Oakwood Church Fresh Start Women's Devotional Encouragement for Today Hartland Delafield

You Are Special!
By Susan Klein

“The Lord takes delight in you.”
Psalm 149:4

When my children were young, one of our absolute favorite bedtime stories was Max Lucado’s You Are Special. It is a heartwarming tale about a village of small wooden people (Wemmicks) who spend their days sticking gold stars or gray dots on each other, depending on how they value that person. For example, if a person is pretty or talented, she gets a gold star. If one is clumsy or dull, he gets a gray dot.

The story centers on a small boy who seems to get more than his fair share of gray dots. Then he meets a girl with no stars or dots. They just refuse to stick to her! He inquires about her lack of stickers and she refers him to Eli, the woodcarver who created all the Wemmicks. The boy decides to pay him a visit. Eli tenderly picks him up and calls him his child. He lets the boy know that he thinks he is very special! It doesn’t matter what he can or can’t do, just the fact that Eli created him makes him special. Eli tells him that the more he trusts his love, the less he’ll care about the stickers. He gently reminds the boy that he is special because Eli made him, and he doesn’t make mistakes!

I’d always end up in tears at the end of the story when the dots started to fall off the boy as he finally realized how special he was! What a great story to fall asleep to…knowing that you are special to God! Perhaps, like the boy in the story, we could use a reminder of how special we are. Try some of these truths on and let them stick!

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing! (Zephaniah 3:17)
He created you in His image! (Genesis 1:27)
God has made you an heir! (Galatians 4:7)
He gives you eternal life and you shall never perish; no one can snatch you out of His hand! (John10:28)
He knit you together and created your inmost being! (Psalm 137:13)
God loves you with an everlasting love and has drawn you with loving-kindness! (Jeremiah 31:3)
He is enthralled by your beauty! (Psalm 45:11)
God has plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future! (Jeremiah 29:11)

GOING DEEPER:
1. Which of these truths do you need to focus on today to know that you are very special to your Creator? Spend time in His Word discovering new truths and promises that he has in store for you!

Susan is a wife and mother of two. She is the Coordinator of Oakwood’s Tuesday a.m. Bible Study and one of its teachers.