A Neccessary Truth

3 posts since January that could basically be summed up by 3 words: I gave up.  I don’t mean the throw-in-the-towel, raise-the-white-flag, walk-away-all-together type of giving up.  I mean the giving up when you just kind of decide that maybe the time and effort and sacrifice may not be worth it.  When it feels like there’s a whole world of voices and that yours just gets drowned out.  When you think that you’re not good enough, not eloquent enough, not strong enough, smart enough, fill-in-the-blank enough’s that are run through.  The giving up when we aren’t sure where our place is, how we fit in or where we even belong so we step back and give up for a moment.  Maybe indefinitely or maybe just until we can catch our breathe. 

Honestly, I’d rather you not know that.  But I’m being completely vulnerable because… well, I think we’ve all uttered those 3 words of giving up before.  I think that the condition of our world reflects a people who have been living those words, made a lifestyle of those words, and the enemy has twisted our aching hearts into a complete frenzy.  We are a people who feel overlooked, misunderstood, unseen, unwanted, and set aside.  A people who feel their voice doesn’t matter so we make the choice to shout louder or get painfully quiet.  A people who have given up hope in a battle-fighting God, who are now striving to gain victory on our own terms and standards. 

Whether it’s because I’m a homeschooling mama or just a mama of three very individual hearts that we’ve been entrusted to raise, something I read recently struck a chord.   It was the thought that if we are intentional to allow our children to know that they are a necessary part of the family that they won’t venture to find other places to be needed.  We all have a desire within our hearts to be needed.  We will all fill that desire one way or another, whether it’s for our own good or not.  Over the past several weeks I’ve allowed this to change the way I relate to our kids.  I want them to know without a doubt that they are a necessary part of this family and that their role is one only they can fill.  And wouldn’t you know that as I have molded my parenting around this thought, my Heavenly Father has gently been working to show me how necessary I am to the work of His Kingdom.  Where I convinced myself that everyone has a blog, everyone has an opinion, and it just seemed like maybe silence felt safer, more comfortable and just plain easier.  Where I had enough of all the feelings, all the talking and chatter.  The place where I wanted to say goodbye to the newsfeeds instead of risk being drowned in them.  I gave up.

The gift that God chose to give me is necessary.  That’s the truth whether I choose to believe it or act upon it or not.  God reminded me that my voice, no matter how insignificant I feel it is, matters in the eternal picture for the Kingdom. Same is true for you.  


In the book of Luke, when Jesus sent his disciples to bring him back a colt, the owner of it simply gave the gift because the Lord was in need of it.  He didn't need an explanation or to understand what it would be used for. 

"But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, 'Why are you loosing the colt?'  And they said, 'The Lord has a need of him.'  Then they brought him to Jesus..."  Luke 19:32-34

 

As Jesus-followers, we need to regain our focus.  We need to make it our mission to be sure that those God has placed in our path know the Truth.  Instead of calling them out, shaming their name, shouting over top of their cries, may we humble ourselves and help them to know that they belong in the Kingdom.  When God’s people understand that they are a necessary part of His family, they will lose the need to fulfill the desire to be needed with other, lesser gods and choices that lead to destruction.  We will see hands that begin to let go of the posters, the drugs, the guns, the stances, pumping in protest and the need to be heard, in exchange for open hands ready to serve, love, and worship. 

The gift God gave you is necessary. 

You’re LIFE and EXISTENCE are NECESSARY. 

If we all would come to understand this truth about ourselves, maybe all the endless things we protest, argue, rally around and spill blood over would come to an end.  

Under all the hype,  
behind every poster held high,
within the breath of every voice in the crowd,
next to the wall built to hide the pain,
heard in the heart beat of the one who dares not speak,
inside the soul of every person that kneels and every one that stands,
held in the blood pouring out of a life lost to injustice,
to the tear stained face of the grieving loved one…

                                             
                                                                 is a LIFE that is NEEDED in the Kingdom of God. 

Don’t give up. 
Don’t doubt your individual role.
Don’t question your unique, fearfully made life. 

You are NEEDED. 

                               …by a God who is a battle-winning King, a Good Father, and loving Savior. 
                                  

No Greater Gift

You’ve planned and prepared for this day, covered every detail, and made sure every significant person in your lives was invited.  It’s been months of preparation, deciding and sacrificing so that this day would be memorable.  This day, in all its beauty, has been given to you as a gift from the One who brought you to this moment: to behold, to treasure, to remember.

May you recognize your marriage as a gift – a divine, sacred moment when two individual lives were brought together to unite as one and walk the narrow path, leading to Life, hand in hand.  Do not take this miraculous occurrence for granted.  Do not compare this gift to others around you.  Instead, embrace it as the unique love God has abundantly blessed you with out of the storehouse of His riches.

Live this new life intentionally, understanding that your lives are different now and connected in a way that they had not been before.  Your strength comes from within your unity – alone you were once easily overpowered, but together and with God you cannot be broken.

Seasons of life will bring change, a constant and continual uprooting of where you may learn to find comfort and think you have established, know that this is normal– and make the changes together as you find your footing in the unchanging promises of God.

Hard times will surely come, you will be stretched thin and you will have little left to give.  These are the times when most others walk out.  May you allow these moments to bring you closer to one another and to God.  Knowing that as He allows you to go through these times, He will comfort you, sustain you, provide for you and grow your love for one another as you remain in Him.

Marriage offers the gift of seeing the worst in each other and being able to love one another even more so because of this.  It requires aggressive forgiveness and the opportunity to extend grace to the one you love more than life itself.  When one of you falls short, understand that it is as though you are the one in need of grace and extend it – fully, without reservation.  Gently and humbly lead one another back to the cross if one of you should stray.

The gift of your love is not only to be treasured by you, but also to be shared.  Never underestimate God’s power through your marriage.  Allow the bond between you to encourage others to live life with extravagant love. May the joy you find in the adventures ahead of you become contagious and spread to all those who your lives come in contact with.  May your hearts and home be open to those God brings across your path to share life with.

The true beauty of marriage occurs in the years that follow the wedding day.  It’s found in the hands that have learned to hold tightly to each other come what may.  In the eyes that hold a lifetime of stories shared and memories made, and whose simple presence makes life sweeter.  It’s a beauty that comes from a life lived well and lived together.  May you live each moment as a decision to love one another fully and always more so than before.  There is no greater adventure for you to experience and no greater gift than to walk through life with your best friend at your side.