Have you ever worked in a retail store? Every now and then, retail stores have to stop and take inventory to know what they have so they can understand their value. When you take inventory, you begin to list the products that are on the shelves. One by one, you count each item until you have an accurate record of what you have and what you need. Most stores “take inventory” once or twice a year. Some do it every month! In fact, you can’t really run a good business without knowing what you’ve got in your inventory.
Our lives are just like those retail stores. Every now and then, we should stop and take inventory of our personal stock…and I don’t mean the financial assets we have. I mean the spiritual assets….such as joyfulness, humility, the ability to encourage others, the patience to deal with those who may be hard to deal with, the forgiveness to mend broken relationships. These are the true assets that we need to take inventory of and these are the assets that determine our true value in the kingdom of God.
Psalm 139:13-16 reminds us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and God knows all of our assets. Once we recognize and believe that we are wonderfully made by God and we have very valuable positive things inside of us, we will gain true confidence…and with that confidence comes peace. This peace can only come from God and it transcends all understanding.