Ugly Ducklings

Colossians 3:12a

God chose you to be the holy people he loves

Several years ago, a reality television show promised women the opportunity to change anything and everything about their physical appearance. The "Swan" contestant would start off as an 'ugly ducking'. The woman would be shown to a room with plastic surgeons and encouraged to change her waist line, her breast size, her nose, her chin, everything about herself that she found disdainful.  

After weeks of painful surgery the 'Swan' was revealed.  A panel of judges voted on who had become the best 'Swan' and when the show ended, everyone went home.  All of the "swans" returned to their normal lives. Except some didn't. Some suffered mental breakdowns because they realized that changing an outward appearance wasn't the fix they were seeking, some had children who didn't recognize them, some had boyfriends and husbands who didn't like the new and improved look. 

All that time, pain, stress and recovery from surgery, to become a swan, and many times nothing really changed. 

1 Samuel 1:1-11

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.  Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.

“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.]  Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.”

Hannah thought her life was a mistake, she would never be enough, she would always be mocked.  

In our Hannah moments we pray for the relationship that will never be right, we fear we will never have the right man, the right job, the right look, the right things. Sometimes the hurt goes deeper, and we wrap our hurts in whispered words -   Cutting, Suicide, Divorce, Infertility, Widow.   We hold onto hope that someday, something will happen to change it.  

Psalm 32:8

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.

Psalm 37:23 

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.

Psalms 139:3

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. 

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." 

Hear healing when I say, You are not a mistake.  Nothing about you is a mistake!  Your body, your situation, your pain - all of it - all known, all accepted, and all guided by God himself. 

Right here is where some close the book.  They don't want to hear that their situation was part of the plan.  That pain which ripped their lives right apart was planned? Incredulously they ask, This was the plan?!

No. This wasn't the plan. The plan was perfect and beautiful and whole in a garden with God. Eve chose sin instead. Sin slashed it's path out of the Garden, and sin still leaves us slashed, gasping and shocked, but it's in the wake of our gasping and shocked existence that God steps in and says:

Jeremiah 31:3

Long ago the LORD said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.

and

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 

David, the great psalmist, knew a little something about God's plans. 

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16

You have searched me, Lord,and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.....
....For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Find comfort in knowing God will guide your path, that God is not only aware, but delights in every detail of your life. Hold onto the hope written in these verses. Find peace in knowing that every moment of life was laid out before a single day had passed.

Now watch this - 

 1 Samuel 16:6-11, 13

 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”

 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (emphasis mine)

Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.”  Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.”  In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”  Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”

“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

...So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. 

Seven tall, strapping, good looking sons.  Seven were passed over. God says, "Go get the sheep herder!"

You see, God isn't looking for a swan, he isn't looking for the one who has everything together. He's looking for the ugly duckings of the world, He's looking for the ones who lie awake at night and cry bitter tears.  The ones who know that they are incomplete and need someone to see past their seven older siblings and choose the sheepherder.  God hears those prayers whispered by the broken-hearted saint. God hears your prayers, God heard -struggling with infertility- Hannah's prayers.

1 Samuel 1:20, 26-28

..and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.” 

“Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord.  I asked :the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request.  Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah gave birth to Samuel, her only son. She dedicated her son to the Lord and kept her promise.  Samuel the boy grew up to become Samuel the prophet, and Samuel the prophet stood in Jesse's living room, passed over seven strapping sons to find God's king in a sheepherder.

Ephesians 3:20

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

Your situation may seem a hopeless mess.  But God delights in every detail of your life. Have faith that God will keep his promises.  I would encourage you, if you struggle with trusting God's plan, write these verses on some 3x5 note cards and put them up where you will see them every day, beside your bed, on your bathroom mirror, where ever you will see them read them as daily reminders.  God has a plan for your life, for you, for your pain, and for your situation.