Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Morning, Christ Church. Thank you so much for being with us. Happy Mother's day. I know that a day like this means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But, sisters, we see you. Whether today is a reminder of someone special that you love, that you're with today, or someone that you're remembering who's already gone before you, whether today is a celebration of all the work that you got to this moment or the desire in your heart to one day be a mom. We appreciate you, we value you, and we love you. I want to say a special thank you to my beautiful mother, who has given her whole life in service to God, this church, our family. And she is an incredibly gracious and kind woman, and I love her very much. Let me say a prayer.
Dear Father, thank you so much. I pray that you would encourage our hearts this morning. I know that you are a God who does incredible, incredibly impossible things. So I pray that you would inspire us and strengthen us, give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and a heart that is open to how you work and how you move. Help us, I pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
Have you ever felt in over your head before life situations? When I was younger, my family used to go to this park, and they had a pool there. And the pool had a slide that went into the deep end, and it was before I could swim. But I'd look at that slide all of the time and be like, I mean, kids were having a blast. I wanted to go down the slide. It looked amazing. So I remember one summer, I'm like, I'm doing it. I'm going down this slide. My sister's like, absolutely not. You can't swim. I'm like, I got this. I'll figure it out. Right? Like, how hard can it be?
So I did. Went down in the middle. I'm going to date myself here. This is eighties, so it was like that metal slide, you know, like, right into the pool. No safety precautions, and it was amazing. I get in the water. Well, sure enough, I can't swim.
So I'm paddling. I'm doing everything I can to get my head over water, and I'm sinking. And then I'm coming back up, and I'm gasping and I'm sinking, and my sister's on the side screaming. So, of course, inevitably, a lifeguard has to jump in, yanks me to the side, pulls me out. Pretty sure my sister's still a little grouchy at me. Not one of my better moments, to be fair, but I love the water? Yeah, the oceans, the lake, anything that's water. And I love to stand on the ocean and watch the waves or out in the middle of the lake. We've been going to northern Michigan for vacation for our families. And there's this spot. It's crystal blue water, and it's so deep, you can't see anything. There's something so beautiful about the water, but whenever you're in a moment like that, you feel the danger of it. It, right. It's beautiful, but it's dangerous. And life is so similar to that. Life is marked with absolute awe and wonder and beauty, but there's also danger in it. There's delight but fear. There is joy in moments that will take your breath away. They're so awesome. But there's moments of exhaustion and sorrow in pain. And there have been many times in my life since I almost drowned in the pool at the park that I felt like I was in over my head, like I felt. I don't know how to keep my head above water. I'm kicking, I'm paddling. I'm doing everything I can, but I cannot get my feet to solid ground. Have you been there before? You are doing everything you know how to do, but it feels like the water of life is creeping up on you. Out of our depth, out of place, in over our head. What do we do in those kind of moments? Where do we get help when we feel like everything is overwhelming us? Or what do we do next to help us in these moments, find our ways from there? Today, I want to look at the life of an incredible woman that God worked in powerfully. And I want to look at her life as a reminder for us of how God works and how he can help us, even when it feels like life is drowning us and we are way out of our head.
