Encouragement

One of the reasons I post stuff like my It’s Time video or the blog on Joyfully Sober is to listen to what else the Spirit of God is whispering in people’s hearts around the world.

Paul indicated that the best any one of us sees is like looking through a dimmed mirror (I Corinthians 13:12-13. We get glimpses of his work and heart, seeing in part but never the complete picture. The Church, on the other hand, “is the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:23) When we add our glimpses alongside those of others, we’ll have a fuller picture of his work in us.

Of course, by “the Church,” Paul wasn’t talking about our institutions, denominations, or even religious leaders, but those children who are in touch with his heart and who follow the voice of the Shepherd. I love listening alongside the many others I’m related to worldwide.

After posting my latest blog, I received three emails within two days with a similar theme—recognizing his work and embracing it rather than getting him to bless ours.

From Darlene:

Looking forward to all that Abba has in store for us this day…year and as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed one day through all that is happening, I asked, “How do we move forward, what is it we’re to do, how do we live in this time?” I heard Him say, “stay calm, and carry on, and stand back and see the salvation of the Lord”.

From Sylvia:

Your blog post, Joyfully Sober, resonated so deeply with me. We first met over a decade ago in Alaska. Since then, my husband and I have lived in Denmark for 5 years, and now in Colorado. We bought a home where shortly after a wildfire roared through, devastating over one-third of our neighborhood. It surrounded our house, coming within only a few feet of destroying it, but our home was preserved. Daily, as I meet with the Lord, I look out charred trees on the mountainside, wondering what new life might be growing under the blackened earth. What are those seeds… and how are they like the kingdom God is revealing in his sons and daughters?

So, today I’ve read and re-read your message. It has stirred up a new sense of joy within me, seeing that this is the work of glory that God is revealing across the Body of Christ. The “whatever-it-takes” prayers. I also admit that since this pandemic began, I’ve felt a sense of disturbed exasperation with church leaders who just want things to “return to normal”… as soon as possible. Can’t they see in this the wonderful cleansing, subterranean work of the Spirit?!

“Be patient, Sylvia, hold space for the coming of the Lord, for he is indeed coming.”

And you are right to say there’s no hurry. The wilderness experience creates within us a new, slower sense of time. A quietness and indifference. A spacious place where we’ve made room to be able to receive God’s seeds.

I want to give you a warning before sharing this last one. Do not try this at home. Robin is the man who wrote me the original question I posted in my previous blog. As God was leading Robin through this process he describes, this was not Robin presuming to do something outlandish by his reasoning. It is the opposite of that, and it turned out disastrous when others tried to follow his insight without the same leading. Here’s the story he told me:

We live and farm in South Australia on 400mm (15 inches) of rainfall; our summers are dry and hot. We grow one crop per year—cereals, canola, and pulses.

About eight years ago, soon after we stepped out of the institutional church, Father clearly told me while I was harvesting canola to plant all our canola stubble to sorghum. Sorghum is never grown in our area; it is a crop of high rainfall areas.

Obediently we sowed on one paddock, though not all we were supposed to. Our farm advisor thought we were crazy, but he let us buy the seed with convincing. We only received a small amount of rainfall that summer, yet the sorghum flourished (see picture above). Cars, farm advisors, and photographers regularly stopped and walked out into our field.

After several months, it was getting close to harvest, and we were impatient because we wanted to prepare the ground before the opening rains to plant wheat. When we thought it was ready to harvest, we took the combine to the paddock, where we heard Father say, “No, it’s not time.” Thinking I knew better, I reaped about a ton anyway. In Australia, our grain moisture has to be 12% or under but this measured 25%. So, we bagged it and left the combine. The next day, the grain was filled with worms and was useless, even to feed the cattle.

We left it for a week and tried again, only to hear Father say, “No, it’s not time.” The grain measured 20%. A couple of days later, I jumped in the combine to harvest when I got a phone call from a brother. He felt Father telling him to ring me and say, “No, it’s not time.”

