By Chris WittsMonday 12 Feb 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
Unless you’re part of the younger generation, the name Patrick Stump may not mean anything to you. It didn’t for me—until I started looking up some information.
He and his pop group Fall Out Boy have been a huge success story. Formed as an American punk rock band in 2001, millions of youngsters know Patrick’s name, and his band. He went solo in 2011 and has visited this country. But all did not go as planned, and his solo album was not widely accepted. Plus he had been overweight and had actively lost weight.
He was interviewed by the press. He said:
I almost gave up and left the music scene—but I had a change of lifestyle and got into exercise. I was sick of being called ‘the fat friend’. No-one is happy being really fat. You get there because you’re not dealing with something. When you deal with stuff, you lose weight.
We all share this desire
On his blog he wrote how fans, who once had adored him, turned on him—yelled that they liked him better when he was overweight, sent threatening letters to him at home and told him he was a nobody now. He said,
I can’t be 18 again. I hate waking up every morning knowing I’m disappointing so many people. I hate feeling like the awkward adult husk of a discarded once-cute child actor.
I felt this was a very sad statement. And it means no matter who you are—famous, well-known, a rich celebrity—no-one wants to be not appreciated. We all want to be appreciated and respected for who we are. This can be devastating and a crippling of our spirit, causing depression and feelings of inferiority. Have you been through a time like that yourself?
Unfortunately in our world today, there is much rudeness. It’s a culture of rudeness. Just drive on roads around this city for a while and you’ll experience it for yourself. Everyone is in a hurry, looking after themselves, and venting their anger on a poor, unsuspecting motorist or pedestrian. So we can feel like saying, Does anyone appreciate me for who I am? I think that is what Patrick Stump was really saying.
We are special to God
I want to say that God says to you, I love you and appreciate you—after all I created you. You are special to me. In the Old Testament David wrote saying to God:
How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand!
When I awake, I am still with You. (Psalm 139:17-18 – NKJV).
In these scripture verses, the Psalmist tells us that God’s thoughts toward us even outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. Your Loving Father, who created you and who numbered all your days, is thinking about you all the time. He never stops thinking about you. His mind is full of thoughts of you, and they are not thoughts of condemnation and judgement, but thoughts of absolute love and adoration. How precious are his thoughts toward you.
God thinks about us! That may be the most important statement you’ll ever hear. The God of the universe thinks about us. He considers, knows and remembers us, he keeps us in mind. He knows who we are and where we are. Not for one second are we ever lost or forgotten for his heart is so big, and his knowledge so vast, that no-one ever gets lost in the shuffle.