Her name was Esther. She was an orphan that was being raised by her cousin, and she was living in a country that was far from home. Her home, her land, her whole entire nation where they were from it, had been utterly destroyed, and her people, her nation, had been taken into captivity. So here she is, this outsider, living in a foreign world. And I love this note. It's from a study commentary on the book of Esther. It says, the story of Esther is perfect guidance for us when we find ourselves in a situation where right and wrong are not so clearly defined, and every choice we have seems to be a troubling mixture of good and bad. Isn't it life? Like there's not really a good decision or a bad decision. It's like a mixture of all of them. What the heck do you do? Says it's a perfect inspiration for us when we find ourselves in situations we never sought, never planned for, and don't think we have the gifts to succeed at. So we understand from reading Esther that her and her cousin Mordecai are living in a place called Susa. Susa is where the court of the persian king Xerxes has been set up. And you can actually read about Xerxes throughout history. He was ambitious, he was ruthless. He was a brilliant warrior. So in the timeline, what's happened is the babylonian empire was in power when Jerusalem was destroyed, and now it's given way to the persian empire. About 50 years before Esther, there was a ruler named Cyrus who had given the jewish people permission to go back to their homeland. He'd given them what they needed to go rebuild their homes in the temple and the cities. But there were groups of jewish people who chose not to return to Jerusalem, and they stayed in these foreign lands. In one of those groups, we find Esther and her cousin. So here they are, living in this place, and Xerxes is king, and he lives in a time where might makes right, and he decides that he is displeased with his current wife, the current queen. He banishes her, and his advisors are like, let's do a contest and bring the most beautiful women before you. You can pick a new queen, a young queen. So Esther is one of these young women who is brought before the king for him to choose from, and she just happens to capture his attention. And in a weird beauty pageant of sorts, not anything that would fly today for sure, he chooses her to be the next queen. Now, talk about being in over your head for a second. She goes from literal obscurity to being put in the palace. She's surrounded by splendor and royalty and wealth and influence, and she's all of a sudden in this new position, and her cousin Mordecai tells her, gives her the recommendation. Don't really tell anybody who you are. Like, don't let them know that you're jewish. Don't let them know that you're part of the israelite community. Just kind of go along with things as they are. And it seems to be working great. She's in this place. She's in this position. She's queen. Things are lovely until a man named Haman comes along. Haman was an influential leader for the king, and he one day gets real grouchy at Mordecai. Haman is in a position of power, and when somebody in a position of power walks by you, you should bow to them and scrape down to them and submit to them. And Mordecai wouldn't, and it absolutely infuriates Haman's ego and pride. So he decides, I'm going to get back at Mordecai. But just destroying Mordecai doesn't really seem good enough, because now he's angry and his pride's been pricked. You've seen people whose ego has been pricked, right? Like, go big or go home. So he's like, I'm just going to destroy Mordecai and all of his people. If you're jewish, you're dead. That's it. I'm mad at Mordecai. Now. I'm taking out on all of you. I'm just going to destroy everybody. So he comes up with this idea, a bribery of sorts, that if the king will give permission on a certain day of the year for everybody to just destroy anybody who is jewish, he'll make this huge donation to the royal treasury.
He gives this idea to the king. The king's like, sure, that's no problem. Signs it in, it becomes an edict. The word goes out on a certain day, you don't like any jewish people, just feel free to kill them, take their property. It will become your own. Well, as you can imagine, this is utterly terrifying. If you're jewish, you're already living in a foreign place with not a lot of position or power. Now, your very life, not just yours, but your family, your kids, is on the line. Mordecai hears about it, and he tears his clothes. He put on burlap and ashes, and he went out crying with a loud and bitter wail. News spreads, and the jewish people are mourning and fainting, fasting and weeping. So Esther hasn't really heard about this decree yet, but she understands. She gets word that Mordecai is really, really upset. So she sends a messenger to him, and she tries to figure out what this distress is coming from, and Mordecai gets a copy of the decree, what's going into effect back to her. And so he asks her, go to the king, beg for mercy, and see if you can't, please plead for our people in a way that nobody can. And here's Esther's response. We find it in chapter four, verse eleven.
She said, all the king's officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. The king hasn't called for me to come to him for 30 days. She's like, ork, I'm kind of in a tricky situation here. Like, yeah, I'm put in this position of queen, but we know how the king works. When he doesn't like you, he just gets rid of you or kills you or banishes you or just does away with you. And this isn't a position, like, we get to talk every night over dinner. He hasn't seen me for 30 days. I'm literally going to put my life at risk to go before the king. So this is the word that Mordecai sends back, verse 13. Don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace, you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this? So Mordecai really challenges Esther. Look, don't think that doing nothing is going to save your life. Your life is in danger, and it's at risk whether you do something or nothing. And, look, God is going to save you, his people, but maybe, just maybe, you're in this position that you are for just exactly this moment, in this time.
So finally, Esther responds. Verse 16. She says, go and gather together all the Jews of Susa, and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days. Night or day, my maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I die, I must die.
So after three days, Esther asks for help. They're all fasting with her. They're all together, and after three days of preparing herself, she gets ready, and she goes before the king.
