Shine On

Are you ready to fight?

The afflictions are many. Oppression hangs like a dark cloud over some of us, and waits in dark corners for others. If you think you're fine, don't fool yourself; we always fall somewhere in states of sleeping, fighting, or resting in victory.

In Judges, when Gideon was sent out with his meager army of 300 (against thousands of Midianites!), not only was he told he had God's favor and that the camp would indeed fall before him, but he was equipped by God to fight with a torch, a trumpet, and a clay pot.

{Judges 6-7}

The clay pot is noteworthy. From our Bible study this week, we learned that these vessels were... brittle. These intentionally devised 'weak' vessels held the soldiers' torches until it was time to strike or drop the pot. Upon breaking, the torch light was able to spill out, visible and fierce. Shining on strong, illuminating darkness. 

The depth of this is simple.

We were made weak by God so that we would depend on Him for strength. We were made weak by God so that when He breaks us, it's His light that spills out of us. God made us brittle so that His light would shine through the cracks and missing shards. And He still equips us for the fight today with strong armor that won't fail {Ephesians 6:10-18}. He is still our advocate - in spite of our weaknesses.

{2 Corinthians 12:9-10}

Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him.

From John 15, we see God as the Great Gardener. He cuts away what is not profitable, and cuts back others in order to yield "even larger crops". Whether we are cut off or cut back... we get cut.

Breaking... cutting... All action words. Inferring pain. {Profitable pain.}

I say profitable, because if everything is either God-arranged or God-allowed (Priscilla Shirer) and if Romans 8:28 is alive and at work in our lives, then this is all growing and working towards goodness and Christ-likeness. That's a promise.

{God is working out your circumstances. God is working through this trial. God is moving through this pain. Tell your soul to be still!}

As for oppression (or circumstances, or sin, trials... you fill it in, whatever you're up against...) that cause grief, pain, disappointment, and even loss... I liken this growing and pruning process as working through the five stages of grief. I'm in 'anger'. I'm angry at this rotted flesh that still has arrows sticking out of it {after all this time}, at the enemy for stealing my time, my peace, my joy, and for creating potential hardship on others. I'm angry with a righteous, hopefully holy anger, at my sin, at my weakness... {that I know He will be glorified in} cut open - cut back, being pruned by Holy shears, and fighting against darkness with a burning open flame amidst broken pot shards this time. I'm mid-battle, and by the grace of God I know now that strong armor and full dependence upon and obedience to our strong God makes all the difference.

Press on, friends. Maybe you're fighting to save your friendships. Your marriage. Your sanity. Maybe the cloud for you is depression or illness. Loneliness. Lostness. Don't give up! Keep running! Fiercely, with boldness... with passion... light spilling from every crack! Don't be lukewarm! Stay awake! Shine on! The victory has already been given into your hands.

Bellarive – Shine On

A Weak Week

Life is hard. Being human is hard. So I had to unharden my heart towards this verse this week to get some fresh perspective on how to live this thing well. I'm going through stuff, and I know you are too.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

{We need each other. The weight on one person alone is crushing.}

I so want to reflect this, but the truth is when someone's burdens are too difficult or heavy or 'messy', I'm like "she gone" (to myself). Anyways. This is critical; real people can go through real things, and never feel more alone.

{Isolation, whether self-imposed or group-imposed is a weapon of the enemy}
who prowls around trying to weaken us, get us alone, and then deliver the deadly strike.
{1 Peter 5:8}

To combat this, we need:
{Hebrews 10:25, 1 Thessalonians 5:11}

Living messy lives together requires both sacrifice and risk. Is it worth it? Can we crucify the idol of superficial Christianity?

Another beautiful truth I've learned this week is that Jesus was not perfectly able/equipped to remain sinless because He avoided places entirely where he would be tried/tempted. No. Jesus was able to remain sinless by first actually being in the world, facing its trials and temptations, and by being empowered to withstand them.

As a friend put it this week - we have to #outsource our strength to God; He empowers us. He is the powerline.

From Matthew 4:1-11, three times Satan approached and tempted Jesus, and each time He said - "Dude, get out of here." Kind of. But He was tempted in three ways: with an earthly/fleshly temptation (food),  with power (over angels), and with authority (over the Earth). {We are still tempted in these ways today.} Each time, Jesus resisted. In His strength, we can too.

Point # 1: Experiencing the trial or temptation is not the sin; giving in is.
Point # 2:  Trials = emotionally radical and exhausting. Emotions do not equal weakness; they equal humanness. In our poisoned humanness, grace is the only saving antidote - first passed down to us, and then passed amongst each other. {Grace!}
Point # 3: God is gentle with us in our weaknesses. God does not make assumptions about our character, scold us for having bad character, or kick us when we're already down. He gently guides us, in His timing, and in perfect love to look more like Him.