Given my life to the only one
Who makes the moon reflect the sun
On that starry night
He changed my life
Given it all to the only son who gave me hope when I had none
So let the praises ring
He is everything
‘Starry night’ by Chris August
One of the loneliest times I’ve ever been through was working through a divorce as a Christian and a worship leader in the church.
Who was I supposed to talk to about my pain?
In my community, there was no Christian who had ever been through such a thing and the whole idea was frowned upon anyway… I felt so terribly lonely and it was then that I decided to write a book.
Trials happen to Gods people all the time.
It’s nothing to be ashamed of.
In fact we should wear our scars proudly because they are Abba Father’s fingerprints on our lives and prove He’s been shaping us to be more like Him.
The unpleasant truth is that especially among us Christians – we feel we need to put on a good front to show the world that we are a little better, more blessed or more holy because we have God…. and we tend to avoid those of us who are going through ‘issues.’
But in reality – we are just as sinful, our children are just as naughty and our marriages are just as challenging as everyone else’s on the planet.
The difference between us and the world is not in the circumstances – but in how we handle those circumstances that tells us apart.
Just because we go through trials doesn’t mean we’re bad Christians.
And we need to have the grace to let others go through their trials too – and trust Abba Father that he is working great things in their hearts, strengthening their spiritual muscles and training them up to reign with Him one day.
(And boy, do we Christians need work on our puny little spiritual muscles.)
We need to be aware of who we are in Jesus and what Abba Father is grooming us for.
We need to realize that we are training to be warriors, great men and woman of faith and NOT …
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away!
2 Timothy 3:5 (NKJV)
I decided to write a book to encourage others who go through ‘bad stuff’ with their kids, families, marriages etc. that:
- It’s nothing to be ashamed of;
- It’s a precious time of drawing near to Abba Father and experiencing Him in 3D, colour and virtual reality as you learn to walk in His ways;
- It’s a blessing to others as they see you wrestle with Him and begin to change;
- In our weakness He is strong…. Let the world see our normal average humanness and (in contrast) God’s awesomeness. He gets the glory not us. It’s simple.
But are we prepared to forgo the glory and not take credit for being such a godly, perfect example of a Christian?
I pray we have the guts to be transparent and allow our lives to reflect Gods glory just like the moon that has no light of its own but glories in reflecting the light of the Son.