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Jun
House Of Mirrors
When the leaves begin to turn colors and the air gets a littler crisper at night, fall festivals start taking place in cities and towns all across America. It’s a special time of year when everyone in town comes together to celebrate their community over amusement rides, chili cook-offs, and funnel cake. There is so much to see and do at the fair you don’t know where to begin.
You and a few of your friends hand over two tickets and enter one of the favorite attractions in the House of Mirrors. As everyone goes their separate ways, you get misplaced from your group and lost amongst the hundreds of mirrors. Out of the corner of your eye, you see reflections of your friends in a few of the mirrors. Numerous reflections, but only one is where you friends will be found. You try to pursue them and head towards a reflection. WHAM! Your head smacks up against a mirror. Wrong reflection.
Your second and third attempt produce similar results. Just when you think you are on the right track there comes another dead end. Frustrated and sore you give up your pursuit and head towards the exit. From the way the walls are constructed to the angles of the mirrors, the purpose of the ride is to mess with someone’s spatial and visual senses. The shapes in the House of Mirrors give the participants unusual and confusing reflections of themselves and those around them.
Whether we realize it or not, we tend to live our lives like we are in that House of Mirrors by engaging in the game of self-preservation. Even though we crave to be in relationships with others where we are known, vulnerability is something we fear at the same time. Our culture has programmed us to keep people at arm’s length. We have grown into a society that seldom trusts the intention of other people and because of this we are often apprehensive about letting people know us.
This is not meant to imply that you don’t have close friends or anyone in your life that really knows you. But even in those relationships there are often barriers that are erected to manage an image that we want to maintain. The barrier to developing authentic relationships is self-preservation. In general, we want others to perceive us better than we even perceive ourselves. We often struggle with disappointing other people or not measuring up to some standard that always feels out of reach.
We are afraid that if we take off our masks or expose our problems, we will be rejected. At the fall carnival, we shun the rejected like the Bearded Woman, Two Headed Boy and Midget Lady to the House of Freaks. We pay our money and snap our pictures as we gaze at people who don’t fit in to normal society. We struggle with whether others will perceive us as normal or not.
What we fail to realize is that everybody has a habit they struggle to control, a past they can’t undo, an insecurity they hide, or a flaw they are desperately trying to correct. The good news is we don’t believe anyone is normal or has it all together. Everyone is crazy. Unfortunately, if things remain the same and we allow self-preservation to exist, we hinder our spiritual formation and growth.
If we are to survive and continue to grow out of our struggles we need a community around us to encourage us. If we are more concerned with our own self-preservation we will hide behind an image that we want others to have about us. Our desire for self-preservation is often at the expense of developing authentic relationships with those around us. So how do we start? As with all things, we center on God.
If we are going to develop authentic relationships, we have to be authentic ourselves and authentic with God about where we are. Authenticity is an accurate reflection of truth. Authenticity enables us to truly reflect where we currently are in our relationship with God. Whether it is good, bad or ugly, our honesty serves as a starting point for conversations to begin and change to occur.
- There are many reasons we have for not engaging with others. What barriers are you constructing that are preventing others from seeing the real you? How is this hindering your pursuit of your One Word?
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Colossians 2:9-10 and Psalm 139:23-24. According to these verses, what does it mean to be authentic before others and God? Would you say you are being authentic before God or engaging in self-preservation? What makes you answer in the way that you do?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!
Jun
SHARING IS BELIEVING
Have you ever had to make a decision and in the process of sharing it with someone you come to your own conclusion before they even get out their third “uh-huh?” Things just sound different in our head than they do when said out loud. The same concept is true in understanding how your word is taking shape in your life.
Philemon 1:6
“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”
Have you been struggling with applying your word? If so, talking it out is a sure way to gain some insight on what may be hindering you. Community is what helps us see the forest for the trees. If your word is just a private matter then you risk not seeing the big picture of what God is doing. When you open up to your community, and discuss what you are learning throughout this journey, your understanding of how God is using your word increases. Even if the opposite is true, and my one word has been a great experience thus far; Acknowledging every good thing that takes place in your life is a reminder for you of God’s faithfulness. Reminding yourself of the progress you have made puts you in a position to better receive and apply what God has revealed to you.
Another way of looking at the word sharing, in the verse above, is that of participation. When we open up to others concerning our word, this encourages them to do the same. Suddenly, there is a common thread, a partnership between us. This sense of partnership encourages us to view each others word as equally important to God. By sharing with one another we are exploring what God has given us for the formation that we want to see take place.
Our walks are designed to be a collaboration. We are to serve and support one another in love. This begins by actually opening up and sharing, both the good and the bad. It’s just as important to celebrate our small achievements as it is to admit when we aren’t making the kind of progress that we had hoped we would. In doing so, we discover a common bond that is sure to bring clarity and encouragement for moving forward.
Jun
DOING OUR PART
The first word that I picked, three years ago, was humility. At the time, my wife and I had just closed a business, and had a newborn son. There was no work to be found, especially for someone with an advertising background. I eventually found a job as a dishwasher at a cafe and market. Most of my interview was spent convincing my potential employers that I was serious about the job. I was hired but admittedly, it was difficult for me to think about being stuck behind a sink, and up to my elbows in pots and pans. So, I accepted that maybe God was going to use this experience to humble me and it did, but it also did something I wasn’t expecting, it had a direct impact on those around me.
As a husband and father, I didn’t exactly feel like much of a provider working a part-time job, at a less than desirable hourly rate, but my wife saw things differently. The fact that I would do whatever I could to support our family helped her apply her word at the time, which was release. My humility in taking that job encouraged her to release some of her worry, or need for control in her own life, taking the pressure off of herself and putting her trust in God.
Gods plan is to use the change taking place within you to cultivate change in your family, your neighborhood, your job, and your church. Ephesians chapter 5 talks about different gifts being given to people “for the equipping of the church.” The Greek word for equipping is katartizo and it means to cause something to function properly. This same principle applies to your word. God wants to use your word to ensure that your church, as a whole, functions properly. What an awesome thought!
When we pick our word we spend a lot of time trying to find that perfect word that defines our lives. I would like to challenge you to think about how your word not only defines your life, but also the lives of those around you, and the church as a whole.
There are words, such as serve, that seem more far-reaching and have an obvious effect on other people. Then there are those words that seemingly only affect the individual such as faith, or persevere. So does that mean that one word carries more significance than the other when it comes to having an impact on your community? Of course not! There is a wide variety of words out there and each one has something unique to contribute to the growth of those around you. You have no idea how your word may overlap with another persons word; there is always going to be someone who will benefit from what God is doing in your life.
- Has your word helped someone else in their walk with God, or given them a new perspective on their word? If so, how has this encouraged growth in your own life?
- Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 Reflect on how your word can be part of Gods plan for your family, friends, work, and church.
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!