“For the Lord God helps Me, therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”
Isaiah 50:7
I can’t tell you how many years I have begged God to change certain circumstances in my life. I don’t want to tell you how long I lamented those circumstances when they did not change and simply grew more difficult as years went by. When seasons of heartache last upwards of 20 years and some 35 years and beyond, one grows weary.
By last fall, I found myself teetering on the edge of despair.
Overwhelmed by the isolation of the storms, weakened by the longevity, and discouraged by the lack of growth, help, intervention, and relationship.
Disquieted because of what seemed as silence from the heavens above in the ongoing midst of these trials.
My nature tends to be more quiet and reserved. Life experience on top of my personal nature has caused me to become more observant and introspective as time goes by. I understand that some people don’t like this about me. I rarely respond as others seem to expect me to and frankly, I no longer even try to. My soul runs deep but I am mostly gentle and simple at heart. I am loyal until betrayed and intensely protective of those I love. Contention, strife, game-playing, blame-shifting … these are all enemies of my soul.
I have been, unfortunately, the ultimate people-pleaser.
And this has gotten me into considerable trouble.
For much of my life, my identity was based on what I heard and perceived from others.
I gathered all the words and perceptions and I built my identity on them.
Not only that, but I carried them throughout my life.
A whole bunch of crap, tied up in a burlap bag, and strapped to my shoulders.
It was a life built on a shaky foundation.
A foundation that I knew God was systematically dismantling, but I admit that I was not fully aware that He was also in the process of rebuilding…
A new foundation grounded in truth and on Christ alone.
A foundation tested and tried because of the very trials I despised.
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Over the last number of years, my studies have often been directed towards certain portions of the Bible over and over. Passages that the Lord knew I needed to grasp in order to change and grow within my circumstances. For a long time, the writings of James and Paul consumed my studies as I sought to understand the purpose of trials and sufferings. Instead of fighting against God in these storms, I needed to learn to walk through them in His strength and leading.
Then 1 Corinthians 13 became a focused part of my pondering and studies. Learning to love others as Christ loves us is often spoken of loftily and easily. The reality is that it is a brutal process of dying to self and learning to seek the good of others before my own. This just does not come easily to any of us, no matter how much we like to pretend it does.
More recently, Hebrews 11 has been the focus and I have to admit, I have not always appreciated this part of my studies. Specifically because these tremendous people of faith died, never getting a happy end to their story.
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises,
but having seen them and welcomed them from a distance,
and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
Hebrews 11:13
This bothered me, to be honest, because I wanted a guarantee that I would have a happy ending here on earth.
The beauty of what is commonly known as the ‘Faith’ chapter is that these warriors of the faith, lived and died (sometimes horribly), not seeing the purpose of their sufferings and trials, yet remaining solid and true until the very end. Their reward was not known to them on this side of eternity.
This has become achingly beautiful to me over time. Living a life of faith and complete dependence on God, without ever knowing relief nor the reason until eternity. These are my heroes. These are my examples. These are the ones I turn to when I grow weary in this journey. These are the cloud of witnesses the writer of Hebrews tells us about:
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witness surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Hebrews 12:1-3
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Last week, I experienced something that has led to all these rambling thoughts. An out-of-the-blue, random, and somewhat public attack on my character.
I was startled and taken aback.
Imagine it like this … envision a woman walking along her life’s journey, neither perfect nor without sin, yet minding her own business and simply accomplishing the tasks before her, when suddenly … randomly … someone hiding behind some shrubbery, hurls a rock in her direction. A rock written with words seemingly intent to inflict harm.
The rock itself doesn’t hurt badly because it was thrown at a distance but still, it stings a little. She finds herself knocked a bit off balance by the surprise of the attack. Stunned by the words written on it.
She knew who threw the rock but still she looked around to see who was watching.
Would anyone come to her defense?
Had they seen the words?
Would they believe them?
She slowly reached down and picked up the rock and as she stood back up holding it, she looked directly at the thrower.
Yes, I see your words and I see you. I see more than you realize.
And then, unsure how to respond, she turned away and continued walking because her journey doesn’t stop simply because someone else chooses to throw stones.
But she was still carrying that rock.
So what do you do with it?
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I have watched a considerable amount of stone-throwing in my lifetime.
Now, just to be clear, I am not talking about confronting a believer with the truth in Scriptures as a means of restoring them to righteousness. That is speaking truth, even though it may come across as hurtful, for someone’s good. It is not stone-throwing. What I am referring to is the intentional (or sometimes even unintentional) use of words that harm or destroy a person’s character, testimony, or their emotional state.
So again I ask, what do you do if you are on the receiving end?
Well, perhaps you are like me. I used to gather everything that was said or that I thought had been said, and I carried them across my shoulders. Not only that, but I would look at them all the time … and I believed them. Those rocks were my identity. I chose those words over Christ.
Thank you Jesus for the cross and that I no longer have to carry that burden. I still do sometimes because it is so familiar to me … but I am free to not do so.
Perhaps you are much more likely to respond quickly in anger, grabbing that stone before it can even touch the ground and hurling back towards the other person.
Matter of fact, there is a good chance you are able to grab a few extra stones lying around to send flying along as well.
Because they deserve it, of course.
Maybe your anger doesn’t ignite that quickly but tends to simmer over time. Eventually, the stones inspire a deep root of bitterness that seeps out through passive-aggressive, snide comments.
How dare they? Don’t they realize how much I have done for them? They owe me. I’m the victim here.
Of course, sometimes we are too intimidated or maybe just unsure how to respond so we bottle it up inside until we explode onto some unfortunate, innocent soul who is completely in the dark.
Children, spouse, random grocery store clerk …
All of these are common, instinctive responses and yet, none of them are right.
None are healthy.
None are righteous.
None follow the example of the Savior, who although completely innocent and pure (unlike you and me), stood silent before his accusers. Nor does it follow the examples of the cloud of witnesses given to us in the book of Hebrews.
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I knelt alone, still holding that stone and reading those words.
Feeling a bit dejected and unsure …
But mostly I felt alone.
But yet, I wasn’t. My Savior stood beside me. The very one who set his face as flint as He stood unashamed before His accusers. The very one who was the only innocent person to ever walk this earth and the only one without sin.
My Savior and my example.
He stood in the silence with me until I handed Him the stone and asked Him to show me what to do. I know I am capable of any of the typical responses but I wanted His help.
Once in His hands, the truth became clear.
The words spoken of me were not true.
Neither were they my identity.
I began to understand anew the purpose of the trials, the trust that can arise from the deepest places of despair, the strength that grows from endurance, and the value of a solid new foundation grounded in the truth of a Savior.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27
You know,there is an interesting thing that can happen when you give an ugly stone that was intended to harm you to Jesus. In my hands, that stone would only continue to be ugly and harmful, whether towards myself or others. But in His hands, those words become meaningless and the ugliness of the rock transforms into a bright and shining pebble, which He carefully places to create beauty along my pathway.
Each stone serves as a reminder of who I am in Christ.
The Brown Bird's Song 