https://odb.org/MY/2021/09/06/resting-secure-in-god
When I was much younger before I knew Jesus, I used to think about who I am. Asking questions like why was I born this way, to this family, in this town, in this country? Prior to that I was living in a more multi racial town in the West Coast of Malaysia. But when I moved to a small town in the East Coast, it was evident that I was different from my peers in school, with funny looking eyes compared to the rest. There were people like me in that small town but they mostly attended another school.
Over the years I began to accept myself as I am on the basis that we can’t choose how we look like and which family or town or country we are raised up. Despite some racism and the institutional discrimination I faced when growing up, I was nevertheless thankful to be born as a non-Muslim in this country. This is because I could accept Jesus into my life at 14 and got to know and serve Him since then, freely worshipping God in the churches I attend and serve in.
As I got to know God, I became more thankful that I was born as I was. Not because I was born into a privileged background but because it was God who created me as I am. I felt privileged to be created by God. But it was more than that – because the Creator was my creator and since He has accepted me as His son through Christ my Lord, I knew I was in good hands. There were unique talents to discover deep inside me, to be birthed and flourished by God and because God is God, He can add on other things, talents and skills, in my life as I follow Him and allow Him to mould and shape me.
As I look back and reflect upon my life, I am truly grateful to God for having reached out and touched me in this small town in the East Coast. I may have had misgivings about who I was when I was young but over the years I am most thankful and grateful that I have had the opportunity to grow up knowing God. In the end, I think it was my good fortune to be born as I was. God was gracious and merciful to me and my family for all the blessings He had bestowed us and will continue to bestow upon us throughout our lives.
I think if we accept that God created us exactly as who we are, we can accept us as we are. Since we belong to God, there is much He can do with us and there is still much He will do us in terms of who we are in Him. We are all unique and special, created for God’s pleasure and service. Embrace our self and our identity in God. There is still much He can achieve and will achieve in and through us.
Ronnie's Thoughts 