By this time, we were getting anxious because winter rains were forecast, and it was getting close to the time to sow wheat. To hurry up the process, we sprayed the sorghum with a chemical to hurry the drying process. After a week, we tried again, again Fathers spoke, “No, it’s not time.” By this time, the moisture had gone to 30%, the highest it had ever read.

The very next day, Father spoke again, “It’s time.” It would have been impossible for the moisture to come down in that time, but when we measured it, it was under 12%. We harvested the paddock on the last acre, the opening rains started, and it has been wet from then on.

So that’s my story. I think Father is showing me that there is a great harvest coming, but he alone will do it. It will not be as before; it will be done through intimacy with Him in obedience, faith, and trust.

The time of us doing it with our own agendas needs to be over. It doesn’t produce the Father’s harvest and is often counterproductive. Perhaps this will be the harvest of the last times, where our certainty is Jesus. He alone will build His church. He has and is preparing her for the days to come

By the way, many farmers in our area and beyond tried planting sorghum in the following years, they all failed.

Hence you can see my interest when you heard “It is time.”

I love that story on so many levels—God speaking, the risk in following, the amazement of others, the attempts to take control in his own strength, and in the end, God having his way. I even like that it didn’t work when others tried the same thing in their own strength. And for what purpose was all this? Would God go to such lengths to help someone learn that listening to God is the way to live? I think so, and he does it so playfully, too.

The hardest thing for us to do in our painful circumstances is to “stand by and see the salvation of God.” We are too busy trying to fix things on our own or getting God to fix them our way. Instead, he wants us to listen, see his way forward, and trust him in the unfolding.

And trusting is not just waiting or presuming; trusting is believing what we’ve heard from him.

(Note: This is a copy of newsletter I sent out quarterly-ish out to my email list. If you you’re not on it and want to be you can sign up here.) 

First, I want to express my gratefulness for the rain that has fallen on Southern California this month. We’ve been in a severe drought and have had almost eight inches of rain in December, half of that yesterday. Our average rainfall is about thirteen inches per year. So, this has been a bit much for some locales, but we’ve needed this water desperately, and it’s a joy to sit here and type, watching the rain continue to fall. It is spectacular!

Now, let me share a question I received a few weeks ago. Today seems like a good day to answer it. This was from Robin:

A few months ago, you received “It has started.”

Have you seen or heard any more from Father about this? I know my Spirit is waiting for a move from Father, don’t know what it is or what it will look like, knowing Him it will be something that is not what we thought. Have seen Him prepare and place the same thing in people’s hearts all around the world, they are sitting under rocks, unseen.

Some are growing impatient and moving on or going with their own agendas thinking that’s it. So I am curious to hear what you are hearing.

I’m sure he is referring to a video from last April, from a recent burn scar in the Sierras with my grandkids. That devastation I witnessed stirred in my heart over the next couple of days. As I held those emotions before God one day, I sensed him saying, “It’s time.” Immediately my mind filled with the words of Romans 8. Paul writes about the Creation and its eager expectation for God to be revealed through the glory of his children so that it could be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into its own freedom and glory.

Yes, Robin, I have heard and seen so much more that excites my heart. It has begun, and like a tiny seed planted in a dark void, it will continue to grow in ways that won’t draw attention to itself. I see it in my times with Father, and I hear it reverberate in almost every conversation I have. There’s a hunger rising and with it a freshening wind of spiritual insight. God has prepared many people over many decades for this season. I also see it growing in the hearts of young people, even though they may not know it’s Jesus at work in them yet. I recently talked about this on a podcast a The God Journey. If you missed it, you can hear it here.

