Amy Kelley, Dir. of Program Ministries, Gethsemane

Psalm 139 (CEB)
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

Reflection:
Let me start off with some facts. And I want you to really hear me when I say this to you. Read these sentences a few times, even. Your eyes are beautiful and uniquely yours. No one else has them. Your laugh is absolutely recognizable. Your voice comforts someone. No one has walked exactly the paths you’ve walked or with the stride you have. All of that is uniquely you. God fearfully and wonderfully made you. 

That alone can be the foundation upon which our self-worth is built.

The quote from an insurance commercial is fitting and means more to me than what is probably normal- “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.”

YES! That sums up my feeling about what I do in ministry. Let me tell you why. I do not have a college degree. I am not ordained by fellow humans. I am not officially certified in anything. I have not earned any awards. I’m just Amy. Doing the Lord’s work the best I can because it’s a calling from God. My momma has always said that if something is from God, it has worth. But I struggled with that and felt I had to work ten times as hard to prove my worth.

A couple of years ago, my calling to ministry took a big hit and it nearly knocked me right out of what I was called to do. I felt unworthy. I questioned what I have been doing with my life. After some months…not hours, days, or weeks…but MONTHS of praying, crying, questioning God…it hit me. My momma’s words, God’s words, rang loud deep in my soul: If something is from God, it has worth. Every single one of us is from God and has worth. We were created unique. Beautiful. Knitted together by the very hands of God. That alone makes you and I worthy. I encourage you to go back and read that scripture again before you pray.

Prayer:
God of all things, thank you. Just thank you. Because you have created us, we are worthy. We are worthy to serve you and serve others. We are worthy to be loved. We are wonderfully and fearfully made by the Alpha and Omega. Breathe into the deepest corners of who I am the breath of encouragement to know that… I am enough. I am worthy. I love you, Lord. Amen.