Humiliation. Ever been there? Being made to look a fool. In front of your friends, maybe, or a room full of strangers. Humiliation happens, sometimes without intention, sometimes with full intention. It brings up lots of emotions in us, and essentially we just want to escape.

Well today I had one of these undoubtedly unwanted situations. In my most difficult class, my professor asked a question and my answer was wrong. So instead of asking someone else, he just drilled me with question after question after question. He completely embarrassed me but proceeded to make it worse. Now in his mind, maybe it was to help me. Although, to my mere mortal soul it felt like a brutal attack. Once he backfired with the first follow-up question my mind went super fuzzy….already, all I could think about was everyone in the classroom thinking I was dumb. Well, that was only the beginning. The questions seemed endless and no one else could answer. Nope, only Sarah White, who happened to be in a desk up front just feet away from a seated professor with a penetrating stare. Wonder if he knows I have anxiety, or cares. Wonder if he knows how insecure and self-conscious I am, or cares. Wonder if he knows how much his antics hurt me, or cares. Well when it comes down to it, in those moments it doesn’t quite matter. You just have to get through the moments of humiliation with however much dignity you can. Hopefully you can push the emotions aside just to make it through the event without bursting to tears. Ha, it took everything in me not to break down all the remaining 75 minutes of class sitting in my seat up front, looking like nothing but a complete idiot.

Let’s look at the unforgiving context. I am 25. I am sitting in a room full of undergrads who know way more than I do about finance. Either they’re laughing like “wow how is this girl in college,” or they just feel really bad for me. And either option is not a fun one to think about.

But I guess we’ll start there. Why do we spend so much time mulling over what people may think about us? Worst case scenario, it’s true. Worst case scenario, whatever they think about you is true. And then what? Does it define who you are? Does it make you incapable of success? Does it make you unfit to be where you are doing what you’re doing? Does it make you a failure?

Take a step back and think about where you are in life. Maybe it’s at work, or school, or at home. Maybe you’re in a tough situation personally. Maybe it’s somewhere or something else. I don’t know where you are and what you’re doing. But I do know that what people think about you doesn’t have the power to ever discount you and what you have to offer. I do know that what YOU THINK people think about you, even if true, doesn’t limit your life. Actually, WHAT YOU THINK has the power to limit your life. Yeah, as a man thinks so is he. I’m not saying if you think you can fly you can, or anything ludicrous. I’m just saying that your thoughts carry the most weight in your life, not someone else’s. They have the power to influence everything you do and don’t do.

Today, I did indeed break down. Ask my Dad. He’s always my go-to and I’m so thankful because he immediately shows intentional compassion and points me to the Truth.

And that’s where it’s at, people. THE TRUTH. I know, I know. All I ever write about is the Bible and Jesus, blah blah blah. You may think “He can’t be the simple answer to everything”.. And that just wouldn’t be true, because He is. He IS the simple answer to everything. Failures, humiliations, embarrassments, flaws, shortcomings… bring them to the cross and lay them down. In exchange, pick up rest. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. What does that even mean? What even is a yoke? A yoke is what would’ve been fastened to animals and connected to a plow or cart they would pull back in the biblical times. In some parts of the world, yokes are still used. A yoke is cumbersome and implies a heavy load to be carried. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees had been putting a yoke of legalism onto the Israelite people. It was this idea that they had to keep the law and do everything just right, leaving no room for failure. Jesus came in fulfillment of the Law and squelched that idea of legalism the Pharisees had been purporting. Jesus wasn’t about some Pharisaical law but about walking in right relationship with God the Father. Thank God we don’t have to strive in futility to keep a human-made law that encompasses all aspects of life. We are free from that burden, but instead we must surrender all to the One who has fulfilled the entire Law. That is salvation: surrender. And this surrender is not to be glazed over.

So what does that have to do with humiliation? And what does humiliation have to do with a yoke? Well I think it all has a lot to do with each other. Jesus is the fulfilled prophecy of perfection. I can’t be perfect. It’s just not possible. Do I carry burdens? Yeah, don’t we all? But do we have to?? No, we don’t. Have you ever felt weary and heavy laden? We are called by Jesus Himself to come to Him in our weariness, with our burdens, and He promises to give us rest! We have to let go of those things we’re carrying though. Is it that humiliation, that insecurity, the voice inside your head saying you’re not enough and you should give up? Whatever it is, lay it down. If the thought doesn’t bring glory to God, lay it down.

When we surrender what we’re carrying we free ourselves up to be filled with the Truth of Jesus.

That is the key. We don’t lay down our self doubts for self affirmation and self efficacy. No, we lay down our not enough for Jesus’ more than enough.

We lay down what we think people think of us for what the Lord thinks of us. And if you are a child of the King, if you’ve truly surrendered your life to Him, then He calls you His own, clothed in the righteousness and unrelenting worth of Jesus Christ. The Lord is your banner. Jehovah Nissi. Does this ring true in your life? I had to do a heart check today, because in that moment of humiliation I don’t know what exactly my banner was but it surely wasn’t the Lord.

And it’s totally okay to not be okay. It’s okay to have tough days. And honestly a humiliation in front of some classmates I don’t know from Adam really doesn’t seem like much when I think of a lot tougher things people are going through. But wherever we’re at, whatever our struggle is, that’s what we’re going through and it’s not insignificant just because it isn’t something worse. God uses anything to reveal His heart to us and to grow us into the men and women He’s created us to be in this world. Whatever we may be going through, it is okay to feel negative emotions and deal with them! It is okay to be down. It is okay to not be okay. But it is not okay for you, and it is not okay for me, to stay not okay. It’s not okay to stay down, it’s not okay to stay stuck in negative emotions. And let me be clear about what I mean here… God wants MORE for us. He wants us to get through things by His strength. He wants us to lean on Him and grow closer to His heart. He wants us to experience His joy and satisfaction. He doesn’t want our sorrows and pains to last forever. He wants us to experience victory in Him.

