Masterpiece
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Photo by Theodore Moore
I just listened to a sermon by Jentzen Franklin and he shared a remarkable story. The story is of a four year old little girl who was kidnapped and left to die in the South American rainforest of Columbia. It is a real life Mowgli of The Jungle Book story. I have not read the book The Girl With No Name (by Marina Chapman) as of yet so I do not have all the details, however I am sharing the general information I do have. The little girl began mimicking a group of capuchin monkeys in order to survive. She watched them catch rainwater in large leaves and drink, she learned to gather nuts and berries, and eventually even ended up in the canopy of the trees living among the monkeys. Due to the trauma, she eventually lost the ability to speak human language, and began copying the sounds and gestures of the monkeys. I believe it was five years that she lived among these monkeys. Jentzen Franklin described a day that Marina spotted a shiny object on the floor of the rainforest and went to investigate. As she picked up what turned out to be a mirror and looked into her own eyes, she immediately dropped the mirror. She eventually mustered up the courage to pick it up again and realized it was her own reflection peering back at her. She had the shocking realization that she was different from the monkeys, and that as such, she was made to live differently.
By all standards this is truly a remarkable story and one not many others even come close to. It is also a good analogy for how some of us move through life. Because we are made for relationship and belonging, we cannot navigate a physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy life without it. This traumatized little girl began copying the actions of the monkeys for mere physical survival. When she saw them catch rain in large leaves she did the same, when they gathered nuts and berries she gathered nuts and berries. Eventually she looked to the monkeys for her place of belonging and she watched and observed the relational aspects of this tribe. She learned how to get along well enough to be accepted by them and to live alongside them.
According to research done by Brene Brown she says, “Loneliness is a greater predictor of early death than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.” This speaks of the magnitude of the need for us as people to be connected to God first of all, and to each other. She also says that people with connections to others have a belief that they are worthy. Further illustration of the necessity of relationship and connectedness was shared by my pastor about an experiment done on rats. One rat was kept isolated and alone. This rats physical needs were met however there was no interaction with any other rats. The rat was given one bottle of pure plain water to drink from and one bottle of water with morphine. This experiment also included a separate group of rats living in the same conditions with the exception that they lived “in community”. These rats also had pure plain water and water laced with morphine. The isolated rat tried both bottles of water but eventually only drank the morphine water. The group of rats living together also tried both waters but chose the pure plain water over the morphine water. Both offer scientific evidence of the fact that we are relational beings and as such, we will go to extreme measures to get these needs met.
Just like Marina copied the behaviors of the monkeys to get her needs for survival met, we often copy the behaviors of society to get our needs met. This at best will result in a lifetime of striving to be good enough and never attaining that status, or at worse giving up and giving in to hopelessness which leads to addictions, depression, anxiety, and barely surviving one day at a time. Marina did what she needed to do to survive but the day came when she looked into a mirror that revealed the truth. She was different from the monkeys and she was made to live differently. We also develop coping mechanisms to survive difficult situations, but just like with Marina, the day also comes for us when God holds up his mirror to show us the reflection of our true selves.
Photo by Anton Danilov
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
The turning point for finding complete acceptance and belonging, is when we choose to look to God for our worth and significance. God knows us fully; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He knows our deepest darkest secrets, our blackest thoughts, and all of our sin. He knew it before we had it, thought it, or committed it and he loved us anyway. He is a timeless God and with Jesus our sins are forgiven past, present, and future. It is because of His nature that we are loved, accepted, and forgiven. Because of the covering of our imperfections and sins by Jesus’ robe of righteousness, God the Father sees us as righteous and blameless. Rather than viewing our sinful nature he sees us as He created us to be. He is “...the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” Romans 4:17b
God created you. He made you. You are His prized possession that he loves so much he made Jesus the rescue plan to save you from the fallen world we must navigate. He will never give up on you and he will always fight for you. Like the father of the prodigal son, God peers towards the horizon waiting for you to return home. When he gets a glimpse of you, He runs to you, embraces you, and welcomes you home. He throws a party in your honor and let me tell you, God can throw a party! “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
Photo by Yuris Alhumaydy
Clearly where we look for our worth and significance profoundly impacts our lives. The truth is that God created each of us and he gifted each of us uniquely. No one is exactly the same. There is no one who has ever lived or ever will live in all of time who is like you. You are a unique, one of a kind creation with a God given purpose and destiny. And God has placed a combination of talents and strengths within you that are uniquely you. No one can affect the world in the way you can, and your life matters. When you trade in that identity you are giving up the personal legacy God has for you to live and leave, for a counterfeit life of emptiness and exhaustion from pretending and performing. Don’t stay there. There is life in Jesus that offers freedom to be you. It takes way too much energy to try to be someone you aren’t, and who you are is remarkable, because you are a masterpiece made by the Creator of all things. That alone should give us confidence.
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “If you hang around the barber shop long enough you’re gonna get your hair cut.” Proverbs 27:17 tells us the importance of who we spend time with and what we accept as truth. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Seek out those who will challenge you and who will hold you accountable for where you look for your worth and significance. Who we look up to, who we spend time with, who we follow on social media, and who we learn from is something to take very seriously.
Remember, you are a masterpiece.