Well, the summer is finally coming to a close. Not going to lie, I’m ready for this heat to go away. What this also means is that we are all entering into new seasons of our lives. The summer vacations come to a close, college students head back to having their time filled with work, and kids start a new grade while having to wake up early in the mornings (but moooooom, I don’t want to wake up!). It’s funny how fast time seems to fly by, we finish one season of our lives in a blur and jump towards the next. It can be pretty scary if we’re honest. New things always make us unsure of what we know. I’ve been thinking a lot about this because today in fact, I start my senior year at UNCG, which makes me nervecited. What’s that? You have no idea what my made up word means? It’s a combination of nervous and excited. I’m nervous because after this year is when I start looking for jobs and enter into the “real world.” At the same time I’m excited because I will begin a new chapter in the story of my life. We all have transitions and new chapters, all of which have us entering into unknown territory.
Hope
Surrendering for Something Greater
We are made for something greater. It’s an inherent aspect of our very being, we want to do and be more than someone who simply exists. One of the biggest questions we ask is, why am I here? My Pastor yesterday spoke about this idea stating, the reason we feel this way is because we were not made for this world. He’s right, we were made for a different world. The concept sounds like I’m writing a comic book, but stick with me. We were made to live in paradise with Christ, but because of a choice that was made, we became separated from God. Isn’t that so crazy? We were made to be perfect living in the world God gave us, but because of a choice we lost it. So that leaves us in the predicament, we were made for something more, but how do we do that? What does that mean? What’s the point? I’ve had these questions so many times in my life, so many moments where I have no idea what to do or how to run after a purpose. When I have these moments in my life, I think of the idea of surrender. To surrender one’s life is to abandon oneself entirely to a powerful emotion or influence. When I think of this definition, it reminds me that when I surrender to Christ, he makes me greater.
Unexpected Lessons
Life is filled with the unexpected. These are things that can be good or bad, but each day we are filled with the unexpected. It can be difficult to trust God in these moments, because these life moments can be hard. A death in the family, heartbreak, and watching people close to you fall away can plague our lives and cause us to enter into storms like none other. These unexpected events cause change in our lives, and change is scary. I had a chance to speak last night with our youth about how change can come at us all the time. These students are having to choose colleges and face the hardships of a high schooler in our modern era. This idea came at me in kind of a silly way, this week in an Instagram update, a feature called “stories” was added, a feature that is very similar to the app of Snapchat (*gasp* scandal!). While it is a silly thing, people seemed to be upset, and that made me think, if something this small can upset us, how do we react when the real issues affect us? Changes create unexpected moments in our lives, but God wants to use unexpected moments to make us stronger. John 16:33b says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” You see even though we will face hardships in the unexpected nature of life, we don’t have to fear, because Christ reigns supreme.
Invincible
One of the biggest lies we are told is that with we can overcome anything if we put our mind to it. We struggle and the world around us tells us to just power through it, that you are the only one holding you back. Life has us face some of the hardest struggles and deepest hurts that it throws our way, and we feel helpless. We feel like we should be stronger, that we should be invincible, especially as a believer we feel like we shouldn’t be struggling. We all struggle, yet we feel like we are the only ones. I know for me I look at others around me and feel like they have unlocked the secret to being invincible. Then there’s the other side, when life is going great. We aren’t having any issues, life seems to finally be at peace, and we start to feel invincible. This is what I like to call the “invincibility curse.” I know, it sounds pretty cool, I came up with that on my own. Okay, back down to earth. I like to call it this because we all have faced one or both of the symptoms to this curse. We either face situations where we are frustrated by the fact that we aren’t invincible, or we let our guard down when we are in times of peace. The reality of this curse is the fact that we are striving for invincibility, rather than relying on God at all times in our life. We have made invincibility an idol, losing sight of what really matters.
Move Forward
Let’s face it, it’s hard to chase after our dreams. The Disney method of believing seems to be impossible. We all have desires and callings for greater things, and God has designed us to have this passion burning within us. We start the race, but life hits us with everything its’ got. We face pain from broken relationships, heartache from the loss of people dear to us, and the sting from words spoken against us. For me, I’ve experienced a lot of it, just like you have. Many times I don’t want to keep running into the future. I’m afraid of the pain and the unknown that will come. Fear creeps in. Fear always creeps in. For me, I want to be a writer and empower leaders of the next generation, but that road is unclear. I serve any chance I can and intern with youth, but that fear likes to creep in and tell me my dreams are unattainable. The same is true for all of us, we have different dreams and different places we wish to end up, but we are held back from our pursuit of it. I’m a visual type person, so when I picture the idea of chasing after a dream, I think of people running in a race trying to attain the medal. I think God is a visual person too, because he inspired the unknown writer of Hebrews to think of the same metaphor in chapter 12. Verse 1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I love this verse because it revealed something to me that I want to share today. It caused me to think about three things that hold us back from moving forward. I’m going to call these the three viruses that hold you back, I like the word virus because it makes me think of some of the worst things in this world that keep us from living well, and these are nasty traits that will hold you back.