So what’s going on in your life today? What kind of season are you in these days? Are you experiencing victory in the Lord? If you’re not, then take some time to ask yourself why. Ask the Lord why. I don’t mean you will FEEL victorious all the time, and FEEL joy all the time. I mean that deep down you will know that you are victorious in Christ and that in HIM your joy and worth are found. And in the midst of your day to day, in happy times and sad, the Lord will be your banner. He will be your strength. Your rock. His burden is easy and yoke is light. Lay down what you have weighing on you, and pick up some rest.

That’s what I had to do today. I had to take a step back and see that sometimes things are just hard and we just don’t feel like we are good enough. Sometimes we just feel humiliated. Sometimes we just have a bad day. But one day doesn’t make a life! It’s the day to day. It’s yesterday and today and tomorrow, every single day adding up to your life. How do you choose to live it?

Back to our thoughts. Our thoughts take us very far in life. Our thoughts make us who we are in a lot of ways. We must structure the tracks of our brain to think on what is good rather than destructive. It’s pretty simple in theory but can be hard to do. Philippians 4:8 – it’s clear cut, but hard to know how to consistently think in such a way. We think on true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things by focusing our thoughts upward, by filtering our thoughts through God’s Word. And how does one filter thoughts through scripture? Read it. Know it. Study it. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Live it. Not casually, but consistently.

What Jesus is telling us about laying our burdens down and taking up His yoke is not this abstract, passive exhale of the bad and inhale of the good. When we lay our burdens down, it doesn’t mean that the burdens go away. It just means that we allow Jesus to help us carry them. And another key note is that we are picking up Jesus’ yoke; therefore, he steers is in the direction He wants us to go. He directs our paths! We do not live according to the whims of our flesh; we don’t even get a pass to act in sin when we come up against adversity. We are still called to walk by faith in the Lord in day to day challenges. What’s different is that we have the guide and refuge we need to make it through.

The context of Jesus saying to come to Him and take His yoke upon us is found in Matthew 11:25-30, where He says this–
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus doesn’t just want us to come to Him and be released of the burden of having to measure up, but He wants us to learn from Him. He says that He is gentle and humble in heart. The beginning of obedience to God is in humbling ourselves before Him as Jesus did. Humility before God begets the joy and satisfaction we long for among men. (Nothing about us makes us worthy of salvation and the call of God other than His grace. He reveals Himself to us in His mercy, and we get to know Him and make Him known as a result! This should humble us with a sense of awe and responsibility!)

Look at Philippians 2, where Paul talks about the ultimate humility of Christ. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Don’t look out for your own interests but also for the interests of others.  So in this moment for me, I want to look at my situation from God’s perspective – how can I display the gospel in my actions? And I want to apply that in every instance in my life. I know that is difficult and I am and will be imperfect at it. But that is the goal – to know Him and make Him known. How? In a gospel minded response to adversity. 

God, let our humiliation lead us deeper into the humility of Christ. 

Throughout life, we’re all looking for peace in our heart of hearts.
We’d love to avoid all the pain, fear, worry, and stress that life imparts.
Does having peace in life mean the absence of such adverse feelings?
No, not a lack of their presence but a lack of their control of our being.

Peace is a word that seems to be often glossed over, yet it is sprinkled all throughout scripture.
I think we often view peace as a utopian dream and miss the big picture.
This world is in constant chaos and dissent;
The lack of peace we perceive outwardly grows to a seemingly unfathomable extent.

But what is peace really?
To truly understand, we have to look at it biblically.
Paul greets the churches every time with grace and peace from God.
There’s the first thing to note – peace has a source, and human it is not.

Our English word peace comes from the Hebrew “Shalom,”
Which is defined as an inner sense of feeling complete and being whole.

Where are you in your search for shalom?
Has your inner sense of completeness and wholeness found a home?

Funny that Christmas time is thought of as a time of peace,
Yet the stresses of the season seem to never cease.
With all the busyness of parties and gifts,
The joy and fulfillment we’re grasping for prove their elusiveness.

Peace is not a result of parties, family time, PTO, and Christmas vacation;
Peace is a direct result of revelation.
Not something newly revealed but revealed 2,000 years ago,
Born to a virgin girl, with her carpenter husband to be, kneeling beside a manger low.
Peace at Christmas cannot be found at the dinner table;
Rather, it is discovered in that Bethlehem stable.

If the Prince of Peace is not the “King of me,”
I will be futile in my attempts to keep the peace.
For peace cannot be kept lest I am indwelt by the Spirit of God.
And then from within, my life may give Him laud.
There is a direct link between receiving peace and giving glory.
The Holy Spirit within me enables my life to tell this story.

Contrary to what the world may say, peace is not through control, but surrender.
Therefore, obedience displays peace while disobedience hinders.

Peace, shalom, is held in the Prince of Peace, our humble Messiah,
The One who was prophesied of old by the prophet Isaiah.
Our Wonderful Counselor is born.
Our Mighty God will one day leave the veil torn.
Our Everlasting Father is God among us, and His reign will never cease.
Born this day in the little town of Bethlehem, lying in a manger, is our Prince of Peace.

And if this very King of Kings is not the King of my heart,
The peace I strive for will only fall apart.
So, where is our Shalom?
Our Shalom be not found if not seated on our very life’s throne.