It may only be a stirring in our hearts at this point, like yeast spreading through the bread dough. It will not look like the revivals of the past because it will not be in the hands of any one person or spring up in any location. You won’t read about it in the Christian media or see it in flashy Sunday gatherings. His work is hidden now, as it has to be so that would-be leaders won’t try to take possession of it or attempt to market or manage it for their own gain. You won’t find by looking to someone else to show you the way but by looking inward at the seed of his glory growing in you. Lean into that reality and ask him to show you how. Hold that space before him for weeks, months if need be. There’s no hurry here, just the sweet invitation to come closer and connect with his heartbeat that is growing inside you.

So, yes, it is time! God’s glory is growing in the earth so that people can know who he really is by the way we demonstrate his reality to others. As 2022 begins, I find my heart is growing joyfully sober. There’s a seriousness growing in my heart, and I find myself praying a lot of whatever-it-takes prayers. You know the ones—”Whatever it takes, God, I want to know you as you are and be transformed into your image.”  In recent years, God’s name has been disfigured, not so much by his enemies by those who claim to be his followers while only seeking glory, power, or comfort. Their selfishness, anger, fear, and greed have made people turn away, disgusted by their perception of God. It is time for God to show himself once again as the most endearing presence in the universe, and that, through lives, transformed to reflect that glory in their daily interactions.

That’s how Jesus encouraged us to face troubled times by being sober and vigilant, but don’t read fear or anguish into that. Those awaiting the bridegroom do so with joy and anticipation. Joyfully sober. We are on the precipice of something fresh God is seeding into the world. If this isn’t the end of the age, this is one of those seasons that foretell it. There is trouble afoot; great anger and hatred rule humanity, and severe days of reckoning may well be at hand. But against that void, the light of God’s character will shine even brighter as he reflects himself in you. Even in the most painful circumstances and moments of great stress, Jesus’ reality will put a song in your heart and wisdom to our course.

That’s the conversation I want to be in over this next season. I want to find ways to encourage that process and equip hungry hearts to live more securely in his love, more at rest in his work, and more at play with his wisdom. I have no idea of what’s to come, just a growing desire to wake up in him each morning and see what he allows to unfold in my heart. Yesterday morning, I outlined what may be my next book in a couple of hours. It’s a guide to help people understand how Jesus works in us so that we can ride the wind of the Spirit in the truth of what God speaks to us.

So, blessed New Year, everyone! This is a good time to lean into your heart and see how Jesus is making himself known to you and how he wants to take shape in you. None of that will come by human effort, but as you simply make space in your heart for what he reveals to you and believe him as he transforms you with his glory. He will show you what it means for you to become one with the love he wants to reveal to you and pour through you to refresh the hearts of others.

Jesus told us that such days call us to be sober and vigilant, but that isn’t with fear and anxiety. Sober, yes, but joyfully so! God is on the move. The wind has freshened; the fog is lifting, new adventures await.

I got this email a couple of weeks ago from Jack, a good friend in South Carolina. He describes so well what religious obligation can do to destroy the great adventure of engaging the transcendent God of the universe and learning to follow him through the brokenness of this age.

Life in him is full of wonder, mystery, and adventure rather than simply settling into a stagnant routine that no longer quickens the hart.

Kyle Rice and I discuss this email on today’s episode of The God Journey – Recovering Mystery. I knew some of you would like to have it in print as well:

As much I have tried to live inside the Christian faith with the rule of scripture and abundance of obligation, I have touched upon a most unsettling truth. I wonder if I lost something early on in my childhood that stopped me from seeing the mystery in things? Perhaps it was in the growing up that plowed over my sense of mystery. Perhaps it was the becoming a man, that part of being sure of oneself, left off no room for wonder. Maybe it has been the rush to be right.

