Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43:4 NIV)
From Brianna:
Ever have those days where you just feel worthless? Ever felt like you've messed up too much for God to still love you and call you His own? Well, I certainly have. I tend to get in a bit of a funk when I'm feeling that way. However, one thing has become clear to me: when my mood changes, His love for me remains.
The scripture Isaiah 43:4 serves as proof that God can love us more than we can imagine. I've often made the mistake of minimizing and comparing God's love to my love: conditional, questionable, and sometimes inconsistent. For example, after someone has hurt me repeatedly, I withdraw my heart and time from them. I stop believing that they love me, or I begin to wonder if they ever did. Clearly, God's love is not like ours. It makes me emotional to think that after all I've done to hurt Him, he STILL loves me. David said in Psalm 139:8,
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Do you understand that? If you consciously decide to live a full life of sin (...if I make my bed in hell...), God will STILL be with you?! No matter how long you've been a sinner, at whatever point you ask God into your life and heart as your Lord and Saviour and repent of your sins, you're forgiven and your sins are erased. How selfless and amazing is that?!
There are many things and people auctioning for our hearts: friends, family, romantic partners, money, careers, etc. However, I've made a conscious decision to live for the Highest Bidder: the one that exchanged nations for Israel (Isaiah 43:4), the one that gave His Son so that I may have a chance at eternal life with Christ (John 3:16), the one that will stay with me even if I live as if I don't want Him (Psalm 139:8). He's given so much for me, and all He asks in return is for my heart. When you truly fall in love with Jesus, you'll obey His commandments and follow His Word. I'm forever indebted to my Highest Bidder.
From Mo'Nique:
I've had some moments in my walk where I have become frustrated with myself where I felt like, "Why did God waste His time on someone like me?" It's like I couldn't figure out why he found me so valuable. In my eyes, I was nothing special. I'm just Moe. Nothing big, nothing major. Then it hit me. My view of me, isn't God's view of me. In my eyes I still see the little girl who couldn't get it right, the little girl who made continuous mistakes, and the little girl who constantly doubted not only herself but God as well. Meanwhile, God sees me as I truly am. He sees His creation. His perfect plan. Jeremiah 1:5 says,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Wow, even before I made a single mistake, I was destined for greatness, and even though I HAVE made mistakes, it does not alter His word, nor change my destiny. I had to be opened to this concept, however. Sometimes we can diligently seek God and still miss what He's trying to tell us because we are so open and busy with everything that comes our way. Maybe we are apart of multiple organizations within church, maybe we are community leaders, or maybe we are balancing school and/ or families. All of those things can cause us to take on roles that causes us to become busy and sometimes we can't hear the message God is trying give us. I, for one, had to be told face to face how important I was to God. I had become so busy that even in my studytime, I was missing the fact that God was trying to get across how much I meant to Him.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43:4 NIV)
In my good works, He didn't want me to forget not only are my deeds of good work acceptable, but I AM acceptable and there was nothing that I could do to change how He viewed me. He would exchange NATIONS for a wretch like me!! It really began to finally sink in. In my sins, God still values me; and in my righteousness God values me the same. Not because of what I do or have done, but because He views me honorably and I am precious in His sight. There's nothing I can do to repay something that was bought at such a high cost. So instead of questioning "Why me?", I now say, "Why not me, for I am loved, and worth more than nations. I will receive His promise, and I will believe in my Highest Bidder."