People in today's world are boggled down with much hurt and brokenness. Our hurt and brokenness is a result of the experiences we have had in our lives- thus leading us to our deepest and inner most of insecurities.
Quite recently in my own faith, God has really been showing me that instead of dwelling on the point of my wounds- I need to take those wounds and turn them into trophies. Ephesians 5:13 says that "All things are made visible when exposed to the light, for that which is made visible becomes light." That is an amazing concept that God can take our wounds and our struggles which are hidden in darkness- expose them by bringing them to the light- and then those some wounds and struggles which were once hidden in darkness can become a light to others.
That is what Christ desires is that we become a light so that we may help others through the wounds and struggles. Often times we allow our wounds and struggles to break us to the point that we feel insufficient to help others. When in reality, God wants us to take the very wounds and struggles that broke us- and use them to motivate us that we may help others who have been and are boggled down by the same.
The best way to make a difference for God's kingdom is to allow those wounds to be translated into your passion. We must realize that God did not bring us out of the darkness simply because he wanted to rescue us. Rather, his calling is far above and beyond that. He wants us to partner with him in being a light to others who are blinded by that same darkness.
For years this has been a struggle of mine. I grew up with the belief that if I ever show myself vulnerable and soft, people will punch a hole right through me. In that selfish mentality, I made a habit of "waxing over" my brokenness hiding my heart away so that no one can see me for who I really am. I would be lying if I said I have fully overcome that mentality. God is still working in me in that regard.
When we live from our hurt, our hurt will mulitply all the more as we will hurt others. When we live from our heart, we begin to embace the fullness and experience the reality of all that God has called us to be. So let us take our wounds and turn them into our passion- and that passion will turn into our trophies as we help lead others out of the darkness in which we ourselves were once blinded and lost.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hideaway heart!
Do we really have a clue about who we are? Do we live our lives with the wrong perception of ourselves? If we have the wrong perception of ourselves, then do we not also have the wrong perception of others?
As Samuel went to find a king among the sons of Jesse, he was told by God "Do not judge him by his appearance or height, God does not look at what man looks at. Man looks at the appearance, God looks at the heart." This theme was reflected throughout David's life. If without naming David, I wrote down all the evil deeds that he performed in his life and asked you what kind of person you thought he was- you would more than likely say that he was a wicked evil man. Yet scripture says repeatedly that he was a man after God's own heart. Indeed David did fall into much sin in his life. From looking at the appearance of King Daid's actions, we would not thing of him as a reighteous king. So what are we to say of David's actions, why did he repeatedly fall into sin if he was indeed a man after God's own heart. I believe firmly that it is because David repetaedly made the error of defining himself by the external and insignificant- and that this kept pulling him a way from the internal fiber of being a man after God's own heart- (though as we know from scripture he always submitted to God's rebuke and repented when needed). More adequately stated, David was caught in his insecurity- the belief that what God had designed him was not sufficient enough to sustain him.
Is the error of David any different than our own lives? In our society there is much evidence of how we define ourselves by the external and insignificant. People say something that hurts our feelings and we dwell on it for a long time, we are told we are weird or that we are a bad person and so we begin to portray our personality in such a way as to fulfill the role which others have ascribed to our lives, we allow our career paths- to be the very things that define who we are and neglect to get in touch with the substance of whom God has called us to be. We turn to many things to build our definition and in so doing often hide away our hearts- because we fear that if we truly live from the heart it will not be sufficient enough to sustain us. Then when we burn out on our lives, we often become bitter and point the finger at God.
As long as we are judging ourselves with the wrong perception, we are also judging others with the wrong perception. Our judgment of others is based on our desire to knock them off "the pedestal" so that we ourselves can take center stage. In so doing we fail to discover the innermost being God has designed us for, and hide away our hearts all the more. When we hide away our heart, not only do we neglect the fiber of our being but we also neglect the hearts of those who need us to demonstrate God's love in a very real and extraordinary way.
In what ways have you hidden your heart away? Allow God to be a part of helping you find it so that you can truly discover the fiber of your innermost being which he designed the very moment you were created (Psalms 139:13).
As Samuel went to find a king among the sons of Jesse, he was told by God "Do not judge him by his appearance or height, God does not look at what man looks at. Man looks at the appearance, God looks at the heart." This theme was reflected throughout David's life. If without naming David, I wrote down all the evil deeds that he performed in his life and asked you what kind of person you thought he was- you would more than likely say that he was a wicked evil man. Yet scripture says repeatedly that he was a man after God's own heart. Indeed David did fall into much sin in his life. From looking at the appearance of King Daid's actions, we would not thing of him as a reighteous king. So what are we to say of David's actions, why did he repeatedly fall into sin if he was indeed a man after God's own heart. I believe firmly that it is because David repetaedly made the error of defining himself by the external and insignificant- and that this kept pulling him a way from the internal fiber of being a man after God's own heart- (though as we know from scripture he always submitted to God's rebuke and repented when needed). More adequately stated, David was caught in his insecurity- the belief that what God had designed him was not sufficient enough to sustain him.
Is the error of David any different than our own lives? In our society there is much evidence of how we define ourselves by the external and insignificant. People say something that hurts our feelings and we dwell on it for a long time, we are told we are weird or that we are a bad person and so we begin to portray our personality in such a way as to fulfill the role which others have ascribed to our lives, we allow our career paths- to be the very things that define who we are and neglect to get in touch with the substance of whom God has called us to be. We turn to many things to build our definition and in so doing often hide away our hearts- because we fear that if we truly live from the heart it will not be sufficient enough to sustain us. Then when we burn out on our lives, we often become bitter and point the finger at God.
As long as we are judging ourselves with the wrong perception, we are also judging others with the wrong perception. Our judgment of others is based on our desire to knock them off "the pedestal" so that we ourselves can take center stage. In so doing we fail to discover the innermost being God has designed us for, and hide away our hearts all the more. When we hide away our heart, not only do we neglect the fiber of our being but we also neglect the hearts of those who need us to demonstrate God's love in a very real and extraordinary way.
In what ways have you hidden your heart away? Allow God to be a part of helping you find it so that you can truly discover the fiber of your innermost being which he designed the very moment you were created (Psalms 139:13).
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
True
Beneath the surface of everyone is a story to tell,
as much is often hidden underneath our veil,
stories of pain and hurt which upon us have been thrust,
hardening our hearts and teaching us not to trust,
which causes us to build walls to hide away our being,
so that into our hearts no one can truly be seeing,
for we've learned that if we show ourselves a hole will be punched through,
and that is why we fear that we can not be true,
But if we listen to the story that Christ wants to tell,
We will learn to trust Him as our masks we unveil,
Then the hurt and pain that upon us has been thrust,
will be taken care of as Him we learn to trust,
and then we will no longer be compelled to hide away our being,
as the love of God living in us is what others will begin seeing,
for if we make ourselves vulnerable to Him He will help us through,
and as we abide in his presence we will bodly be true.
as much is often hidden underneath our veil,
stories of pain and hurt which upon us have been thrust,
hardening our hearts and teaching us not to trust,
which causes us to build walls to hide away our being,
so that into our hearts no one can truly be seeing,
for we've learned that if we show ourselves a hole will be punched through,
and that is why we fear that we can not be true,
But if we listen to the story that Christ wants to tell,
We will learn to trust Him as our masks we unveil,
Then the hurt and pain that upon us has been thrust,
will be taken care of as Him we learn to trust,
and then we will no longer be compelled to hide away our being,
as the love of God living in us is what others will begin seeing,
for if we make ourselves vulnerable to Him He will help us through,
and as we abide in his presence we will bodly be true.
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