Midweek Encouragement 5/15/24
10 years ago I had some wise mentors of mine recommend a book to me entitled, When People Are Big And God Is Small, written by Ed Welch.
At this point in my life, they saw something in me that I had yet to see in myself. What they saw was a struggle going on within me where I, in the most simplest of words, feared others more than I did God. My emotional, mental, and spiritual struggle was captured merely by the title of that book. God was small. People were big.
Have you ever found yourself here? Feeling like other's opinions of you mattered a lot more than they should? Or maybe you've found yourself relentlessly managing what other people thought of you, trying to say the right things around the right people in order for them to maintain a certain perspective of you. If you've found yourself here - you are most certainly not alone.
Steve has been preaching through a series entitled, "Approved". If you have missed either the first week's message or just this past Sunday, I'd highly encourage you to go back and give it a listen. The theme verse for the series Proverbs 29:15 which says, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." He's done a really great job of leading us through this foundational understanding for life in the Kingdom. He asked a really interesting question at the beginning of the sermon this past week. It is a question we have all asked/are asking at some point:
"If you know too much about me, will you still love me?"
That hits home. Anyone else?
What is the thing in your life that causes you to ask this question? In other words, "if you knew this thing about me, would you still love me?"
The beauty of what we've been exploring in this series is wrapped up, you guessed it, in the title!
Approved.
Not approved by others. But by God Himself! Suppose we were to take the question, "if you knew this thing about me, would you still love me?", and ask that to God instead of other people.
His answer would be a resounding, "YES". In fact, he already knew about that thing and all of the other struggles. He knows everything there is to know about you, and still loves you more than you could fathom.
This title captures a reality of our salvation that is meant to bring us rest. We don't have to keep managing what other people think of us. We don't need to live for the approval of others. We aren't called to spend our mental and emotional energy seeking to please other people. But rather, God has once and for all declared us His own beloved children (1 John 3:1). In response, we are called to serve Him. To seek His glory. To make it our aim to please Him. All of this, done from a place of already being loved by Him more than we could imagine.
So, fellow brothers and sisters, as you go about your week would you live confidently in this reality? Live from the security of the love of God. Allow Him to cultivate rest in your restless hearts so that we can serve Him and love others freely.
It is a blessing to seek first the Kingdom with and alongside you all. See you Sunday!
At this point in my life, they saw something in me that I had yet to see in myself. What they saw was a struggle going on within me where I, in the most simplest of words, feared others more than I did God. My emotional, mental, and spiritual struggle was captured merely by the title of that book. God was small. People were big.
Have you ever found yourself here? Feeling like other's opinions of you mattered a lot more than they should? Or maybe you've found yourself relentlessly managing what other people thought of you, trying to say the right things around the right people in order for them to maintain a certain perspective of you. If you've found yourself here - you are most certainly not alone.
Steve has been preaching through a series entitled, "Approved". If you have missed either the first week's message or just this past Sunday, I'd highly encourage you to go back and give it a listen. The theme verse for the series Proverbs 29:15 which says, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." He's done a really great job of leading us through this foundational understanding for life in the Kingdom. He asked a really interesting question at the beginning of the sermon this past week. It is a question we have all asked/are asking at some point:
"If you know too much about me, will you still love me?"
That hits home. Anyone else?
What is the thing in your life that causes you to ask this question? In other words, "if you knew this thing about me, would you still love me?"
The beauty of what we've been exploring in this series is wrapped up, you guessed it, in the title!
Approved.
Not approved by others. But by God Himself! Suppose we were to take the question, "if you knew this thing about me, would you still love me?", and ask that to God instead of other people.
His answer would be a resounding, "YES". In fact, he already knew about that thing and all of the other struggles. He knows everything there is to know about you, and still loves you more than you could fathom.
This title captures a reality of our salvation that is meant to bring us rest. We don't have to keep managing what other people think of us. We don't need to live for the approval of others. We aren't called to spend our mental and emotional energy seeking to please other people. But rather, God has once and for all declared us His own beloved children (1 John 3:1). In response, we are called to serve Him. To seek His glory. To make it our aim to please Him. All of this, done from a place of already being loved by Him more than we could imagine.
So, fellow brothers and sisters, as you go about your week would you live confidently in this reality? Live from the security of the love of God. Allow Him to cultivate rest in your restless hearts so that we can serve Him and love others freely.
It is a blessing to seek first the Kingdom with and alongside you all. See you Sunday!
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