She goes before the king, and he welcomes her in. He even goes as far as to say, what do you want? What's your request? I will give it to you, even if it's half of the kingdom. And so Esther is trying to be thoughtful and wise, and she doesn't just blurt out everything that's going on. And she says, I'd like to have this banquet that you and Haman can come to. And so she brings them together, and they're eating, and they're drinking, and the king again says, like, tell me what this is about. Tell me what you want. I'll give it to you, even if it's the half of my kingdom. And in chapter five, verse seven, Esther replied, this is my request and deepest wish. If I have found favor with the king, if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet. I'll prepare for you, then I'll explain what this is about. So she gives herself time. She gives herself a thoughtful space to do this in a way where she can explain the situation to the king. So they come the next day for the banquet. And finally, in chapter seven, verse three, she says, if I found favor with the king, if it pleases the king to grant my request, I I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared, for my people have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had been merely sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial of a matter to warrant disturbing the king. It takes the king off guard, like, who would do such a thing? What are you talking about? And Esther says, haman. And in a rage, the king jumps to his feet. He rushes out of the palace garden, and he gets more peace. And while he's gone, Haman realizes, oh, this is bad. This is not going in my favor. And he throws himself on Esther, like, trying to plead for her. And at just the moment, the king comes back in and he sees Haman hanging on Esther, and then he's absolutely, literally furious, like, how dare you touch her? He has him taken away, has him put to death, has all of his property and wealth given to Esther, and she puts Mordecai in charge of it all. Mordecai is promoted, and he has fame and power and spreads. And this decree that has gone out to destroy the Jews, it can't be, whatever law or rules, it can't be deleted. But they set into motion a new one instead. They could fight back. They could defend their lives and defend their properties. And so on the day that came, they were able to stand up and fight back against any enemy who would come against them. And instead of the destruction of an entire people, a nation of people who were in a foreign land, we are told that they were saved, and they turned this into a celebration. It became the festival of Purim, which is still celebrated to this day.
And we read about this moment in the life of Esther. I really want us to hone in on a few things, because I think sometimes when we read the Bible and we see people like this, and it's dangerous, and. And life is on the line, and there's all of these hard moments, and we think, well, I'm not them. I could never be like them. I'm not a queen. I'm never winning a beauty pageant. And we see this almost impossible standard. Like, if that's the standard, I see how short I fall. And Lord knows, we don't need another impossible standard to try and live up to. But that's not the point. In fact, if we look at it that way, we miss the humanity and the reality of the life of a human being. Reading Esther isn't to say, now, go and be noble and beautiful just like her, right? Instead, we're looking at her as a human being. She was in no way perfect. She was in no way somebody who did everything right at all of the right times. She was a human being with real problems and real struggles. Struggles. Instead, we get to see this moment in time where things were very, very hard. Things did seem absolutely impossible, but God was still at work.
We get to look at the life of a woman like Esther and Nat go be many esthers. Amen.
Instead, we get to say, what might God do today? In impossible moments in my life today, where might God be? At work, where everything seems hard and I don't know what to do. There's something really, really cool in the book of Esther. Maybe you've seen it before. Maybe you've heard it before. You've read it and kind of wondered it. Esther is the only book of the Bible to never mention God's name. Not one time, not any variation of it, not in any way. And it's not a mistake. It's not like the writer got to the end of the book, and they're like, oh, shoot, I forgot to put God in there somewhere. Somewhere.
It's very, very intentional. It's, in fact, a literary device that's used for a very, very specific purpose. See, you don't see God's name, but God is at work in incredible ways in the Book of Esther. In fact, you can read through every single chapter and the way things happen and the way moments that are like, it feels like it should be chance or it just happened out of nowhere, when, in fact, God is at work, even when we can't see him in this unlikely place, a foreign country that's a blip in the pages of history, in what seems like very insignificant events, people who aren't known or remembered by a lot of people today. Look, God is moving in powerful ways. So there's two big ideas that I want us to walk away with today? If you're taking notes, you can write them down, text them to yourself, put them on a little thing. There's two big ideas that I think give us courage, strength, and energy to do the things that we need to do. Here's the two big ideas. Number one, God is at work.
No matter where you are in life, God is at work. No matter what situation you're facing. There is literally no place that God can't show up and do a good work.
See, Esther finds herself in this position in life. Nobody really gets training for that. Do you ever feel like life is so much like, nobody trained me how to do this, right? Like, she's like, now she's queen, and people are going to kill everybody that she knows or she's related to. Like, there's really no manual for what to do in a situation like that. And how many times in your life you're like, I didn't even know that this was a thing I needed to know anything about. Have you been there before? Like, I didn't even know. I mean, I'll study it. I'll learn it. I'm sure there's people who are smart about the situation, but here she is in this moment, this position. She finds herself queen. She goes from all the splendor and fun and all of these fancy things to, like, literal danger and risk.
