Don't Despise your Heritage

I got to thinking recently about how special each person is to God.  He created us in His image.  I could stop right there, and spend all day just marveling in the fact that He loves me so much that He created me to be like Him!
As I continued to think about people, the Lord reminded me of something very important.  Not only did He create us in His image, but He fashioned each one of us differently.  He put us into different families, different circumstances in life, different cultures.  Maybe I think about things like this because God allows me to be a missionary (maybe I'm just weird - I don't know), but many times I have met fellow missionaries and I think about how God has fitted that person exactly for the country to which God has called him.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I get my eyes on what I am not, rather than on what God has asked me to do for Him.  I become discontented with what God has given me, and I forget that God is the one who has given me the heritage that is mine.  Many people love to study out their family trees and trace their genealogies as far back as they can.  They like to discover if their family heritage is German, Italian, English, French, etc.  To some people, it is important to embrace the culture of their family tree.  Others try to escape it, and be part of another culture.
Maybe sometimes we despise our heritage.  But God gave us that heritage and there are no accidents with the Lord.  God gives us our heritage, our circumstances, our experiences so that we may be a help and a blessing to someone else.  We get the opportunity to use all these things that God has placed in our lives to point another soul to Christ.
You know, when we are saved, God gives us His heritage.  Psalm 16:6 says, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."  I've heard this verse used in reference to  the "goodly heritage" of growing up in a Christian home.  But what if you didn't grow up in a Christian home?  Can you still have a "goodly heritage"?  YES!!  Through salvation, Christ has given each of us a "goodly heritage"! No matter what our nationality, our past, our family situation, or our circumstances in life, God has given us a "goodly heritage" through His Son Jesus.  God made us exactly how He wanted.  He placed us in the family we have, with the heritage of that family.  He wants us to use everything He has given us for His honor and glory.  When I remember that God made me exactly how He wanted, it helps me get my eyes off of what I don't have, what I am not, what I can't do, or what I have done.  It helps me get my eyes back on Jesus and back on my feet and going forward for the Lord!  Let's not despise the heritage God has given us.  Let's let God use it to please Him.