i've been thinking about me
wondering who I am
trying to be somebody
wondering if i can
i look into the mirror
have this silent fear
there is no one really there. . .*
It is quite remarkable to see how little we regard ourselves and understand just who we are meant to be. Rather than face-up to our own futility and mortality, we insist on hiding behind various facades that mask our true being. This past week I pointed out to my congregation just how important this openness to God and to each other really is to our spiritual growth and development. If we are not able to see ourselves through God's eyes then we will not be able to properly put away our old nature in hopes of taking up our newness in Christ.
Still having these thoughts jogging through my mind, I ran across this in today's reading:
"God has an incredibly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things. I have been told that I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that Jesus believes in me. I have been told that I need to have faith in God. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that God has faith in me.
The rabbi thinks we can be like him."**
How interesting it is that the paradox of the Christian faith brings us to the place where we readily see our weakness in order for us to readily accept our strength that comes from God. We must learn to lose in order to find (or something like that).
And when we come to the place where we can get beyond ourselves and embrace the truth found in Jesus' words, "I chose you. . ." we will find a closeness to the Father of which we've never before imagined. The key is found only through the letting go of all that we try so hard to grab hold of in this life. But the strength for this cannot be summoned from within ourselves, but through the change in perspective that God does indeed believe in us.
The Father's belief in us is readily evident: he has entrusted the work of the church to us.
And the scary thing about God is that he never established a Plan B.
Lord, i feel the wonder of this world
when i understand
through your loving eyes you see
the wonder of who i am*
*Eighth Wonder : written by White Heart (Freedom, 1989.
**Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 134.
1 comment:
Speaking of the amazon.com reviews, I noticed that the most biting comments came from people who obviously did not read the entirebook (not that it is some grand accomplishment), or they do not understand the concept of reading in context. Of course, they could just be taking bits and pieces from Rob's book and making them say what they want just like they've been taught to read their Bibles, so it's hard to blame them too much for that. . .
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