Devotion: Stamp Collection
Sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying to choose what to read out of your whole big Bible. Sometimes it’s intimidating knowing how to spend your quiet time with God when there are no prompts or guidelines. That’s why Collide’s Next Steps Coordinator, Michelle Holladay, wrote a devotion for every single week this year – so you can take the guesswork out of your devotional time and relax into prayer and reading. Join us on the blog each week for a new devotion.
Read – 2 Corinthians 12
At the National Postal Museum in Washington DC, there is a collection of rare stamps. The stamps which hold the most value are the ones which are considered mistakes – an airplane printed upside down, perforations in the wrong spots – all of these mistakes make the stamps worth more money. Frankly, I have a hard time seeing the beauty in them and I think if I were to have possessed one of these rare finds, it might have found its way into the garbage. Yet it is those very mistakes which hold collectors in awe.
Some of my most valuable times with the Lord have been after I have made a mistake. For in my mistakes, I see the beauty of His perfection. When I fall short, He whispers His wise counsel sweetly in my ear. In my failures, I learn valuable lessons and see His amazing grace. His power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
What does your stamp collection look like? Do you push the mistakes to the side because looking at them causes pain and guilt? What if we used them as opportunities to thank God for His amazing gift of forgiveness? What if we marveled at His greatness in light of our own shortcomings? How amazing is it that God loves us in spite of our mistakes?
