Your Biggest Fan

Who is your biggest fan?

I’ve been fortunate to have had a few, but it’s hard to imagine one bigger than my Grandma K.

She was the kind of person you loved to be around because she always made you feel special. We were all her “precious grandchildren,” as if we were each pearls of great price on the most valuable necklace in the world. She was always overjoyed when you’d visit. In her eyes, you could do no wrong. She gushed with effusive praise for the most mundane accomplishments, treating them like Olympic-sized victories. 

Indeed, she was accused of being a little disconnected from reality at times. A little too optimistic, perhaps. But the thing is, she wasn’t trying to gain something through flattery, and she was not patronizing in any way. She meant every compliment she gave. 

My Grandma K was an artist, and apparently where I got my gift. She passed away while I was in middle school, so she never got to see my art career blossom, beginning its momentum in high school. My dad often laments this fact, wishing she were around to see what I’ve been able to accomplish, knowing she’d be bursting with joy.

Because of course she would.

I hope you have someone in your life like my Grandma K. If you don’t, pretend for a moment that you do. You can adopt her if you’d like. (She would have thought you were awesome!)

But believe me when I tell you that you and I both have a bigger fan than her.

I thought about this the other day when I came across the question, “How does God see you?”

Now, for many of us, we often fall prey to a false belief that He sees us as a screwup, a sinner, a slacker who’s always falling short. Someone perpetually disappointing him, a far cry from one of his prized Saints.

But that’s simply not true. 

Think about this. God probably could have managed things just fine without me or you. You didn’t need to exist. Except that God believed you actually did. He considered His Universe incomplete without you in it. The only reason you are here is because He wanted you to be. 

He created your inmost being, knitting you together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)

Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. (Luke 12:7)

He takes delight in you with gladness. He will calm all your fears. He rejoices over you with joyful songs. (Zephaniah 3:17)

When God looks at you, He says, “Here is my beloved whom I delight in!” (Matthew 12:18)

I know; it’s hard to wrap your head around that. It’s hard to imagine anyone feeling that way about me. But then I think of my Grandma K. If she felt like that about me, how much more does the ever-perfect, all-loving God?

Our heavenly Father looks at us like my Grandma K looked at her grandchildren, except times infinity, because He’s, you know, God. 

He considers you a treasure of great value. 

He is deliriously overjoyed whenever you come to visit Him. 

He enthusiastically cheers your most mundane accomplishments, like going to confession or stopping at a lemonade stand to encourage some kids. 

Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, in His eyes, you can do no wrong.

You are special, important, and precious.

My Grandma K may have been my biggest fan here on earth.

But somehow, God’s an even bigger one.