And sometimes life turns on a dime like that for us. And we find ourselves in these situations that are hard and thinking, like, what is going on? Either God really must not care about me. God really must not love me if he's letting this hard thing happen, or God isn't really strong enough to stop it.
We've had these questions before, or people have said that before, like, if God was really good, then he wouldn't let that bad thing happen. If God was really powerful, then he would have done something different.
But when we read about Esther, none of these two things are true.
They're not true about God in her life, not even in our own.
And I love so much what Mordecai says to Esther. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this. Maybe this hard moment Esther's facing isn't because God doesn't care, isn't because God doesn't want to do something good, or God isn't powerful enough to step in and change things. Maybe Esther was exactly in this situation because she could do something for good.
Maybe this place that she found herself in, even though it felt overwhelming and in over her head, was exactly the place God could show up and she could know him better. She could see him differently and trust him in a new way.
Maybe the same is just as true for you today.
I don't know what situation you find yourself in. I don't know what hard thing that you find yourself going through.
I don't know what feels too much for you when you wake up in the morning and you can't catch your breath.
But I do know this. Not one of those places, not one of those situations, not one of those things you face are signs that God doesn't love you.
Not one of your hard days that you have been through is a signal that God isn't at work.
Maybe, just maybe, you are where you are for the exact purpose that God does love you and he wants to do a good work through you.
Maybe this time, this place that you find yourself in, you feel like you're drowning, but God's lines you up because he has people he wants to save and he's going to use you to be part of that good work.
Let me talk to our mamas for a second. Mamas, it's been a long year.
I don't know why May is the way that may is. I feel like every year I kind of black it out, so I have to go into next year. You're like, I don't remember. Why do they put so many things in May? We're already trying. We're already above our heads. And then it's like, oh, let me add 15 extra things on top of that end of year schedule. All of these things and you're tired. It got a lot of work to get you here and you're feeling underappreciated, taken for granted. That work you put in day, every day after day, that keeps your family moving goes mostly unseen.
But I want you to hear this today. You matter what you do for your people, the people that God has put you right in the middle of, they need you. And we see you. Who else is going to love those kids in only the way that you could love them? Who else is going to pray for those people in only the way you could pray for them? Who else is going to show up again and again and again to do the hard things and the hard work of raising that family?
I read this analogy from, it's a woman who's a psychologist and she works with families and children, and she uses this analogy of, life is like a swimming pool sticking with water today, guys, so just stay with me. And your kids want to learn how to swim out into the deep end even if they're not ready apparently. But they need the side to come back to. They want to know they can go out there and swim and do the things, but then they need that safe spot to come back to. You're their safe spot. They need to know that you're there and they can come back to you. The tricky part is when they kick off to go back to the deep end, it hurts.
They're kicking off of you and it hurts. But you still stand up day after day after day and you let them know. Go out and have the adventure. Home will always be here as your safe spot, mom, as we see that work that you are doing. And it's not a mistake that you are the mom of these kids. It's not a mistake that you're in the family that you are in. You are where you are because God does love you. God does see you and he has a good work for you to do.
Maybe, maybe the greatest contribution you're going to make to the kingdom of God. It's not something you do. It's someone you love. It's someone you champion. It's someone you fight for even when all hope seems lost. I want you to hear this from my friend Brandi. I have a video I want you to see.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Hello, Christchurch. I am Brandy and my daughter and I started going to Christchurch when she was about 13 years old and she is now 28 years old. So, you know, I'm like every other mom out there. I wanted to know Jesus.
I wanted her to be healthy and happy and successful and know love and all of the things that everybody wants for their children and she is all of those things. Unfortunately, addiction became a part of our lives and really ripped it up.
It was a long time, about eight, nine years that Hailey struggled and I in turn struggled. Addiction not only affects the person that that has the addiction, it affects the entire family. So when I found out that Haley was first using, I was shocked. She was a very high functioning, high achieving person. I was really taken back. But Hailey was suffering and Hailey was addicted and she went to an outpatient program and I thought, you know, that it was for just taking pills.
And her and her counselor brought me in and told me it was heroin and I thought I was going to die but I didn't.
I thought she was going to die but she didn't. I did seek out help. I read every book I could read. I listened to every podcast I could listen to. I did reach out to trusted people.
