The Problem of Pain

Jesus was so focused on his mission that he wasn’t ever stopped by human opinion or offense. Jesus wasn’t easily offendable because he knew who he was and what he came to do. He knew he was the Son of God, and he came to give us eternal life. If you stand firm in your identity and keep your eyes focused on your mission, you will not be moved. In order to get to this place, we must know the truth so deeply that lies are completely ludicrous when we hear them. If we know that we are chosen, we will scoff at anyone who tries to tell us otherwise. If we know that we are loved, we will pay no mind to someone who tries to convince us we are not. If we stay focused on the mission, we will ignore anything that tries to derail us. Followers of Jesus are marked by their focus on Jesus. If we focus on the light, everything outside of Jesus will grow dark. The enemy will try to derail us from the mission of loving people one at a time and making disciples by distracting us with human opinions and filling us with doubt about who Jesus says we are. If we can distrust our identity, we will drop the mission. If we drop the mission, we will cease to bear fruit.  But God gave us everything we need in order to accomplish his mission on earth. He gave us Jesus who made us new. He gave us a new identity. He calls us his sons and daughters. Jesus calls us his friends. God then gives us everything we need to accomplish his mission of growing his Kingdom. If we can remind ourselves of who God says we are, what he has given us to do, and how his power can equip us, we will be unshakeable. Reflection/Discussion Questions: If you find yourself easily offended, what are you struggling to believe God says about you? If not, what has God done in your life to give you freedom from what people think or say?

Take 30 seconds and try to come up with as many things as you can that never change. How did you do? Maybe you came up with some clever answer, but overall, we are surrounded by change. Our lives can change in an instant and we are powerless to stop it. Yet, we are tend to place our identities in things that change or altering our identities to fit the change. We place our identity in our job, our money, our looks, our possessions, our relationships, our kids, our success, or our beliefs. But these things change, fade, rust, disappear, fall apart, let us down, grow old, and never satisfy. Most of the world lives with their identity tied to these unstable things, completely unaware that they could live any differently. What happens when we live out of these identities is we live in anxiety, depression, disappointment, uncertainty, insecurity, anger, hurt, pride, or selfishness. These things are inevitable when we build our lives on that which is unstable. Jesus offers an identity that will never change and can last forever. The identity he gives us isn’t based on worldly things that are guaranteed to shift like shadows. This identity isn’t based on anything we do or don’t do. It isn’t based on anything earthly at all. When we live out of the identity that Jesus gives, we can trust in God’s power and provision, we can have true joy, no matter the circumstances. We can have hope, we can have peace, we can have confidence, we can have strength, we can have freedom. In fact, we were created to live out of the identity that Jesus gives and that is precisely why it is so harmful when we don’t.  When we live out of an identity we weren’t created to live out of, it is much like using a tool that was never created to do the job you’re trying to use it to accomplish. Try digging a 6-foot hole with a spoon. It’s so difficult because a spoon was created to shovel food into your mouth and a shovel was created to dig a deep hole. Similarly, we cannot flourish when we try to live out of an earthly, unstable identity. Reflection/Discussion Question: What are you placing your identity in?

I have a friend I’ve known since high school (which is longer than I care to say at this point!) and while I have been praying for her I have been less vocal with inviting her to church. She has been going through so much and I introduced the Bible app to her and invited her to church recently and God has used these small mustard seeds to begin a beautiful growing process in her, she read the Bible the other day after a particularly frustrating circumstance and said it was helpful! Here is to continuing to pray for her and other opportunities to wreck the roof for the people who God has placed in my life!