Change From The Inside Out

I have had a couple really great conversations over the last week that have got me thinking.

It seems to me, that we can all become so fixated on exterior visible change, that we end up neglecting, or failing to show value to the change that happens internally.

What I mean by that is, rather than celebrating, or encouraging each other in our journey of surrendering our hearts to Jesus, and allowing Him to change how we feel and think, we are constantly scanning and making judgements based on the outward results we see.

Whether in a coffee shop, or church on a Sunday morning, people scan the room watching people, and making decisions; looking for exterior things to motivate, or squash the idea of connection.

In 1 Samuel 16:7 God is talking to the Prophet Samuel about choosing the new king. When Samuel arrived to the place God sent him, he saw a large powerful man, and immediately assumed, this must be the new king, yet God had a different plan. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"

Upon appearance alone, Samuel had made a judgement call, yet he was incorrect in his assessment. The future king was King David, a man of smaller in stature than his brothers. It was not King David's physical size that captured God's attention, rather it was the size of his heart.

Please allow me to encourage you in two different areas.

First, let me encourage you, if you are trying to look like the kind of person you feel people would accept, love, or receive, it's time to change. Rather, ask God to give you the heart of a King, a heart after God's heart.

Second, let me encourage you, if you are depending on outward things to determine what kind of people you surround yourself with, it's time to change. Appearance and outward shells are fleeting and can be deceptive. God looks at the content of the heart, so should we.

Battle for Acceptance

I remember in 1st grade, working on an extra credit assignment over the weekend. We could earn extra points if we wrote out on sheets of paper counting by 2's or 3's. I took several sheets of graph paper, and I went home and filled my pages by counting by 2's. I don't remember exactly what number I had counted up to, but it was in the high hundreds. That next Monday, I walked into class with such confidence, and such excitement. Certainly I was among the intellectually elite, not to mention hard working and quite the go-getter.

I walked up to my teacher when she called out for those who had done extra credit. I proudly stood up and walked to the teacher to turn in my papers. She showed me a big smile, and congratulated me for my efforts. Yet as I turned to walk away, Andy Harris turned his papers in. I overheard him telling the teacher he had counted up to the thousands, and by 3's.

It was the strangest thing, but in that moment I was crushed. Hearing that my best efforts were nowhere near as impressive as Andy's, hit me hard. Andy was a great guy and a friend, he didn't rub it in, and I am certain he doesn't even remember that moment. Yet, I was so deeply wounded.

At that time in my life, I was really struggling because of some hurt I had experienced, so I was pretty emotionally damaged. Because of this I had at a very early age become quite dependent on the praise and acceptance of others. A compliment or acceptance would send me soaring, and a word of criticism or non-acceptance would send me crashing to the ground.

I have learned that so much of what is ugly and painful in this world is fear disguised as something else. Deep desire for acceptance of others is a great example of fear disguising itself. This type of desire for acceptance from others, is simply the fear of rejection.

Deep desire for acceptance from others, is fear of man.

In Proverbs 29:25 it says, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe."

The only way we are victorious over fear, or specifically fear of rejection, is by trusting in the Lord. Our focus changes from other's opinion, and rests instead on God. Then we begin to hear and meditate on what He says about us.

So if you are struggling with the fear of rejection; if you are hurting because you are feeling less, or unworthy, please hear me.

The only place you will find true peace and real acceptance, is in God. In Him, you will find all the acceptance and love you will ever need.

Strength for the Journey

I have taken the last couple weeks off from writing, because I have been choosing to slow down for a little while. A great Pastor friend and mentor of mine says, "Life is about seasons of stress and release, sometimes you really need to press in and do the hard work to accomplish something great, but then you need to take time to rest afterward." This has been a season of release for me.

I find myself from time to time getting a little worn out with balancing all the wonderful things in my life. I love my family, I love my job, I love my friends, and I love serving God. I am passionate about these areas of my life, so I passionately pursue growing, learning, and improving in them. After a season of pressing in to those areas, I get tired.

So does everyone else.

As a matter of fact, even Jesus saw the need to rest. In Luke 5:16 says, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

I am not sure if it is from getting busy, or from being so focused on the moment, but it is so easy to forget to rest.

Jesus knew there was so much need in His day; but He also understood that He needed strength for the next day.

I am pretty sure, there is more on your "to do list" than you have time to accomplish. That can be pretty overwhelming. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 

Truer words have never been spoken, each day has more than enough trouble.

So pace yourself, and start working on withdrawing often to lonely places in order to pray and rest.

Life's journey is a marathon, not a sprint. So press in during the seasons of stress; but remember to get away and rest during the seasons of release.