I don’t know why I lost my sense of wonder. Of great mystery of and in life and in things in particular but, like the dull and faded paint job on an old, old house, there was something once beautiful and today, it has faded. There seems to be a way to control oneself in the course of “normal Christian life” and to that end, tame the Lion of Judah. Maybe it has been covered up in the preaching and teaching of principles and keys of the Christian life. All those good but still left off in the mystery I am realizing that every principle and keys seems shallow, ill fitting, clumsy and useless. I wonder if those that have the most to lose in this “wonder” are those who have paid the most into the formulaic principles of Christianity; those whose needs and egos to control were fashioned in the halls of established religion. Mostly, and most assuredly the doctrines of being Right. Establishment, Creeds, Observation of days and events, Doctrines, rituals, sanctimony and sanctuary and so many more building blocks to dull the heart and blind the soul to the wonder found in the mystery of Christ. We can’t have mystery in the normal Christian faith.

Perhaps they believe in no more mystery and wonder beyond the Incarnation. If we never encounter the mystery of the fellowship with Jesus. We will put other things in that space. Religious things, principles, obligations, appeasements and the likes. Mostly because those who are so called teachers do not know or have not known the expression of life found in a real, living relationship with Jesus- the mystery of falling in love with him. After all the time, I am finding little else but empty cans of beans and burnt marshmallows. Today, I do smell smoke but, from a distant fire. The fire of the Creator of the universe who fashioned us for life and for the love of it gave us the only remedy for it—Jesus Christ.

The wonder and mystery of this for me, is the beginning of all things new. My hearts desire is to know him in the way and ways he wants to reveal himself to me. No formula. No keys. No principles. Just Him. I have the Spirit of Christ in me. Surely this is enough. Finally, I have started to see this—the Mystery that has been kept secret from before the foundation of the world…..what a treasure this is!

Treasure indeed!  When the possibility of what Jesus might show you today or where he might lead you no longer sparks wonder and awe in your heart, it’s time to pause and ask him to help you recapture the mystery of Christ in you the Hope of Glory. (Colossians 1:27)

‘Tis the season to be panicked….”

OK, not really, but that’s how it feels for many people. Meeting all the expectations for a meaningful holiday season, navigating the toxic people in your family, or marking the passing of another year without the changes you had hoped to see in your life, can draw our minds into some pretty dark space.

I get that email often. “I am overwhelmed by all life is hurling at me. My prayers don’t work and I’m wondering if God even cares about me. I don’t know how to fix it. Help!” You can hear it even through their email—the breathlessness of their exhaustion and the fear that they will not make it much longer. Spiritual panic is being overwhelmed by challenging circumstances and not being certain that God is there to help you.

Finding peace during turmoil is not about praying the right prayers or trying to figure it all out in your head. The harder you try, the more panicked you’ll become.  At times like that, I find it helpful to remind myself to do what Jesus asked of Nicodemus in John 3. He told him he needed to be born again, and he wasn’t talking about walking down the Roman Road and punching his get-out-of-hell-free card. He meant Nicodemus needed to discard all the religious conclusions he’d made about God and himself and let the Spirit take the opportunity to carry him into a new way of living.

We can’t do this on our own. We’re like that little child in the picture above. When his hand slides under ours all we need to do is take hold. That’s what we offer—a willing heart for the Spirit’s work to unfold in us. The simple prayer is, “Will you lead me into the Father’s life?” And that’s not a once-in-a-lifetime prayer to secure our salvation but a daily prayer that helps us be open to his work instead of trying to fix things on our own.

That’s it.

Then, let him teach you how to rest in his care for you. He will accomplish this in his time and his way. You can’t fix what’s wrong with your life; you can only relax into the reality that he can. I know that’s hard to do in human terms, but he will help you learn to settle into his love. You don’t have to “have faith” in the specific outcomes you want. All you have to do is remember that you are not alone, the God of the universe deeply loves you, and that he wants to hold you in his love and guide you through the situations that confront you. He is your way through the challenges you face.

So, when life seems to get away from you, slow down. Take a deep breath. Stop looking way down the road with your worries and fears. Ask yourself if you have enough for today. Jesus told us that grace is given in daily doses, which is why worrying about our imagined futures is so debilitating. Today, he is with us. When we put ourselves into the future we’re afraid of, we are alone there. The human mind can’t imagine what form grace might take in our worst fears.

