The Faithful Wanderer

High Quality Work

In our world today, it’s easy to feel like a piece of human junk. For those in other countries, junk is the trash we regularly throw away. Here’s a working definition; “old or discarded articles that are considered useless or of little value.” As a human being, made in God’s image, have you ever felt “useless or of little value?” I have—until Jesus drew me to Himself and opened my eyes..

“God made you and God doesn’t make junk.” (Unknown author)

My Story

My parents raised me in church. But I never saw the Lord make a difference in anyone’s life. So at 13, I decided that God didn’t really exist. After that, I only went to church at Christmas and Easter, to please my mother. Fortunately, God hadn’t stopped working in my heart. Only 7 years later, my second year of college, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

As a newborn believer, I had a terrible self-image. The problem is, feeling badly about myself left me wide open to the Devil’s soul-destroying lies. I believed God loved me. All the older Christians said so. But I didn’t think He liked me very much  So I lived under the shadow of my Heavenly Father’s imaginary disapproval.

My soul needed a lot of emotional healing.

Fortunately, healing emotional wounds is one of Christ the Redeemer’s specialties. And there was one person He used in the beginning of my journey to wholeness.

Dismantling Satan’s Lies

I lived my first year at Michigan State as an atheist. But several Christian students prayed hard for me until God worked a miracle. My sophomore year I returned to campus as a brand-new believer. That first week, I met another female student on my floor. Barb was a gentle, loving Christian. She soon became a friend, who delighted to speak truth into my life.

Seeing my emotional scars, Barb kept her message simple.

Maureen, God made you and God doesn’t make junk.

During the school year, she said that same phrase to me dozens of times. It wasn’t Holy Scripture. Yet I knew it was true. Over the summer, whenever I got down on myself, I’d mutter Barb’s phrase. It became a healing cream on my soul’s wounds.

Barb’s simple saying started my emotional healing. Over the next few years, Jesus used other people to continued the process.

Within a few years, I had healed so much, I gave Jesus a personal nickname. I started calling Him “Christ the Life-Changer.”

A Closing Thought

It’s been decades since my student days at Michigan State. But I still remember the simple phrase that set me on a path of healing.

Thanks for listening, Barb; because you truly did hear from God.

Even more, thanks for speaking those words into my life.