…They Had All Things In Common - Acts 2:44

As humans, we spend an inordinate amount of time and energy hiding our flaws, weaknesses, and struggles. We fear being exposed as imperfect will cause us to be ostracized from all of the strong, well-adjusted and emotionally stable people who make up our families, circles of friends, churches, and workplaces.

Contrary to our fears, our weaknesses do not define us or distinguish us from those around us. It is our frailty that unites us. It is the thing that we all have in common. No one is uniquely damaged or broken. On the other hand, every person is uniquely gifted and able.

Don’t believe me? Try really talking and listening to the people around you. As they reveal their pains, mistakes, fears and regrets, you’ll notice everything sounds strangely familiar. You’ll also be amazed at how uncreative the devil is and what a small bag of tricks he has.

It’s when you hear their passions and dreams that things really get interesting. Yes, some of it will be weird, random, and maybe even troubling. But look past all of that and see the incredible variety of gifts and visions that God has birthed in his children. Unlike the devil, our Father is infinitely creative and uses every bit of his creativity to help us set and reach goals that will make him proud.

My old pastor would say that every person has two destinies: a common destiny and a personal destiny. 

Our common destiny is to bring God glory and pleasure through a life of worship in reaction to God’s mercy and grace. As irony would have it, without our flaws we can’t get grace and mercy. Without grace and mercy we can’t worship. Without worship we can’t fulfill our common destiny. So, our common destiny depends on our brokenness, our hurts, our mistakes, and our flaws.

Each person also has a personal destiny, a purpose that only you can fulfill. God designed you and so that you alone would have the precise combination of skills, gifts and experiences it will take to pull it off. There are people only you can reach, words only you can say, feats of faith only you can achieve, adventures only you can brave, and aspects of God only you can reflect.

We must make peace with our infirmities and learn to glory in them just like Paul did. Just the same, God is challenging us to enjoy being who we are. The bad stuff is part of our story - there’s no denying that - but our unique identities are rooted in the good things that only God could place inside of us.