Sitting in a coffee shop in New Orleans this morning reading 1 Corinthians, thinking of how uncommon it is to read your Bible in public here compared top in Baton Rouge. And as I think about that, my mind goes to why – New Orleans, like many other large metropolitan cities, is more culture-forward, fully embracing whatever society says is good. And if that is in total contrast to God’s Word, then fine by society. I can go into all kinds of those culture-forward ideas embraced by the current big American pop culture but I’ll refrain from the political debate today.

But in that line of thought as my eyes scan the words written by Paul to the church in Corinth, I can’t help but make the connection. Verse 18 of chapter 1: “For the Word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The world as a whole doesn’t get it because they are blind to it. Without the Spirit’s intervention in my life, I am blind to it, too!! Nothing meant as super spiritually mystic there by “the Spirit’s intervention in my life.” All I’m saying is that God, by way of His Holy Spirit, illuminated the truth of the gospel to me and compelled me to Himself some years ago and my life has been forever changed. What once would have been foolishness to me, is everything to me today. This is not a “we are better than you” logic at all, nor “us vs them.” This is the gospel of salvation – we all start off in life blind and foolish to the truth. But God gives us all a glimpse of Himself at some point, though those instances look different for each of us, and we choose whether we will believe in Him and allow Him to regenerate our hearts.

Gonna chase a rabbit for a minute because I think this is important. I heard a sermon today from John MacArthur on my way into NOLA. If you haven’t listened to him preach, you should! But anyway, he said something that really sunk in for me: when we are justified (the point of salvation), we aren’t “converted” per se. We are dead and alive again (regenerated) – the flesh and its evil desires are killed and we are made alive to God in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2, Romans 6). That is the great paradox of truly living – we must die to live. But along with that Biblical logic, after we are saved we do not have the old self and the new self living together in us. Rather, we have been reborn (see John 3 where Jesus talks to Nicodemus) – the old is gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). To explain the fight that still goes on in the life of a believer between doing what is right and doing what is wrong (look at Ephesians chapters 5-6 and Romans 7 for more!), our new spirit that has been reborn within us dwells in a sinful mortal flesh of man. So that is why the struggle persists – if we are saved by grace through faith in Christ we have been justified (made right with God) but we will be sanctified (made more like Christ) until we go to be with God forever with our new perfectly holy bodies (glorification). Salvation is three processes in one (justification – sanctification – glorification) but they don’t all happen at once. It’s maybe a little confusing but as you walk with God, your understanding here grows.

So back to 1 Corinthians 1:18 and the cross of Christ being foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those who are being saved (hopefully the paragraph above helps shed some light on Paul’s wording here of “are being saved” rather than just “are saved” – once justified, we are being sanctified until glorified). I’m saddened and discouraged when I think of how much of the world views the cross of Christ as foolishness. Just turn on the news and see the tragedies occurring around the world, tune into the political debates, walk down the street and listen to people’s conversations. It’s easy to see this verse in real life. But rather than being stuck in sadness and discouragement over it, I can be comforted in knowing that God is not surprised by how many people reject His Word. He is not surprised by how much the world is calling evil good and good evil (it is nothing new – Isaiah 5:20). I can be encouraged that above all the tragedy, conflict, unrest, disunity, violence, pain, suffering, godless living, God is sovereign. He is above it all. And whatever occurs today, tomorrow, next year, in a decade, doesn’t change God’s overarching plan to reconcile the world to Himself. One day every knee will bow and tongue confess. Do we believe that? Do we really understand the gravity of that promise? If the knees are not bowing and tongues are not confessing now, the day that scripture is talking about when they all will is judgment day. No one will have a choice because we will all see the Lord of Lords and King of Kings as He is, full of glory and honor and praise, just and holy and righteous. That is a beautiful thing but a scary thing. God is not a God to be mocked or taken lightly, so how urgent must we be to proclaim truth in the words we say and the way we live?

The sermon I briefly talked about earlier didn’t just make me think about people around the world who might claim to be Christians but don’t really know God (their hearts are far from Him, evidenced by the way they live with no regard for His Word – check out Matthew 15:8). But more than this, it made me check in on my own life, my own heart. Does my life show a heart that has been reborn? Do the words I say and things I do (and don’t do) reflect a new life in Christ? But don’t stay on the surface level; take it deeper – do your attitudes and thoughts glorify Christ or the constructs of man? What fills your mind? Anger, envy, immorality, anxiety… Shift those thoughts. How? The Word. Daily, consistently, persistently. Don’t just read it before bed and fall asleep because you’re not even awake enough to pay attention. Meditate on the Truth! Let it fill you and direct your whole life.

If I’m honest, I haven’t adjusted well to starting back up at school in Baton Rouge. I’ve been struggling to manage my time well – it’s been school/studying and lots of working out/training, but my quiet time with the Lord has been sporadic. And my mind and heart suffer the consequences. Depression and anxiety creep back in. Comparison and envy suck the life out of me. Self-doubt crowds out all my hopes and aspirations. I’ve had this schedule shift for about a month now, and I’ve already felt so slumped spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, even though I was thriving this summer. My pace was slower, my days were more structured, my schedule was quieter. But while some of that is up to our discretion, some of it is just life and its seasons and we must learn to adjust. That’s where I’m at now.

I was worried about changing back to school from work this summer, back to Baton Rouge from home life. I knew that the huge change in schedule and pace and environment would challenge me a whole lot spiritually and mentally/emotionally. And here I am – I knew it was coming but haven’t adjusted well. I’m down a lot, stressed often, lonely, anxious… but my time with the Lord has been inconsistent and distracted. So how can I expect more peace when I’m not investing in my Source of peace?