When you feel lost and shattered, remember you are not lost to him. He knows where you are and is already inviting you into a freer space. Stay inside this day and follow whatever nudge he seems to place on your heart. You don’t have to figure it all out. You don’t have to contrive a strategy. Just follow as you see the way and, where you don’t, simply occupy a space of love and goodness toward others until his direction appears.

In his incredibly insightful booklet, David Morsey in On Being Led by the Spirit, wrote this:

Trust the Lord to work out His purposes with our life, in spite of your fluctuating feelings and human inadequacy, to make the right decisions. Put your whole life in his hands and ask Him to work out His will in spite of you. That is your ultimate safeguard.

I know how scary that prospect can be because everyone else encourages us to put our trust in them and their resources.  Most of them will invite us to trust in some principle or program. Even if it’s a spiritual program, that doesn’t mean it will connect you with his Spirit.

God wants you to be secure in his love and at rest in his work. Learn the joy of that, and no circumstance or set of circumstances will ever threaten you again. And, if you need help, you might ask God if there’s someone around you who can encourage you in these things, even if you haven’t met them yet. Look for someone who is at peace themselves and not building anything they want to hook you into.

Please don’t focus on the uncertainty of what you don’t know; focus instead on the certainty of who he is. Let him bring the light to you as you’re learning to follow. The reason that can seem so difficult is that it’s far simpler than we dare to believe. Learning his ways is not a road map to memorize but an inner reality to follow. It is far better explored than explained, so we can take it one day at a time.  He has all the resources you need to find the simplicity of living as his beloved child.

Because that’s exactly who you are.

___________

One final note… Kyle and Wayne process their time last weekend with a group of twenty- and thirty-year-olds in the mountains of Colorado on today’s edition of The God Journey. In the process, they talk about what they all learned about holding space inside the Father’s work, a wonderful lesson for all of us.

I was a guest on a podcast yesterday recorded by two South Africans, one still in his home country, and the other recently moved to Holland.  What a delighful conversation. They asked me questions about my journey that pulled things out of me in ways I had never shared before. I saw some of my past journey in new ways, which both surprised and blessed me. I ‘ll let you know when it is posted online.

One bit of the conversation we stumbled into was how I help people find the trailhead when they’ve grown exhausted or disillusioned with the religious performance treadmill so embedded in our institutional approach to the religion we call Christianity. I was taught that God’s blessing was the reward for our diligent effort to believe the doctrines and abide by the rituals and ethics that Scripture teaches us.  I found myself responding this way:

For a long time, what I taught was human effort. We know more truth than we live, so we always feel the compulsion to try harder. But what the new covenant says at it its heart is that this is a transformation fed by his revelation not by our performance. It begins with God revealing; it doesn’t begin with us seeking.  That’s true as much when we come in the door as it is in how I live my life today. This is not Wayne seeking from God what Wayne wants but asking God each day, “What do you want to reveal to me, and who do you want me to love today?

Everything about life in Jesus is summed up in this—he reveals and we respond, not we achieve and he rewards.

To cease striving in our own self-effort we have to believe that God loves us enough to guide our journey into his glory. That’s the challenge. We fear nothing will happen if we are not putting in our best effort. Until we stopy, however, we won’t let God have the lead in this dance. Remember, no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him, and that desire. you have to know him is that drawing.

The journey doesn’t begin as we try to implement someone’s well-meaning discipleship program; it begins with him showing us something about himself that will help us navigate the day that spreads out before us. Following him is where life begins. Each day, we are on a treasure hunt for his glory as he is revealing it on that day, not trying to convince a reluctant God who would rather withhold his glory until we earn it.

If that’s not real to you, simply ask him to show you. He wants this for you more than you want it for yourself.