Being a Leader Is Hard, so Let’s Lead
Being a leader is hard work. It requires you to be strong when others aren’t, make tough decisions, and stand for what you believe is right; but we are all called to be leaders. A leader is simply one who leads a group, pretty basic stuff right? What this looks like is simple, yet complex. That’s one of the things that never ceases to amaze me, how simple God works to do incredible things. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” You see, we were specially designed by God, made in his image, he gave us abilities and talents that are unlike anyone else. He made us, but we have a calling that he gives each of you, use what he has given you to do good works. Those good works are simply serving others, treating others as you want to be treated.
Your Story Needs to Be Shared
Each day, we create a story. We take on new challenges, we meet new people, and we fight to make it through the hardship. You have a story. You have a past that has led you to this point, you have the ability to make choices now that will propel you into a future God has for you, and you have the power to leave a legacy that will last forever. Over the past three weeks I have written posts to help you understand that we have all been given a story. We all have a past where we can see that God has brought us from, good or bad. We all have the power to choose to live daily seeking Christ, not choosing to be of this world. All ending in our future, that once we trust God with it, we can leave a legacy that matters. These are all things that are vital to your story, but today there is a conclusion that may be the most important aspect of your story. Your story needs to be shared. Another word for your story that we see over and over in the bible is that of your testimony. A testimony is simply a declaration of what you have experienced. Your testimony is unique, because it is yours. Your testimony in Christ has power to it, it has the power to cast out darkness and push the enemy down. Revelation 12:11 says, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” We have been saved by grace and our testimony of that fact gives us the power over the darkness. We become the light, and when there is light, darkness flees.
The Story so Far
We are surrounded in stories. It’s the driving factor in all media in our life, but it is also the way we learn and discover more about ourselves. We all have stories, and we are all in the process of making a story. I plan for over the next month or so to dive into what it means to have a story and how to make your story the best it can be. Why? Because I believe we all have a message to share, I believe that everyone can influence someone for a bigger purpose. It’s so easy to become cynical, or lose faith that we are making a difference in the world. This is so false! The enemy would love nothing more than to have us believe that we don’t matter. It’s the trap that ensnares so many, and if we aren’t careful, it can destroy us. That’s the reason why before we can start learning about trying to make a better story, we must look at where we’ve come from. I am a big proponent of believing that your past does not define your future, and I still believe that, but our past is a love story from God. You see God is the greatest storyteller of all, he made us with the minds capable of creating story, and he is the ultimate authority of story. Our past can be filled with pain, but in that pain, we see how God has raised us out of hell and into freedom. We are able to see that when we choose to follow Christ in a relationship with him, we have victory over all things, even in the hardest of times.
Altered State of Mind
Last week I talked about making a very important choice, a choice that will affect the rest of your life, but what happens afterwards? How do I go about living my life? So often we are able to make the choice, but we continue to live our lives as they were. This isn’t me saying we should all become hermit people only reading the bible every moment of the day, not a bad thing just basically impossible if you have to drive and interact with people, what I am saying is that we become changed people. A relationship with God isn’t some checklist to complete, that isn’t a relationship. We are in relationship with so many people, friends, family, co-workers; but the most important relationship we have is with our creator. When we spend time with these people in our life, we make an effort to connect with them, that’s what God wants for us. When we make the effort to connect with him, our outlook is altered.
Why We Matter
One of the biggest questions I think everyone has asked themselves at some point is, do I even matter? It’s kind of a frightening question to ask oneself. Do we actually matter to the landscape of the world we find ourselves in? The answer, in our own eyes, varies all over the place. Success is subjective in the eyes of the person trying to obtain it. Success in the world may be fame, fortune, and glory; but if this is the standard for if we matter, most of us will fail. I know for me I’m a broke college student who is trying to figure out how I get to the place God has called me to. I don’t exactly meet the fame, fortune, and glory type of success. There has to be something more, right? I believe that God’s idea of success is so much more powerful than we could ever imagine, and it is so much greater than our worldly desires. Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers.” This verse I believe answers that question of why we matter.
Joshua Writes 