“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the RICHES of His GRACE which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made KNOWN to us the MYSTERY of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have OBTAINED an INHERITANCE, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:7–12
For a long time, I could recite the right Scriptures about my worth in Christ, but I was still wondering at the end of a hard day: does anything I do actually matter?
Do I actually matter?
Maybe you know that feeling. You don’t seem to be living some great adventure; you’re just navigating what seems to be a very ordinary life. Your job makes you feel inconsequential; your relationships seem more draining than satisfying; and all the great dreams you had about your life are collecting dust on a shelf you can’t quite reach. In the middle of the mundane, the enemy slips in a corrosive lie: You have no purpose. Your life doesn’t matter.
This lie is catastrophically corrosive, and God’s Word doesn’t just correct it—it obliterates it.
In the above verses, Paul opens with the promise that we have received redemption and forgiveness “according to the riches of His grace.” Note: this is not the scraps or leftovers of God’s grace. It is the riches. And there is more. He says “God made [the riches of His grace] to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence”. This means to overflow — to pour out until there is more than enough.
Think about what that means for your Wednesday morning.
When we are born again, God’s overflowing grace, wisdom, and strength are available to us when we don’t know how to handle a difficult coworker, when you are stretched as thin as a parent, or when you can’t find your footing in a season that makes no sense. God does not ration His wisdom; He pours it out.
And then He goes further. He says He has “made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” The God who set the stars in their courses and holds all of history in His hands has let us in on His plans. That is no small thing. We do not have to live a random, disconnected life that accidentally bumps into God’s purposes now and then. We are woven into the very fabric of His plan!
So what does this actually look like when we live like we believe it?
Here is where I think we get stuck. We hear these enormous, soaring truths, and they feel wonderful for about fifteen minutes — and then the inbox fills back up, the kids need dinner, and the grand sense of eternal purpose quietly evaporates. But God didn’t design these truths to be inspirational décor. He designed them to be the operating system of our daily lives. Listen to what Paul says elsewhere:
“And we know that ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Not some things. Not the impressive things. ALL things. The painful conversation. The door that closed in your face. The season of waiting that feels like it has no end. When you genuinely believe your life is held in the hands of a God who works all things according to the counsel of His will, the ground you stand on becomes completely holy and unshakeable — not because your circumstances improve, but because your relationship with God deepens. That certainty produces all that we long for:
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
“Fullness of joy” is not a feeling reserved for the mountaintop moments. Joy is the natural fruit of living close enough to God that our awareness of His presence is the atmosphere we breathe. I have found this to be true in the most unexpected places—in the middle of grief, in the middle of uncertainty, and in the middle of circumstances I never would have chosen. His presence is not a reward for a perfect life. It is the beautifully relentless gift He extends to us when we desire Him more than we desire anything or anyone else.
But we must train our minds to understand our purpose!
One of the most exhausting lies our culture tells us is that our significance is tied to a number—our salary, our followers, our accomplishments, or our productivity. And if we are not careful, we carry that measuring stick straight into our relationship with God. But God, in His own words, tells us that HE is the source of our value, and this makes us priceless:
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:13–14
God’s knowledge of us did not begin when we became useful. It did not begin when we “get it together” spiritually. It began in the most hidden, intimate place imaginable —before we ever took a breath, before we had a single thing to offer. He formed us. He covered us. He called the result marvelous. That is not the language of a God who is indifferent to our worth.
This is the language of a God who is deeply, personally invested in our existence.
That means our value is not something we build — it is something we receive. And when we receive it fully, it changes the texture of our everyday lives in the most concrete ways. We stop performing for approval and start resting in our Divine purpose. We stop shrinking in the presence of people who intimidate us, because we know whose we are. We stop measuring our days by what we do and start noticing what God is doing. Paul puts it this way:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
The word translated “workmanship” is the Greek word “poiema”—it is where we get our word “poem.”
My friend, you are God’s poetry.
Deliberately crafted. Every line of your life is intentional. And the good works He has for you were not improvised — they were prepared beforehand.
Your life is not an accident looking for a purpose. It is a purpose waiting to be realized.
But believing that your life matters does not exempt you from hard seasons. It never has. But it does something more durable than remove the difficulty — it gives you an indestructible foundation from which to weather the storms. Paul wrote from a filthy, stinking, first-century prison cell:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4–7
The peace that surpasses ALL understanding — that is not the peace of a life with no problems. That is the peace of a person who knows, with settled, unshakeable conviction, that Jesus, who redeemed him or her at extraordinary cost, is actively governing every detail of his or her story. That kind of peace doesn’t make sense to the world because it’s supernatural. And that is exactly the life God intends for you — not someday, not after the circumstances improve, but right now.
Today.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I confess that I have let the troubles of daily life shrink my vision of who You say I am. I have measured my worth by what I produce, what others think, and what I’ve accomplished or failed to accomplish. Forgive me for believing the lie that my life is small. Today I choose to believe Your Word. I am redeemed by the riches of Your grace. I am woven into Your eternal purpose. I am Your workmanship — Your poem — created for good works You have already prepared for me to walk in. Give me eyes to see Your hand at work in the details I’ve been overlooking. Let Your presence be the atmosphere I live in, so that fullness of joy is not a distant hope but my actual, daily experience. Guard my heart and mind with the peace that makes no earthly sense, and let that peace be the evidence to everyone around me that my life is rooted in something unshakeable. I am held by You — and that changes everything. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