___________

For your thoughts and prayers:  Thursday, I’m off to Colorado to join some twenty and thirty somethings in the mountains above Colorado Springs. His Spirit is stirring in a younger generation to be agents of his glory in this broken world. I’m looking forward, along with Kyle, to see what God shows us about that work and how some of us in my age-bracket can come alongside that work and encourage them as God reveals himself. I’m sure we’ll have more to share afterwards.

I receive some of the most amazing emails in my inbox, detailing people’s stories and how intersecting some of my books or podcasts has helped affirm what the Spirit had already been speaking into their hearts.  I don’t always get to meet those who write them, though. On my most recent trip, I got to visit with Celia Layman right near where I took that picture above. She wrote me a couple of years ago about the transformation in her life that began with someone telling her about He Loves Me.

The trajectory her life has taken, and how it has helped her navigate these difficult days encouraged me and I think she might inspire you as well.

I can still picture the bench near an indoor climbing wall in Charlottesville, Virginia where I was sitting with a friend when she shared with me about a book she was reading. She began to tell me how learning to “live loved” had changed the way in which she lived each day. My interest was immediately piqued and got my own copy of He Loves Me!

Your writing has helped me to find my own voice as I have processed my own journey out of religious obligation and outward performance to learning how to live under the cover of His wings. Reading So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore a few years ago gave me a clear understanding of why I was so restless in my church. Not long after, God led our family to a new faith community that is “far more centered on relationship than religion” and where “those who act as leaders are true servants” (p.185). I read Beyond Sundays this past summer along with several other books by other authors. Your book deepened my understanding that the church “cannot be contained or managed in any human organization” (p. 21).

I have also been listening much more regularly to The God Journey podcasts and I really enjoy your Lifestream blog posts. Sometimes it really does seem like your perspective on politics, church, and Scripture and the overlap of these three is the only public voice with which I can wholeheartedly identify.

I also began to be mindful of the people whom God has placed in my life who are cynical at best when it comes to their concept of American “Christianity”. I began to want to see my “in-group” through their eyes. So, this past summer when I heard about the soon-to-be-released A Language of Healing for a Polarized Nation, I could not wait to get my copy. It has helped me to develop a clearer understanding of why the world often has a negative perception of Christians. And gave me the concepts and words I needed to be able to express why it is so important that we seek to have a growth mindset.

I believe that our trust cannot be placed in an earthly leader or agenda. Any leader will fall terribly short of promises made, policies proposed, and slogans pitched. When we let our hope rest in these, we will be gravely disappointed. Even beyond that, when we look towards earthly leaders for Light, our vision dims. Then we can no longer see our responsibility to walk with justice, mercy, and humility while abiding in peace, resting in strength, and sharing love… as we change the world… one life at a time, especially in a time as uncertain as this.

This book prepared me on two levels. One, to have space for an even deeper compassion for those who have suffered mistreatment and inequality. It prepared me to hear their desperate cries for help and not look away or justify. Two, it prepared me to have patient and calm discussions with white people who do not yet see the depth of the racial issues we face, as well as to listen with compassion to my friends of color who need a safe place to be seen and heard. Thank you for all you have done to address these issues head-on from a place of both grace and truth.

Yet throughout this time, I sensed that God had been preparing me for this challenge and that some pruning that took place during the quarantine period had freed me emotionally and relationally in ways that I can now see as I look back on the summer. Even with meeting new people with facial coverings and working under heightened stress, I sensed an undergirding strength and a new space in which to engage brand new people beyond the surface level and I found myself ready to listen and pick up on cues that the conversation would take a spiritual turn.

In one conversation, a co-worker casually said that her family were not “church people”. I told her that I was not a “church person” either and that we had found a loosely structured faith community that is authentic and that we were done with traditional church. That got her attention and she shared about her husband growing up as a Baptist preacher’s son and the negative impact that his growing up years had on him. She listened as I told her about how I’ve discovered a relationship with God that is totally separate from religion. I shared about your books (mainly He Loves Me and So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore). She was very open. From then on, our conversations always cut right through superficial talk as time allowed.

