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It's time for a reality check
Most of my life I spent believing that God knew what was going on, but the depth of His
knowledge was paper thin at best. My understanding of anything God-related was vague,
distorted, and confused. I think that my idea of myself was just about as muddled as my idea
of God and what He was all about. And to be perfectly honest, that got me into a lot of
trouble. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. The thing that probably
messed me up the most was realizing that I truly had no idea how much I didn't understand.
Life was going on around me, things were changing, and all of the sudden I realized that I
had no clue what was going on, what was up with the whole God thing, and who I was
supposed to be in all of it.
Life can be tough, most of us know firsthand how extremely tough it can be. Figuring out what’
s what in a world full of possibilities and change can be next to impossible. Trying to
understand who God really is, and what He wants from you can be tricky, a little complicated
even. Understanding who you are, who you are in Christ, and working through your
brokenness, can be a daunting process. If you’re doing it alone, it can be very easy to get
lost along the way. God did not create us to do life alone, this journey and process of
transformation was meant to be shared with others. God brings people and events into our
lives who help to shape us, somewhat like a jeweler shapes a diamond. Sometimes we trip
up, sometimes we are tripped. Sometimes we get confused, and in our confusion we forget
important things like the true nature of God, like our purpose and calling as people and as
believers too. We can forget reality, we can distort the beauty of His sacrifice, we can
disregard our worth and value.
Open up to: Genesis 1:27; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 53:5; Ephesians 2:1-10;
Philippians 4:13
It wasn't all that long ago that I had a conversation about life and change with a good friend
of mine. Telling stories and giving examples of all the things that have been rearranged in
our lives in only thirty days. Some things were not the same just because; other things were
changed by our conscious choices. Near the end of our conversation my friend said
something that made me stop and think: “It’s interesting to me how much changes in the blink
of an eye, whether or not we pay attention. What is more interesting is to think that God
already knew.” How insightful to acknowledge that change, no matter how fast or even
intentional, is never outside the spectrum of God’s attention. I don’t know about you, but
looking at the instability of the world around me, it is comforting to know that God gets what’s
going on.
Over the course of the last nine months, we have talked about some pretty intense things.
We have talked about God, we have talked about others, and we have talked about
ourselves. If you are anything like me you probably think you would almost be better off
leaving all those things alone and going back to times when you were less in tune, and it
would be so much simpler to bury everything and ignore everything you’ve learned. No
change worth having comes without at least a little discomfort, and sometimes we need to be
reminded of things in order to get back on track. In some ways the process of finding out who
you are and what God wants from you is like resetting a broken bone a few days after the
fact. We were broken way back in Eden, have been broken during our lifetime, and in order
to heal us properly we may have to be broken again.
Earlier I said that I spent most of my life believing that the depth of God’s knowledge about
the universe and I was very shallow. I don’t believe that much anymore, He has shown me
how messed up my perspective had been, and how the shallow one really was me. I know it
probably sounds cliché... But the reality is that even if the whole world spins in reverse and
the sky falls on the floor, even if nobody has a discernible thought, God knows exactly what is
going on. And we can find great comfort in that, in our doubt, in our discovery, in our joy, and
even in the grayest of days.
Check out: Genesis 3:1-24; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 84; Psalm 121; Lamentations 3:1-33
Journal Time
1. Give yourself a few minutes, try five, to just write whatever comes to mind after
reading the last scripture.
2. Allow yourself to think about what you’ve been learning and discovering about
yourself over the past few months. Have you noticed any change in your perspective about
yourself, God, or life? Describe some of what you have noticed
3. Has there been some conflict, internally, over what you have been learning about
yourself? Write about what you’ve been experiencing
4. Have you noticed any benefits or blessings that have come from what you have been
learning about yourself?
5. Has your relationship with God deepened? If so, in what ways has it deepened? If not,
what are some of the things you’re struggling with that are keeping you from getting closer to
Him?
6. Do you have an accountability partner? If so, share your thoughts on these things with
him or her, and spend some time in prayer over what you have discovered. If not, find
someone you are willing to talk to and share your thoughts with him or her.
knowledge was paper thin at best. My understanding of anything God-related was vague,
distorted, and confused. I think that my idea of myself was just about as muddled as my idea
of God and what He was all about. And to be perfectly honest, that got me into a lot of
trouble. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. The thing that probably
messed me up the most was realizing that I truly had no idea how much I didn't understand.
