The Origin of Shine

My favorite children’s book is You Are Special by Max Lucado. Throughout my parenting years, I’ve read it over and over—and occasionally I read it to my children. It tells the story of Punchinello, a wooden boy who lives in a land of wooden people called Wemmicks. If a Wemmick is talented or beautiful or smart, he is rewarded by other Wemmicks with a gold star sticker. If not, he’s given a gray dot sticker. Every day they mark each other, and all the wooden people walk around covered in stars or dots or both.

Sound metaphorically familiar?

Poor Punchinello is the gray-dot type—average looking and talentless. One day he meets a Wemmick who has no marks, and when Punchinello asks her how it’s possible to be stickerless, she tells him to visit Eli, the wood-carver, to find out.When Punchinello meets his maker, Eli of course notices all the bad marks—but he doesn’t care. He tells his little wooden creation that he is special and that the other Wemmicks don’t know
what they’re talking about. The best part goes like this:

“Me, special? Why? I’m not very talented and my paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?”

Eli spoke very slowly. “Because you’re mine. That’s why you matter to me.”

Eli goes on to explain that for Punchinello to feel good about himself, he must spend time with his maker—every day—where he’ll be reminded again and again that he’s cared for and loved already. And then the stickers will fall off. Of course, the same is true for me.

And, apparently, for Paul.

In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Something in Paul's life plagued him, and he asked God to remove it—a few times. But God didn't remove it, which seems harsh considering Paul was committed to spreading the gospel and whatnot. Paul's response, however, was surprising, because while most of us work hard to self-promote and hide our shortcomings, Paul decided to talk his up—to delight in the them.

Why?

Because the moon doesn’t shine—that’s why. In fact, the glow of the moon is the light of the sun reflecting off the moon’s surface. Without the light of the sun, the moon would be dark. And the same is true with us and God. Our talents, our knowledge, our ability to love and laugh and weep and sing are mere reflections
of who God is. He’s the Light—the creator of all that’s good and worthy of recognition. The only one who deserves the spotlight, which is obvious when we take the time to notice. And our weaknesses allow Him to
shine in us all the more.
I’m special because God says so, but He’s the one worthy of attention and praise. Only at His feet will I have the ability to lay down my pursuit of perfection, along with my desire to be recognized for the handful of things I do well. Only at His feet will I shine for the right reasons. And only there will I begin to see myself the way God sees me, which is the key to being okay with who I really am.

Stars, dots and all.