The Embracing His Glory episodes have been a balm for my spirit this summer. #6 deeply resonated with me and I have listened to it at least 4 times… the parts about being able to hold temporal things at bay and being a bridge from the seen world to the unseen world encouraged and challenged me!

Your work allowed me to keep up with the social and political issues of these times without being overtaken by the clamor of a media-driven culture. Your perspective helps me guard against the pull to get caught up in a swirl of spins and emotional rhetoric. It reminds me of the danger of getting caught in an undertow that wants to pull me down and keep me entangled in darkness beneath the surface. I don’t want to live down there where I can’t breathe. Thank you for helping me to be able to be present for those I care most about!

Your work has helped me to be intentional about living above the fray and to not give too much of my time and attention away to issues I am powerless to change. I do have a vision of how I can positively impact my tiny corner of the world during these difficult times.

I anticipate the day when you will be able to travel and share in person… maybe here in Virginia one day!

I love stories of transformation and am greatly encouraged that some of the resources at Lifestream.org and TheGodJourney.com were part of helping her see what Father wanted her to see.  And who would have thought two years later her anticipation would come true as we sat down one afternoon together in the Shenandoah Valley to celebrate what God has done in both our lives.

I love the family that Jesus is knitting together around the whole world and how Jesus is taking shape in his people.

“God wants to wean us from depending on earthly circumstances for peace.”

I read that statement yesterday in a little book I found on my desk the other day. I don’t even remember who sent it to me or when. It is called On Being Led by the Spirit written by David Morsey.  This simple booklet contains a lot of profound counsel on shifting our attention away from the distractions of this world to help us discern better the voice of the Spirit. The one I quote above got me musing on many things yesterday as I was preparing to fly to Virginia today and then hop over to Maryland the following weekend.  (If you want to catch up with me there, you can see my Travel Page for details.)

So often, we pray for peaceful circumstances or for a peaceful feeling to fill us from nowhere and are disappointed when those prayers aren’t answered.  What God has in mind is drawing us so close to him that he holds our hearts at rest no matter what we’re facing. We are never alone and never without a way through the worst that life can throw at us. And, when he becomes our peace, no circumstance can steal it.

That got me thinking about some other things throughout the day yesterday:

• If I look for peace in my circumstances, I will not have his peace when bad times come.
• If I look for him to provide the circumstantial outcomes I desire, I will fall victim to any deception that comforts me rather than seeing what better options he has in mind.
• If I look for his wisdom in what I already know, how can I grow to know him better?  
• If I look for validation from what others think of me, I am owned by anyone willing to lie about me. 
• If I am concerned with appearances, I won’t be able to see what’s true.
• If I only love people I deem worthy of it, I won’t love the people who need it most.

Four times in a brief conversation, he looked me in the eye and angrily stated, “I don’t believe you.”

This came from a close friend, one with whom I’ve walked for many years. He was asking me some direct questions, and I was answering them honestly. However, he wasn’t getting the answers he wanted, and instead of letting that shift his assumptions, he chose to double down on his false accusations. At one point, he even said, “God has told me not to trust anything you say.” There it was, the God card, used to trump the relationship. A friendship can’t exist where words are not trusted.

Admittedly, this man had been engaged in gossip about me by others who intended to destroy our relationship and get their own way with him. I knew it had been going on, but I did not want to join that game to fight it.  I hoped our years of relationship would have counted for something. They haven’t yet, but still, I wasn’t going to repeatedly answer ridiculous allegations for someone who no longer cared what was true.

It’s incredible how people can express love and respect for you in one breath and call you a liar with their next.  I believe in you; I just don’t believe you. 

I’ve been down this road before; so has Jesus.  I know this will be hard to hear for some, but the essence of the Gospel is not that we believe in him. That’s easy to do. Many profess Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, who will not believe him when he seeks to reveal his truth to them. Professing belief in Christ will not lead you to his fullness. We only get there by believing him when he shows us what’s true, especially when it’s something we don’t want to be true.