It’s not the season of life killing my vibe; it’s how I’m living it!!

We often justify our slumps in life as “the season we’re in.” And sure, we can have tough seasons of life and we will have to adjust and overcome adversity, work through pain, suffer and grow slowly, etc. Of course we have those times and God is not just waiting for us to fail so He can bring down the hammer and say we’re not good enough. NOOO, that’s just not His heart. But He DOES want us to learn how to thrive regardless of the season we’re in. Not prosperity gospel type thrive – that is truth-less. But I’m talking spiritually thrive when our situation feels lame or our reality seems bleak or we look around and just don’t get why we’re here and what God is doing. Y’all, this is where it’s at! It’s easy to thrive when we’re feeling good and people aren’t letting us down and things are just going our way. But there’s just about hardly ever any growth in our lives on a deep level when there’s no adversity. What I’m trying to say is this. Don’t be a product of your season of life. Be a product of the God amidst your season of life.

Seasons might feel like they last forever, but they don’t. Though the winter is long, spring is around the corner. And now it’s fall, and I’ll throw out that it is my favorite season of all time – football, pumpkin everything, and cool air. But sometimes what I’m going through doesn’t feel all that great even though from the outside looking in I should be happy. I get that. We’ve all been there. But I’m convicted about 1 Corinthians, the John MacArthur sermon, and my slacking as of late. It all coincides for me. We are called to live our lives as a product of the faith growing in us that is by the grace of God, no matter the season. Our trajectory should always be on the path of righteousness. Yes, fall and backtrack here and there we may. But overall, what is your trajectory? Are you constantly being sanctified and looking more like Christ? Am I?? That’s the question convicting me today. What’s my trajectory? Sanctification moves forward and upward, not down and back. A Christian is constantly being sanctified, which means we understand that “to us who are being saved, salvation is the power of God.” Don’t be foolish, be sanctified.

College football. We love it, don’t we? I mean I sure do. If you know me well at all, you know I’m a die hard fan of the boys in purple and gold. And also my favorite pastime is anything football: throwing a pigskin, attending any home/away game for my team, watching College Gameday, laughing at C’mon Man on a Monday night, standing up and getting crunk in Who Dat nation for the Saints. Football is a passion for me, as it is for many. Almost a patriotic part of being American, am I wrong?

Last night, I got the privilege of getting a wonderful last minute ticket to watch my Tigers play UT in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. And let me tell you, it was lit. I especially love college football because of the heart that comes with it. The heart you see on the field and in the stands. Coaches, players, and fans alike all bleeding their school colors and filled with passion for the game and their team. It’s this unadulterated love of football. Something really draws you in.

I’ve been to tons of football games in my life. Plenty of long nights spent standing on the bleachers of the student section in Death Valley losing my voice in support of my team. The seemingly crazy girl, intoxicated by nothing more than the love of football: that’s me. We cheer, and we cheer loud. Winning or losing, we support our team. We want a good game. We want fair play. We want excitement. We want an athletic display. And at the end of the day, we want the W. Rivalries are real. Camaraderie is real. Football can make ya feel like family, or enemies… cough* cough* Bama.

But there is something deeper than the sport in all of this. If you couldn’t care less about football, you probably don’t feel too strongly about the Win column, the AP rankings each week, or what Kirk Herbstreit thinks about who’s gonna be in the College Football Playoff come December. But that’s just it, it all comes down to how much you care. And at the end of the day, football is just a sport. *Gasp* I know, tough concept. But really, it is just a game – guys throwing an oblong ball around a field, and running into each other, all with some purpose and strategy in mind. It’s enthralling to watch, and somehow fans and spectators can feel so much a part of the game even though they’re just watching in the stands or in the comfort of their own homes viewing on the TV. It’s the love, admiration, loyalty, joy, and all around heightened emotions, good or bad, invoked by the game.

Nothing wrong with football, or any sport, having a special place in our hearts. I think God gave us sports to enjoy the life He’s given us, and to allow us to grow and learn so much as people – commitment, discipline, teamwork, humility, sacrifice, etc. But can we be challenged from a look at football otherwise? I think so.

Being in that stadium last night, as many times before in other stadiums, you hear a whole lot of things. People are dialed in. That field with the 22 players on it is the focal point of those several hours of play. Though you don’t always agree with what the men in black and white stripes say, you listen because what they say matters a whole lot. And all the while whatever is in your heart tends to come out. If you’ve been to a game and lended an ear at all to what’s going on around you, ya know exactly what I mean. Who you are really tends to shine through when you watch your team play and let your words fly. And if you’re a real fan and not just on the bandwagon, win or lose, you love your team and you root for them. Vocally. Physically (you’re there in the stands or you’re watching from somewhere). Emotionally (you’re haaaappy when they win and sad when they don’t). Mentally (you might need some time to recover when they lose a close one lol). But really, football fandom is a whole-hearted kind of thing.

I have a point to all of this much beyond a turf field, clashing helmets and pads, yelling fans, and scoreboard lights. Track with me.

This is where I’m getting: What if our passion for the gospel matched, or better yet, exceeded our passion for our football team? I know in theory we might say it does. But take an honest, objective look at the scenarios here. What if we were as pumped about church as we are about gameday? What if we were as committed to time in our Bibles as we are to time in the stadium? What if we were as pumped for a salvation as we are for a touchdown? Like for real. We might say we are, but how do we respond differently? Compare the two reactions in real life. What if we were as loyal to the Lord as we are to our sports team? What if we were as vocal about the Truth of the Word as we are about a good call or a bad one on the field? What if we were willing not only to tithe but go above and give an offering to the Lord that exceeded what we’re willing to pay for tickets to games and all that goes with it? What if we were as devoted to serving the body of Christ and the least of these as we are to supporting our team?

