Puzzle Pieces, Self-Esteem, and Making a Difference

What difference can I make?
If you're human, you've probably asked that question at some point in your life. The short answer is, you won't know until you actually do. I'm reminded often that I may be fairly objective about many things, but much less so about myself. In fact, that's always true of anyone. We have the worst perspectives on ourselves.
We also, much too glibly and naively, accept other's opinions about us, especially from sources we know we shouldn't trust. Society. "Everyone else." "Most people." This is a sure way to have a warped sense of worth and value. Don't go to those on the periphery of truth; go to the One in the middle of it. If there is such a thing as truth, there must be a Source of that truth. The people who know truth are those who are connected to the Source.
In this case, the truth is that we (and I mean each one of us) can make more of a difference than what we could ever imagine. This difference-making potential is magnified when we are serving Him, for His boundaries for growth and mission are endless.
In the last year or so of my life, I have made a difference in many ways that I thought I never would. Touching lives. Speaking truth. Encouraging growth.
Now that I have done some small things, I can't go back to doing nothing. I exist to make a difference. I have something to offer that no one else can give, something to do that can not be done by anyone besides me. I have a place in the world, a niche shaped by God. With Him, I fit. Without Him, I am like a jigsaw piece without a puzzle.
The same is true of you. Until you get a taste of "fitting," you will have no idea that everything could align so well. The next time you wonder about your own worth and ability, don't ask, "What difference can I make?"
Ask, "Lord, what can I do today?"

Stationary People, Moving Walkways, and Seizing the Kingdom

One of the great deceptions of the "spiritual" life is to somehow think that we made it.
It's not true. It's never true here on earth.
God is always moving, and stationary people don't find Him. Stagnant life creeps up on us. Sometimes, life feels very much like walking the wrong way on a moving walkway. It's a struggle when we're going forward, and when we stop, we're not standing still, but actually moving backward.
Now, it's time to be proactive with God. The time for inactivity is over. The kingdom of God is not apprehended by the complacent, but by those who apprehend it. Seize the kingdom while it is near to you, because it won't always be this close.
Press on towards God, and never accept the lie that you're somehow there, that you made it. You're not, and you didn't. There's always farther to go. One of the things I learned at college is that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. The same is true with the journey of knowing God. The closer you get to Him, the more you realize you're farther away from Him than you thought.
And instead of discouraging you, let that push you to go to new heights in seeking Him.