Life was going on around me, things were changing, and all of the sudden I realized that I
had no clue what was going on, what was up with the whole God thing, and who I was
supposed to be in all of it.
Life can be tough, most of us know firsthand how extremely tough it can be. Figuring out what’
s what in a world full of possibilities and change can be next to impossible. Trying to
understand who God really is, and what He wants from you can be tricky, a little complicated
even. Understanding who you are, who you are in Christ, and working through your
brokenness, can be a daunting process. If you’re doing it alone, it can be very easy to get
lost along the way. God did not create us to do life alone, this journey and process of
transformation was meant to be shared with others. God brings people and events into our
lives who help to shape us, somewhat like a jeweler shapes a diamond. Sometimes we trip
up, sometimes we are tripped. Sometimes we get confused, and in our confusion we forget
important things like the true nature of God, like our purpose and calling as people and as
believers too. We can forget reality, we can distort the beauty of His sacrifice, we can
disregard our worth and value.
Open up to: Genesis 1:27; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 53:5; Ephesians 2:1-10;
Philippians 4:13
It wasn't all that long ago that I had a conversation about life and change with a good friend
of mine. Telling stories and giving examples of all the things that have been rearranged in
our lives in only thirty days. Some things were not the same just because; other things were
changed by our conscious choices. Near the end of our conversation my friend said
something that made me stop and think: “It’s interesting to me how much changes in the blink
of an eye, whether or not we pay attention. What is more interesting is to think that God
already knew.” How insightful to acknowledge that change, no matter how fast or even
intentional, is never outside the spectrum of God’s attention. I don’t know about you, but
looking at the instability of the world around me, it is comforting to know that God gets what’s
going on.
Over the course of the last nine months, we have talked about some pretty intense things.
We have talked about God, we have talked about others, and we have talked about
ourselves. If you are anything like me you probably think you would almost be better off
leaving all those things alone and going back to times when you were less in tune, and it
would be so much simpler to bury everything and ignore everything you’ve learned. No
change worth having comes without at least a little discomfort, and sometimes we need to be
reminded of things in order to get back on track. In some ways the process of finding out who
you are and what God wants from you is like resetting a broken bone a few days after the
fact. We were broken way back in Eden, have been broken during our lifetime, and in order
to heal us properly we may have to be broken again.
Earlier I said that I spent most of my life believing that the depth of God’s knowledge about
the universe and I was very shallow. I don’t believe that much anymore, He has shown me
how messed up my perspective had been, and how the shallow one really was me. I know it
probably sounds cliché... But the reality is that even if the whole world spins in reverse and
the sky falls on the floor, even if nobody has a discernible thought, God knows exactly what is
going on. And we can find great comfort in that, in our doubt, in our discovery, in our joy, and
even in the grayest of days.
Check out: Genesis 3:1-24; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 84; Psalm 121; Lamentations 3:1-33
Journal Time
1. Give yourself a few minutes, try five, to just write whatever comes to mind after
reading the last scripture.
2. Allow yourself to think about what you’ve been learning and discovering about
yourself over the past few months. Have you noticed any change in your perspective about
yourself, God, or life? Describe some of what you have noticed
3. Has there been some conflict, internally, over what you have been learning about
yourself? Write about what you’ve been experiencing
4. Have you noticed any benefits or blessings that have come from what you have been
learning about yourself?
5. Has your relationship with God deepened? If so, in what ways has it deepened? If not,
what are some of the things you’re struggling with that are keeping you from getting closer to
Him?
6. Do you have an accountability partner? If so, share your thoughts on these things with
him or her, and spend some time in prayer over what you have discovered. If not, find
someone you are willing to talk to and share your thoughts with him or her.
are our mission
everything you are
You...
and everything you can become
| Having trouble finding things in your concordance? Click here Need some more in-depth Bible help? Click here Want to look up the meaning of words, or find related words? Click here Want an exercise that might help build life goals? Click here Questions, comments, suggestions about this series or others? Click here |