I don’t know how many of these scenarios resonate with you. And maybe it’s not so much football as it is something else entirely. But whatever it is that encapsulates your attention and affection, big or small, how does it compare, or rather compete, with your attention and affection for the Lord and His Word?

He’s given us gooood gifts, y’all. He wants us to enjoy them. But most of all, He wants us to enjoy Him. And to be more excited and committed to Him than anything else. And sometimes even a little SEC/Big 12 match up will make you stop and think a little deeper about just what that could mean. The world is not lacking fervor. The world is full of fervor. But mainly over things that don’t last and essentially don’t matter. But wouldn’t it be a pity if the world knew my team but didn’t know my Lord? It can sound silly but it’s true. It’s easy to loudly represent secondary things and fail to adequately and accurately express the depths of the primary thing: the transformative gospel.

The world doesn’t need teams to represent but a spotless Lamb to represent them before the righteous Judge. We don’t need to find a way to win; we need to yield to the One who has already won. We don’t need to cheer in hopes of a victory but rejoice in knowledge that the victory is already ours. But the thrill of competition is not over – there is an enemy to face every day and we must train ourselves in the Word to be ready for his trickery, strengthened to resist his threats, and conditioned to maintain an explosive offensive game to boot.

Football is fun and being a fan is one of my favorite things; and it helps me see how I can always challenge myself to be a better follower of Christ. All I’m saying is, if we can be so enthusiastic and in-tune to something as non-life-altering as football, can’t we dig a little deeper when it comes to the doctrine of what we believe? Can’t we show a little more fervor about gospel? Can’t we make sure evvvverybody knows who’s team we’re on when it comes to eternity and that we want them to join us because victory awaits? Y’all this isn’t huge; this is everything. So let’s get excited, people, because the Savior of the world ain’t boring. Just look at what you love. And let it teach you how you can love the Lord and your neighbor better.

That’s all for now. And that’s still a Geaux Tigers. But life is just much deeper than that; don’t miss it.

Do not worry. Do not fear. Easy to say but difficult to do, right? Let’s look at a verse many of us have heard plenty of times. 1 John 4:18 — “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” If we are not to fear in this world we must be perfected in love. This is the answer to fighting our fears with effectiveness! Love. The agape kind.

Agape is the Greek Word used throughout scripture for God’s perfect love. Rather than a brotherly love (fileo) or sensual love (eros), it is a benevolent, faithful, committed love that is an act of the will. A love not earned but given freely. We must know that love, the agape love of God, not just with head knowledge but with heart knowledge. That is how we have confidence before God when judgment comes. How we face our depraved world with courage. How we love the world that hates our guts. How we fight for good in a world that wants to exchange good for evil and evil for good. How we do not fear the unknown but embrace it. How we do not become crippled by the violence and disarray of humanity. How we cling to the Lord in the midst of chaos. By being perfected in love. 

So it doesn’t start with the world around us. It doesn’t start with the people we don’t agree with. It doesn’t start with the people who hate what is good and love what is evil. No, it starts with us. We must be perfected in love. I must be perfected in love. And when the love of God, agape love (of the will, not of the emotions), is perfected in me, that love abiding in me will cast out fear. 

But my imperfect love cannot do that. Only the love of God perfected in me can. God perfects His love in us when we are His. It is His work, but we absolutely must do our part. And our part is not easy. But rather than our part being a bunch of to-do’s, it is more an act of surrender. So often what God calls us to do is contrary to what we think we ought to do. Yielding our will is not natural but it is holy. Surrendering our desires is not natural but it is holy. Obeying His Word is not natural but it is holy. If we want any confidence in our world today, we must yield, surrender, and obey. Confidence comes in conceding our will to His. Fear is cast out where fierce devotion begins. 

No one can “see” God because He is far too holy for our eyes to behold. But the world sees Him by the love He perfects in us. When love is perfected in us, it is being made complete. This process is not always fun, actually it often brings with it more pain than we’d like to welcome. But that pain brings forth more joy than we could find any other way. Gold is refined in the fire. Diamonds come forth through pressure. Holiness erupts from suffering. 

God’s way is never the easy one but always the right one. And our momentary suffering is not even worth comparing to what is to come (Romans 8:18). The beautiful, perfect reconciliation of all things to God. When His love is perfected in us, our understanding of that truth becomes more and more clear and motivates the way we live, the way we love. 

God is love. Love does not define God; God defines love. That love is sacrificial, not selfish. See the cross. That love is full of truth, not hypocrisy. See Jesus’ conversations with the Pharisees. If we want confidence in a severely broken and unpredictable world, we must allow God to perfect His love in us. We must yield, surrender, obey, and abide in His love that is perfect (holy). That perfect love contradicts just about everything in us naturally. So, change is a direct reflection of His love being perfected in us. 

If God’s love is being perfected in us, we will look less and less like the world, but love the people in it more and more. That doesn’t look like tolerance and indifference but fighting for people to know truth, so that they will be set free. They will know that we are Christians by our love. And that love will transform them from the inside out as it is transforming us. Our desires change, our will realigns, our heart is transformed. Every day I want to ask myself the all too important question: Is God’s love being perfected in me? If so, I have nothing to fear. 

Set aside.

Have you ever been there? Or maybe you feel like you can identify right now? Odds are all of us have felt that way at some point, or even multiple times, in our lives. And yes, odds are plenty of us are there now. Feeling set aside causes uncomfortable and miserable emotions to arise within us, yet I think we often sit in that mindset for longer than we have to rather than moving past it and choosing to embrace where we’re at in life.

