He came to save. His own brothers and sisters treated Him badly. They thought He was crazy and needed to be suppressed. Are you feeling like you do not belong? Are you like Abraham a sojourner, a pilgrim searching for home? Are you like Albert Brumley who penned, "This world is not my home, I'm just passing through... And I can't feel at home in this world anymore."
As a child of God, you do not belong here, but you do have a work to do here until He comes to take you home. You are so valuable to the kingdom of God. You are so precious to Jesus. You are such a threat to the forces of darkness. So, no matter how you feel, or how you think you fit in or don't fit in, wherever you are, Jesus has a plan and purpose for your life just the way you are. He made you the way you are. He put you where you are. He placed you in this time. His desire is for you to be what He created you to be... His salt and light to this lost and dying world. Look around. You are special. Delight in God's delight in you.
The LORD bless you with rejoicing in who God made you to be.
I love you,
Ruth
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