What Message Are You Proclaiming?
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him." ~ Psalm 62:5
What message are you proclaiming? The pastor at church asked this question of the congregation yesterday and it has had me thinking ever since. What message is my life proclaiming? These days, I'm really not sure. I know what I would like my message to be but do I do a good job of living it out each day? Probably not.
The truth is that Christ came to save this sinful and fallen world. That's what His entire life and ministry was about. During his 3 years of ministry, He healed the sick, caused the blind to see, the lame to walk and the deaf to hear. He fed thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. He rose people from the dead, even Lazarus who had been dead for four whole days. He called ordinary men to be his disciples and lived out the greatest message of all - salvation through believing in Him. His greatest triumph was over the grave, when He rose three days after being crucified for sins He never committed. He lived each day proclaiming His message for all the world to see.
What is the message I want to proclaim? What is it that Christ has done in my life that has changed the person I am? One thing comes immediately to mind: He has given me hope. Yes, He has given me salvation and an eternity with Him and for those things I am extremely grateful. But hope was something I lived without for so long, it was something I searched so hard to find but never could. Hope always seemed just out of reach and impossible to grasp for a lot of my life.
I grew up believing there was something innately wrong with me that made people unable to love me. My mom left when I was three and even though I hoped every day that she would come back, she never did. Shortly after, my grandfather began molesting me and I hoped every day that it would be the last time, and for seven years, it wasn't. When I finally did tell about the abuse, I lost relationships with everyone on my dad's side of the family and even though I hoped for restoration one day, it has yet to come.
I hoped for a lot of things growing up and some of those things, I still hope for today. But Christ has given me a different hope that no one can ever taken away. He has given me the hope that life can be different. For many years, I was consumed by the darkness and evil of what happened to me when I was little and as hard as I tried, I couldn't overcome it on my own. Then a teacher in high school introduced me to Christ and lived out His example in my life and even though it took me a few years of searching, the week that I graduated from high school, I gave my life to Christ. In return, He gave me hope. Hope that I was worthy of His love, of His acceptance, of His forgiveness, and of His grace. Hope that I didn't have to live in darkness, hope that with His help, I could overcome the evil of my past. He gave me hope that no matter what man may do to me, He will always be there to love me, to pick me up, and to guide me all of my days.
When I was in college, I began working through the abuse I suffered at the hands of my grandfather and God gave me many opportunities to speak out and help others in the same situation. I spoke on panels during Sexual Assault Awareness Week, I did interviews with the local newspaper, I spoke during a training for volunteers, and I spoke with a class on campus. I had a website and on-line support group both dedicated to helping other abuse survivors. I was very outspoken about what I had been through and always gave Christ as the reason for the hope that I had found.
Now I find myself asking what has changed? I still have that hope from Christ that He can, and will, heal and deliver me but I've stopped telling people. Why? I can give the excuses of not having those connections on campus anymore or the fact that I shut down my website and discontinued the support group for various reasons. But those are just that - excuses not to proclaim the message of hope that Christ has given me.
So I am asking that you join me in prayer as I seek God's will for how to share this hope He has given me. I've thought about writing a book or publishing some of the poems I have written, but I've never gotten past just thinking about it. Pray that God show me what was I can share this message of hope.
What about you? What message are you proclaiming with your life? What message would you like to proclaim with your life that you aren't? Let's all speak up and speak out! Christ didn't rise from the grave just so we could keep quiet, we need to tell the world!!
What message are you proclaiming? The pastor at church asked this question of the congregation yesterday and it has had me thinking ever since. What message is my life proclaiming? These days, I'm really not sure. I know what I would like my message to be but do I do a good job of living it out each day? Probably not.
The truth is that Christ came to save this sinful and fallen world. That's what His entire life and ministry was about. During his 3 years of ministry, He healed the sick, caused the blind to see, the lame to walk and the deaf to hear. He fed thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. He rose people from the dead, even Lazarus who had been dead for four whole days. He called ordinary men to be his disciples and lived out the greatest message of all - salvation through believing in Him. His greatest triumph was over the grave, when He rose three days after being crucified for sins He never committed. He lived each day proclaiming His message for all the world to see.
What is the message I want to proclaim? What is it that Christ has done in my life that has changed the person I am? One thing comes immediately to mind: He has given me hope. Yes, He has given me salvation and an eternity with Him and for those things I am extremely grateful. But hope was something I lived without for so long, it was something I searched so hard to find but never could. Hope always seemed just out of reach and impossible to grasp for a lot of my life.
I grew up believing there was something innately wrong with me that made people unable to love me. My mom left when I was three and even though I hoped every day that she would come back, she never did. Shortly after, my grandfather began molesting me and I hoped every day that it would be the last time, and for seven years, it wasn't. When I finally did tell about the abuse, I lost relationships with everyone on my dad's side of the family and even though I hoped for restoration one day, it has yet to come.
I hoped for a lot of things growing up and some of those things, I still hope for today. But Christ has given me a different hope that no one can ever taken away. He has given me the hope that life can be different. For many years, I was consumed by the darkness and evil of what happened to me when I was little and as hard as I tried, I couldn't overcome it on my own. Then a teacher in high school introduced me to Christ and lived out His example in my life and even though it took me a few years of searching, the week that I graduated from high school, I gave my life to Christ. In return, He gave me hope. Hope that I was worthy of His love, of His acceptance, of His forgiveness, and of His grace. Hope that I didn't have to live in darkness, hope that with His help, I could overcome the evil of my past. He gave me hope that no matter what man may do to me, He will always be there to love me, to pick me up, and to guide me all of my days.
When I was in college, I began working through the abuse I suffered at the hands of my grandfather and God gave me many opportunities to speak out and help others in the same situation. I spoke on panels during Sexual Assault Awareness Week, I did interviews with the local newspaper, I spoke during a training for volunteers, and I spoke with a class on campus. I had a website and on-line support group both dedicated to helping other abuse survivors. I was very outspoken about what I had been through and always gave Christ as the reason for the hope that I had found.
Now I find myself asking what has changed? I still have that hope from Christ that He can, and will, heal and deliver me but I've stopped telling people. Why? I can give the excuses of not having those connections on campus anymore or the fact that I shut down my website and discontinued the support group for various reasons. But those are just that - excuses not to proclaim the message of hope that Christ has given me.
So I am asking that you join me in prayer as I seek God's will for how to share this hope He has given me. I've thought about writing a book or publishing some of the poems I have written, but I've never gotten past just thinking about it. Pray that God show me what was I can share this message of hope.
What about you? What message are you proclaiming with your life? What message would you like to proclaim with your life that you aren't? Let's all speak up and speak out! Christ didn't rise from the grave just so we could keep quiet, we need to tell the world!!
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