Picture this. You go on a trip to a beautiful place and you’re not all that impressed. Let me add some context. You sit inside your hotel room the whole time and look through the window at the city, and it’s just not what you expected it to be, pretty lackluster. But finally, after days, someone takes you out from the hotel room and into the city. You begin to explore and see all the sights, interact with the people, smell the food, feel the fresh air and take in the scenery. Suddenly this city becomes one you love, even better than you imagined. Let me remind you, you’re still in the same city yet your perspective has changed.

Hold that thought and we’ll come back to it later. First, we’ll dive into the “set aside.” Maybe it’s a season of singleness where you’ve been waiting for the leaves to change color but you’re thinking the winter just might hold on forever. On the other hand, maybe you are in a relationship – dating, engaged, newlywed, married for years, it can be any stage of the relationship – and yet you often times feel more alone than you ever did in your time being single. Perhaps it’s not the love life that’s the issue, but your other relationships. Maybe your friends have really let you down when you needed them the most or just can’t keep a commitment if their life depended on it. And even worse, maybe they don’t even realize it. Or you and your best friend could have just parted ways and you don’t know why. Perhaps you’ve grown up feeling like an outsider and now that you’re older, you still feel this unmet longing to be included if you’re honest with yourself.

Or it could have to do with your family relationships. Maybe your dad never came through on his promises and just wasn’t as present in your life as he should have been, or your mom never really affirmed you, and you’ve been left to deal with the repercussions on your own. Maybe your sibling always had the spotlight and you felt like you were just left behind, living in their shadow. Maybe you and your spouse have been trying to start a family for years to no avail and you’re so discouraged you don’t know what to do. Or maybe your kids are all grown and out of the house, but they haven’t been intentional to continue investing in their relationship with you because life is “too busy.”

Maybe the feelings in you of being set aside don’t have so much to do with relationships as they have to do with life events themselves. Perhaps you’ve been working hard in your job for years and were passed over again for that big promotion. Or you just haven’t ever really been content in your career, but you feel like after all these years you’re stuck in it. Maybe you’ve just graduated, and you have no clue what to do with your life and feel like time is just passing you by. And maybe in any of these situations you’ve cried out to God asking for direction or comfort or for something to change, yet you wake up the next day to nothing different.

These are the moments where we feel set aside. Let me first say that if you’re nodding your head to any of the aforementioned situations, you’re not alone. While I cannot identify with all of the things I mentioned, I can still identify with plenty of them. It’s not fun. We don’t like these times in our lives. When we’re here we pretty much just want things to change. Natural inclination, for sure. But as with any and every moment in our lives, I believe there’s something for us to learn.

I’m in a bit of a season of feeling set aside and it’s no one’s fault. There’s something to learn – just because we go through a tough season or a trial, big or small, doesn’t mean someone is to blame. Often times it’s just life. And if life is meant to be lived, then something’s gotta give when it comes to this issue. We are going to go through times of feeling this way, but the answer is not to sit there and mope. Often times when we are in situations we don’t like, we want to ask God “why?” Kind of crazy if you think about it… We are gravely sinful human beings created by a majestically perfect God and we find it reasonable to point our finger and sometimes even shake our fist at God because we aren’t in the exact spot we think He should’ve brought us. Yeah, crazy isn’t it? But I’m guilty of having my fair share of moments asking God why. And I don’t even think when we do this that He is enraged with our audacity. More times than not, in my spiritual immaturity of thinking God has got something wrong and asking Him why, He shows me what He wants me to learn in that stage of my life with the most gentle, graceful, utter clarity. Yeah, He has a habit of swooping into my questions and leaving me in awe of His goodness while still showing me the error of my thought process.

You see, some things in life are just painful. And someone always has it better than us, and someone always has it much worse. In our human frailty, there is always something to complain about and simultaneously there is always something to be joyful about. Yes, there is something to be grateful about and bring us joy even in our frail humanity. We have that capacity because of how God created us. But as to how, it’s back to that perspective.

Let me talk about one huge thing in our techy world today that greatly influences our perspective. S O C I A L   M E D I A. For lots of us, it’s like we can’t live without it. Of course, if you’re reading this, social media is how you saw it and how I shared it. There’s nothing inherently wrong with social media. But it sure can give us a hard time of having the proper perspective. Our outlook on life is vastly motivated by the things we see and hear and read and choose to believe. A lot of that occurs via the sosh meeds. And honestly, isn’t it sad that for a lot of us, it’s the first thing we see when we wake up and the last thing we look at before we go to bed? The first step to the right perspective is looking up. Looking up rather than looking around.

When we see everyone else’s life through the lenses of rose-colored glasses, yet see our own life bright and clear in 20/20 reality, we run into some issues. People are always doing something more cool and fun than we are, going to places we’ve never been, looking better than we ever could, more likeable than we could ever be, dating or married to someone we never could be, and all their friendships are obviously a ten out of ten because they’re best friends with a thousand people, right? Haha, seriously sometimes we act like we actually believe that. But for one, when you feel that way, just think about the fact that there are probably tons of people who think the same way about your life. And isn’t that funny? Rose-colored glasses, people, AKA that filtered highlight reel on the gram.