I started going to Al Anon. I started going to therapy.
I was in the women's prayer group and I did have, and do have an amazing prayer partner that I pray with every week.
And I'm so thankful for that. If you don't have a prayer partner, get one. Get somebody that you pray with every week like that.
It will help you immensely.
The sorrow I felt was deadening and you can do nothing to make them change. So begging, pleading, crying, carrying on, none of that is ever going to help. What you can do is pray and love them so much.
Just love them through it. Know that Jesus has them. You know, there are only our kids on loan from him. My husband is an incredible, amazing man that actually, we got married when Hailey was 19. And he came into my life at the perfect time. Thank you, Scott. And I'm so sorry. It's been a, it's been challenging, but he has loved all of us through it all. And I'm so, so very, very, very grateful. So fast forward eight, nine years.
She had prayed and, you know, asked God, please just save my family. I don't know what it's going to look like or how it's going to happen, but then she had a seizure while she was at work. Thank God she was at work. And I flew across the country, was there by evening, and she said that she was ready to get help, which was amazing. And so many prayers answered over so many years.
But then it was a struggle, like, what are we going to do? Where are we going to find it? So again, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God, for my aunt and uncle had resources here and they connected us with the Alpha Georgia house who are God sent people that dedicate their whole lives. They are on fire for Jesus and on fire for rescuing people from the hell that addiction is. It's a six month program.
Hailey was in Avon Lake and her husband Joe was in Painesville. They both completely surrendered. They got baptized together.
They got better. They got better. God heard our prayers. God answered our prayers. Life is better than I could have ever imagined or expected it to be. They are thriving. Hailey is actually working for the ministry that helped save their lives. So the fact I can look back on it now and just see all of the blessings through it is amazing. I'm so thankful that God chose me to be Haley's mom.
She's amazing. And if I can give you one piece of advice, what to do, whether you're the one struggling or whether you're somebody that loves someone who is suffering, you can't do it. Alone. God gave us each other. And please, please, please seek the resources, seek others to help you. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm so grateful that I get to tell this amazing tale of our lives and just reap all of the tremendous blessings that God has blessed us with.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: I hope you know if you're struggling, if your family is struggling, you're not alone.
So many families do, in different ways and in different places and in different times, people struggle. And the struggle doesn't mean God doesn't love you. The struggle doesn't mean God doesn't love your kids. God is, in fact, writing a story in your life and in the life of your family. God is, in fact, doing a work. And who knows that you weren't put right where you are for such a time as this.
Keep loving your people. Keep praying for your people. Keep fighting for your people. And if you need help in that fight, remember God's given us each other. May 17. We're doing a night of hope at our old Brooklyn campus. There is help. There is hope. There are so many incredible resources to walk you through the struggle so you do not have to live it alone.
Even when you can't see it. God is at work.
Even when it seems impossible and you can't uncover. Understand why God is still in control.
And if it feels like you're drowning, please remember, God is more than ready to help you. God is more than ready to stand with you and see you through.
Maybe it's just time to ask for help.
Maybe it's just time to admit that it's hard and you can't do it by yourself.
Maybe it's time to just grab God's hand and let him pull you up and see you through. Because I promise, there's literally no one that God can't save.
There's literally no time in all of history, in all of space and all of eternity that God can't work for good.
There's no darkness so dark that God's light can't shine through. No matter where you stand today, God can work in you and through you for good. No matter what phase of life you find yourself in, what position you are in, God will work.
But it requires that we trust in him. Because here's the truth. God is at work. But life will constantly require moments of courage from you.
Life will require courage in times and spaces you didn't even know you were capable of. I love Ryan Holiday's idea of courage. He says courage calls all of us differently, and at different times calls us to rise above our fear and our cowardice. He says it doesn't matter how we are called, only that we answer the call. But to do that, we must all battle against fear.
Man, life can be scary, especially when it's the life of people you love.
There's no greater fear, is there, than the fear of losing somebody who means so much to you. And that fear can absolutely cut you down at the knees and keep you from doing anything unless you manage it daily if we don't push back against it, this is what Ryan Holiday says. It stops us in our track and keeps us from moving forward. He said our job is to deal in hope and defeat fear. Friends, you can always choose courage in any moment, any situation, any time. We can choose to be brave.