That’s what is going on with Peter in the story Matthew tells (Matthew 16). Jesus asked him who people said that he was and then asked Peter what he thought.  His resounding affirmation of who Christ was, “the Son of the Living God,” is one of his greatest moments, and Jesus is thrilled with his answer. He tells Peter that he is a rock, and on that rock, he would build his church.  Peter believes in him. When Jesus went on, however, to say he was headed to Jerusalem to be delivered over to the leaders of the city where he would suffer at their hands and die, Peter would have none of it. He discounts the very words of the one he just proclaimed to be God’s Son.

Of course, Peter couldn’t see the necessity of his friend’s death in Jerusalem and wanted to prevent it. In Peter’s response, however, Jesus hears the voice of Satan and rebukes him. “You are only looking out for your own interests, not God’s.”  It is one thing to believe in Jesus and quite another to believe him when his interests run counter to ours.

I have often caught myself arguing with thoughts in my head that I had to admit later were God’s leading. When he invites us into his reality, it will challenge our own comfort and the false conclusions others have sown in our hearts. This is the crux of faith, not a doctrinal stand about the nature of Christ, but learning to believe him when he nudges us into his reality is the essence of discipleship. What good is it to believe in him if we don’t believe him when he speaks?

He wants to show you what’s real and not real about the circumstances you swim in, the lies you’ve been convinced of, and the selfish motives you are serving to your own hurt. Following him at moments like that is what will lead you into the joy and power of his kingdom.  If we choose not to see or believe him when his reality conflicts with our own preferences, we aren’t following him. We’re just following our inclinations and signing his name to it.

It’s time for a new generation of men and women not just to profess a belief in him but actually to learn to follow even in the most challenging thing he might ask of us. Those who help transform the world know his love enough to recognize his voice and trust his intentions toward them enough to follow him even when we prefer not to. People who pray at his leading even when it is counter to their interests, and follow him even when it’s not their preference, become agents of his glory in a broken world. Discovering what he wants you to know, no matter how uncomfortable, is the way to live. Everything else is just a smokescreen, even our most passionate confessions.

The most significant transformations in my life have often come after the most painful obediences where I was being nudged to act in ways my flesh resisted. In time, however, when I could enjoy the fruit of my following, I was so grateful I’d taken the road he invited me down. When I expressed my gratitude to him for all that followed, I’ve heard him say things like, “I simply showed you what was true, and you dared to believe me.”

That daring to believe him rarely comes easily, but I have never regretted it. This is what believing him means.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe^[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

John 20:30-31

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Many of my previous blogs and articles like this have been compiled into a 365-day devotional to encourage your heart into the greater realities of living loved and recognizing his ways. You can order your copy of  Live Loved Free Full here.

Most days, I get an email from someone reading Live Loved Free Full, telling me how much the reflection of that day was perfectly tailored to a specific circumstance in their life, or it was just the encouragement they needed for that day. The other day someone said it was their favorite from all the books I’ve written. To be honest, Sara and I are reading it too, and appreciate the space it draws us into with Jesus. Here’s a reflection that touched us back from September 11, and is particularly appropriate for the trying times we live in:

Looking to him instead of focusing on our circumstances alone is a constant challenge but it is the way to Life. We are never alone, never without his care to walk with us through those things that seek to overwhelm us. With eyes on him, he will not only comfort us but also give us the wisdom and courage we need to negotiate what’s before us and see his glory unfold in it.

I’m deeply touched by the email I get from this book and appreciate those of you who take the time to write and let me know.  If you don’t have your copy yet, now may be the time to order your copy of Live Loved Free Full.

And while you’re at it, this beautiful book makes an excellent Christmas present for someone you love who might be able to use the same daily encouragement. They may end up thanking you all year long.

Order your copies here.