So, I think we need to be honest with ourselves. Life isn’t perfect for anyone. Highs and lows are a fact for any human to ever walk the earth. What should our response be? We should praise God in the hills and valleys, like David did throughout the Psalms. Speaking of good ole King Dave, let’s just briefly look back at some guys and gals in the Scriptures. Because, though this was pre-Zuckerberg, they were people dealing with some of the same issues. Everyone must’ve seen David and thought his life was just the best – he was apparently a hottie and got all the girls, but of course that got him into some life-altering issues and heartache. Sure, he became king, but let’s not forget that Saul chased him for years in efforts to end his life. And if we go all the way back to the beginning, he was the runt of Jesse’s sons and got skipped over time after time! He knew what it was like to be set aside. What about Solomon, David’s son? Well he was the wisest and richest man to ever live, what else could a man need? Read Ecclesiastes – the man was discontented the majority of his life with meaningless vanity. We Americans could benefit from taking some notes. What about Leah? She apparently had a gorgeous sister and didn’t measure up. Jacob was tricked into marrying her but really loved her sister, Rebecca, and worked for a total of 14 years to take her as his wife. That’s like kinda the epitome of being set aside if ya ask me. But even if we take a closer look at the bummer of cards Leah was dealt, we see God’s faithfulness and kind consideration for her in that He made it so that she would be in the lineage of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Pretty awesome. That wasn’t realized in her lifetime, but after all, the most essential part of our life on earth is the way we become more like Christ and build up for ourselves treasure in heaven where we will be in perfect harmony with God and His people. And there, feelings of being set aside will be completely irrelevant and impossible.

So, the whole feeling set aside thing is nothing new but one day, if we are in Christ, it’ll become nothing. Period. Pretty cool. Along with anything else that brings pain. Because when Christ returns, He will reconcile all things to Himself and His kingdom will reign in perfect harmony. And that is the hope we have. Not in a new season of life. Or a new person to do everything right by us. Or a new thing to fulfill us. But in the Son of God who bore our sins and rose from the dead returning to the earth to bring us home with Him forever.

So, when you’re walking through times of feeling set aside, set your focus. Set your eyes on something greater than how you feel. Something truer than your most convincing feelings. Something deeper than what you can see and hear. Something even better than what you’re longing for. Someone. He’s paid the price so that you don’t have to be set aside, so that you can be sanctified. And, truly, those moments of feeling set aside are actually moments of being sanctified. So, look up and ask God what this time – not why, but what are you teaching me? He wants to draw you deeper and show you something you’re missing.

That’s what He’s doing for me. It’s sometimes a slow process, depending on my willingness. But for instance, in my own life, He is drilling home the point to me that no one and nothing else can satisfy my deepest longings to be known, loved, accepted, approved, and fulfilled. Only He can. And often times, the pain I experience from feeling set aside in my life, is actually God’s grace to show me more of who He is while letting me in on what is the truest thing about me – who He says I am. And spoiler alert… I don’t think He says I’m great and wonderful. But He says I’m His and that’s as great and wonderful as it gets, people. To belong to the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. If you know Him and love Him and have chosen to place your life in His hands, you’re His and that’s just not gonna change. It can’t. Because He doesn’t set aside. It’s not in His nature.

But oh boy, can we do some setting aside when it comes to the God of the universe. If in those moments of feeling set aside, I could get past myself enough to see the bigger picture, it would be painfully clear to me that in many of those instances the Lord is the one being set aside. By me. I’m setting Him aside in pursuit of the desires of my fickle heart. Those desires often times aren’t innately bad, but they’re no good when they’re my focus rather than the God who created me. And would God really be doing me a favor if He granted me every wish of that heart of mine so I got just what I thought I wanted without deepening my relationship, love for, and dependence upon Him? Nah, because I’d find myself even more miserable than before. With anything great in life, if it’s not rooted in Christ, when things become hard or even just ho-hum, we forget why we wanted it so bad in the first place because it no longer satisfies us, and we’re left to re-enter the rat race of life.

Now seems like a good time to share an insightful quote by probably my favorite writer of all time, C.S. Lewis: “It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Dang. Let that simmer. Tell me it ain’t so. I think all of our issues in life, big and small, boil down to a lack of trust that the holiday at the sea is worth far more than our mud pies in the slum. Not to say bad things don’t happen and present us with reason for sadness or anger; or terrible things even, leaving us perplexed and heartbroken. Because that absolutely does happen, and more and more it seems. But this world never promises to fulfill us – in contrast to our naive thoughts, it simply cannot. But God promises abundant life, satisfaction, joy, peace, and fulfillment. We just have to really grasp the fact that His offer isn’t attached to planet earth. It’s found within the Person of Jesus.

If you’ve read my blogs at all, you’d notice that every single one comes down to just that. JESUS. And to some folks, I may seem like a broken record. And well, for the record, I am broken. Broken but redeemed. And that is why I write. It’s why I have anything to say at all. Because I want to share that redemption with whoever I can. I hope in One whose character is not dependent upon any earthly construct or any earthly human He created from the dust. I hope in One above and beyond all things, yet nearer than the dearest friend. One more powerful than the strongest regime, yet gentler than the calmest river’s flow. One brighter than all the brilliant stars in the galaxies He strung together. One more keenly aware of my needs and wants than I myself, yet sovereign enough to order my steps in His timing and according to His purposes. One more deserving of my honor and allegiance than any other.

Sometimes, I just need to remind myself of it all. Of whom my life belongs to and who He calls me to be. No better place to be reminded than in His Word – His very words written down and recorded, standing the test of time, for you and for me. When we look up rather than looking around, comparison fades and compassion is stirred, our focus shifts from being set aside to being sanctified, we go from being overlooked to an overcomer. We get past ourselves to see what our purpose is right here, right now. It’s not about us and it never really is, but we constantly have to be reminded. Get in God’s Word and be reminded. Praise Him for right here and right now, whatever that may be, and let Him show you what He wants you to learn and how He wants you to grow today. Let Him be your comfort, your joy, your peace, your refuge. Don’t set Him aside.

