The Ugly Duckling
Psalm 139:13-14 You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was!
Anyone who’s discovered their destiny, who’s living it out, will tell you that it’s the most liberating, satisfying and exhilarating way that you can possibly live your life.
But one of the main reasons that people don’t live out their God-given destiny is that they’re afraid to. They look at all those clever people around them and think – I could never be as good as them. So they give up before they start.
Do you remember the “Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Anderson? A swan’s egg accidentally ends up in a duck’s nest and all the other animals in the farmyard give this little fella a hard time, because he’s not what they expect him to be. He doesn’t fit the mould of what a duckling should look like.
All along, in his little heart, he yearns for something else. He knows he’s different, he just wouldn’t be able to put it into those words. And then, one day, he sees his reflection in a pond and realises that actually, he’s a beautiful swan not an ugly duckling.
Here’s the punch line of the story: To be born in a duck’s nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg.
When I was a kid at school, I felt a lot like that little ugly duckling. I was different, kids bullied me and made fun of me. And then, one day, I read these words:
You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! (Psalm 139:13-14)
It struck me then and there, that I am who I am, because God made me who I am. I’d never thought to exclaim, as the Psalmist does here, that I am made in such a wonderful way (literally he writes “I am fearfully and wonderfully made). Today, this ugly duckling gets to share the good news of Jesus with millions of people each week around the globe.
Okay, I didn’t fit the mould. I didn’t meet other people’s expectations, but that’s because God made me in a way that they didn’t expect.
The lesson in all that? Please, don’t let ugly duckling syndrome rob you of your God-given destiny.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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