Here's the truth. Life isn't easy, not for any of us. The myth is everybody else has it better. The myth is, oh, they know Jesus. Everything's perfectly fine now. And that's a myth. It's a lie. Knowing Jesus doesn't mean you never face problems. Knowing Jesus doesn't mean nothing sad ever happens in your life. You can do everything right, and still life can go wrong.
Knowing Jesus means you aren't alone in the problems anymore. Knowing Jesus means you aren't alone in this fight. You have resource, and you have help.
Life will be beautiful and wonderful and awesome, but it will be dangerous, and it will be scary. And there will be parts of your life and a heart that feel broken and unfixable and irreplaceable.
But God can do a good work even there. Life requires risk. Sometimes we think, well, I'm just not going to do anything, and it's the better solution. And that's just as risky as doing nothing. Esther's life was on the line whether she said something or said nothing. But her choice, her bravery allowed her to save those around her. She recognized this moment in her life where it was going to cost her her something. But the nobility wasn't found in a place that she filled or a position that she found herself in. It was choosing to act with courage, even when it was scary. And it's hard.
Your life, your people, your family, your places that you fill, they're going to require courage from you. The courage to show up again and again, even when you got kicked in the teeth and you don't want to, even when you feel unseen and underappreciated. The courage to act with dignity and grace. The courage to say kind things and hard things.
The courage to love through disappointment.
The courage to keep fighting even in the face of fear. The courage to move towards the joy.
The courage to look into the hardest things you've ever done or experienced. Experienced. And keep taking one more step.
The courage to confront the reality of very real pain and very, very, very real discouragement and still move forward anyway.
The courage to trust God and keep following with him day after day after day. I know many times I've asked God, God, just change this. God, take this away. Haven't you? Like, God, this isn't good. I need you to do something here.
But how often have I asked, God, give me more courage to do better here.
God, give me more faith to not want to give up here.
God, could you just pump me full of some more boldness? I know if you do, we can do this together.
What if our prayers just changed instead of, God, change this or take this away. We just said, God, give me what I need to do to stay well.
God, give me what I need to do right now. Well, see, we look at Esther, and we see this risk that she took. And she could have lost her position, and she could have lost her place in the palace to save our people. And she risked her life and all that she'd grown accustomed to. But even greater, even more brilliant than that. Jesus Christ. Christ knew the splendor, the absolute awe of the heavenly places. He knew the riches and the wonders of heaven beyond our imagination. And he didn't just risk losing the palace. He gave it up to join our world and take our part. He didn't just risk losing his life. He freely gave his life that we might live. And out of his brilliant love and brilliant sacrifice, we've been saved. We find favor and love from an incredible God. Christ gave his life that his people, you and I, might be saved. That we might know what it looks like to have favor and forgiveness and grace. Christ drew a line in the sand, improved how far he was willing to go to fight on our behalf. Friends, please hear me. Today, life is filled with impossible standards. The world gives them to us, and we give them to ourselves. But I need you to hear this. If there was ever an impossible standard to meet, Christ has already met it.
Christ has already done it. Checked off the box, done. Fully finished. Not then some done. And when Christ invites us to follow him, it's not to live up to some impossible standard. It's to know the love and favor of an amazing God that we find rest in him. It's not one more impossible list of things that we have to do. It's recognizing who I am is enough. Because Christ, there's nothing he can't do. The hardest fights that need to be fought. He's fighting for us, which, friends, in turn, gives us the courage to show up and do the next right thing, the next hard thing, the next loving thing.
Maybe today you just change your perspective a little bit. God isn't mad at you. God isn't punishing you. God isn't trying to just break you in the moments of life. He is, in fact, working in brilliant and wonderful ways. Just because you can't see him doesn't mean he isn't there.
Maybe where you are right now is exactly the place where God wants to do his beautiful work. But you got to have the courage to show up. You got to have the courage to trust him to do what he's really, really good at. And here's the question.
If not you, then who?
If not now, then when? Because your life is a gift. And this beautiful gift is meant to be lived and cherished every single day. Dear Father, I pray that you would help us. I pray that you give us the faith to see you are a God who is at work. I pray that you would give us the courage to trust you and follow you and live in the goodness and the grace of Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that you would give us the courage to love our people well. I pray that you would give us the faith to trust you in the hardest moments of life, that you would show up with goodness and grace and peace and comfort. Help us, I pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