Throughout the scriptures, God shows us over and over again that you can go through the motions, and profess God in words even complemented by good deeds yet not be saved. The Pharisees, Judas – prime characters who we see continually in the accounts of Jesus’ life. It’s not without purpose.

Churches in America and beyond  are filled with people who profess to know God and be of Him yet their hearts are far from Him. What do we do? Well we typically don’t address it directly, but we must. Are we going to jeopardize the eternity of our neighbor in an effort not to offend? Culture confuses confrontation with condemnation. One is fueled by love, the other by wrath. God is the only One rightly capable of wrath. And that is why we must confront. 

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to cleanse us our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).That sounds more loving than just to our human minds, yet God’s love never exists without His just nature. The two don’t contradict; rather, they always work in tandem. 

You see, God is just to forgive us because His holy, beloved Son Jesus Christ bore our sins on Calvary and His perfect sacrifice pays the price for our transgressions. So when we stand before God, His Son, our Advocate, Jesus’ blood covers us IF we are His. But if we are not His, we have not given our life over to Him, we are seen as guilty before God and we must pay the price ourselves because we have not accepted Christ’s payment on our behalf. This is justice. And there is no grace apart from it. 

We cannot claim grace without claiming Christ. And we cannot claim Christ without claiming His Word and all that’s in it. He IS the Word after all (John 1). The Lord Jesus said, “This is how they will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). We cannot really love others from a pure heart without a love for God. And God tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). He wasn’t just talking about the “do not murder,” “do not steal,” and “do not commit adultery.” He was also talking about the “keep the Sabbath day holy,” “honor your father and mother,” “do not take the Lord’s name in vain,” and “put no other gods before me.”

Our ticket into heaven is not to claim to be a Christian but to have our hearts and lives transformed from the inside out. God tells Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones when he is talking about His people that He will remove their hearts of stone and give them a heart of flesh. That is what happens when the gospel penetrates us. It does something. If it has no effect on the way we live then surely it hasn’t penetrated.

We aren’t going to be perfect by any means! But we absolutely will be sanctified. And we will want to keep the Lord’s commands and live according to His Word, BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM and we understand what He has done for us out of His unsearchable love for us. We will grow in our desire to walk by the Spirit and our desire to live in the flesh decreases. There will always be a fight between the two, but that is the beauty in between – the sanctification between justification and glorification. 

If we are truly God’s beloved children, He has justified us, or made us right with Him, and one day we will be glorified with Him in heaven for eternity. But until then we will be sanctified, or made more like Him. And we know a lot about what that looks like from Jesus – the image of the invisible God. Yes, he sat down with sinners. But look at every single time He did – it wasn’t to okay their life of sin but to free them from it. He always gave grace, but look for one time He extended grace without the truth. You’ll never find it. The woman at the well, the tax collectors, the woman caught in adultery. True love is a combination of grace and truth. And we must know it, accept it, live it, and extend it to a world that desperately needs it. 

The Lord got a hold of my life years ago and has shown me the grief of my sin. I am far from perfect and I know plenty of people much closer to it than I am.  But I know I am made perfect in Christ. And I am assured of that because He’s replaced my heart for the things of this world with a heart for the things of Him. There is a lot of room for growth but I know that He is working in my life and giving me more and more understanding of the truth. He wants that for all of us, because in the truth alone we find life.

True life is found in Him and there we find joy and peace that transcends this world. The things of this world promise happiness that fades quicker than we expect and takes more than it gives, leaving us more empty than before. Lasting joy comes from the things of God. And every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (James 1:17). He doesn’t change! In a world of constant rearranging, there is one constant. One Truth. One we can trust and believe with all we are – the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Our own truth will never satisfy because TRUTH is not relative. Only the Truth of God will meet our deepest longings.

If He is worthy of our full trust, He is worthy of following wholeheartedly and His Word of Truth is worth living. We live it when we love it. We love it when we really love Him.

If that’s not where you’re at, ask Him today to show you what you’re missing. And believe me, with all the grace and mercy you can bear, He will. That’s who He is. He doesn’t just want your behavior. He wants your heart.

In the valley of dry bones with Ezekiel, He didn’t stop with removing the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. He built the body up – He pieced together the dry bones, covered them with skin, and breathed life into them! The very breath of God breathes life into the dry bones. All scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) – we have the very breath of God! We have His Word! And in the reading and studying of His Word, He breathes life into us.

It is also no coincidence that God takes Ezekiel into a valley to show Him the most incredible vision of life. That’s where God draws us to Himself and shows us who He really is – in the valley. There, at our lowest point, He speaks softly to our hearts because we finally have come to the end of ourselves and our eyes and ears are opened. And in the valley of death, we find life.

Abundant life begins with death. It may sound morbid but in contrast it is beautiful. We die to our selves, our futility and discontentment. And we live to Christ – to abundance, to joy, to peace, to fulfillment. It’s what we all want and are searching for. Usually in the wrong places. But God is faithful to bring us to the valley and exchange our death for life.

The picture above is of a valley in Israel. And just beyond the valley you see an expanse of water. Your walk through the valley can lead to living water as the Israelites so often encountered. But it was only when they gave up their way and chose God’s way that they got to experience the fulfilling life God had for them. God is the giver of life. We all have received the gift of earthly life, but have we truly accepted the gift of abundant life? We just have to allow Him to replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, and breathe life into us. The abundant life He gives is eternal.

S O   C O M E   A L I V E   ~