Thanks God, I needed to hear that

Have you ever had one of those "Wow!" moments in your life?  You know the kind of moment when you have to stop and think, "Wow!  Did that just happen to me?"

Have you ever had one of those moments when you can't believe that something so good, so amazing and so unexpected happens to you?  Have you ever had one of those moments when you are just stunned and surprised by a series of occurrences?  You know the kind where you are in need of something and then out of the blue it happens for you?  Or the kind where you need to here a word of encouragement or a word of praise and then you hear it from someone or something you never expected.  You know the kind where you are struggling to make a decision and then it seems like a voice says, "Choose this one, not that one."  And you still aren't sure so a second voice says, "Yes, choose this one, not that one."  Well, if you have had this kind of experience then you will know what I am talking about.  If not, sit back and read on.

Lately, I have been in a place that I can only describe as needy.  I have been working extra hard to break through at work and be respected and appreciated.  I have been working so many hours that I come home totally exhausted and pretty much fail at every thing I want to do.  Even though I have been working super hard at work, I was feeling like a failure.  Each time I failed at work it seemed I did worse at home.  My confidence in myself was shaken.  My fears were trying to take hold of me and I was starting to believe that maybe, just maybe I wasn't good enough.  I was starting to worry that I wasn't good enough to be the husband of such a beautiful and godly woman, the father of five, the son of my parents, the brother to my siblings, the friend of my friends, and the manager of my employees.  I was even starting to fear that I was losing touch with my God given value.  I mean I knew it was there, but I was in need of a reminder.  

That's when  HE stepped in.   HE who?   HE the great and wonderful  HE; the awesome and mighty  HE; The always amazing and always on time HE.  Yes, God stepped in and he met my need.  I guess looking back it sort of started on Wednesday of this week.  Wednesday was the low point of the week of doubts and shadows b/c I was expecting a thorough grilling and beat down on why the Quality group (my group) was not finding problems before they hit the field.  As I got ready for the day, I started my morning devotional in a new book that I am reading.  In this book it reminded me that I have value, b/c God loves me and loved me enough to send his only Son.  It reminded me that I was worth it.  Of course, I just dismissed this one.  But God continued on.  Thursday night my wife, yes the woman who is worth far more than rubies and gold, said that I needed to take my problems to the one who walks on water.  And she reminded me that God loves me, wants me to be humble, and still saves guys like me and Peter when we start to sink into despair and fear.  Yep, you guessed it.  I didn't want to hear that either.

So I continued in my pity party, waiting and hoping that someone would lift me out of the well I was sinking into.  That's when it happened.  My Wow! moment.  On Saturday morning I sat down to read Proverbs 17, but got distracted by the blinking light of the kindle app on the computer.  I clicked on it and was taken back by the first words that I read.  It said, "You are already awesome!"  I thought, who is she talking about?  So I read on.  I started reading "You are already awesome" on the pages and I flipped back to find out who "you" was.  After a half hour of reading it hit me like a ton of bricks, the you was talking about me.  In God's eyes I am already awesome b/c of Christ.  "Well sure", I thought, "but I don't feel very awesome."  I closed the app and I went upstairs to veg out on some TV.

As I flipped through the channel this guy in an all white suit caught my attention.  I thought, what is up with all of these TV evangelist trying to pawn something off or sell something using the name of God.  But I stopped on that channel.  "God loves you, you are forgiven", he said.  Who is he talking about?  He kept talking and preaching from the Bible.  He talked about God loving his children, wanting them to know that even if you, were the only person on earth he would have come to save you.  No way I thought!  But he kept preaching.  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever.  You are the whosoever when you believe in Christ.  Wow!  There it was for the umpteenth time this week.  You!  You!  You are valuable.  God loves you!  You are awesome!  God forgives you!  You are his child!  God is here for you!  You have never done more than God is able to forgive you for.  You are not a nobody!  You are awesome!  I love you!

I can't even begin to tell you with all these words on the page just how badly I needed to hear that again.  I needed to hear it again!  I needed someone to penetrate my doubt and fear and remind me of the Good News!  I have been bought with a price, the precious and priceless blood of God's only begotten Son.  I have the invitation, that whosoever!  Yes, even me.

Now, for the last kicker.  The speaker on TV was not selling something.  He said, I'm sharing the Good News so that you can be where God is.  So that you can have what God wants for your life.  So that you can realize you are loved and not condemned for those mistakes of yesterdays gone by.  Wow!.

Thanks God, I needed to hear that.  I love you too!