I’m going to be honest. This stay at home order has been hard on me.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a social butterfly. I thrive off social interaction. I miss coffee dates, I miss family gatherings, I miss meeting as a body of believers. I want to look my friends in the eye when I speak to them, lay my hands on their shoulders when I pray for them, and not always be separated by a screen.
I. MISS. PEOPLE.
You know what else I miss? The unexpected. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type gal – a free spirit if you will – and shelter-in-place orders really cramp my style. I’ve often found myself feeling down and anxious during this weird time. I’ve been contributing those feelings to the fact that I’m extremely extroverted. Currently, I have nowhere to put my social energy and it’s an uncomfortable feeling.
All this extra time has also given me the opportunity to reflect on these feelings. I wish I could say that since I’m a part of this ministry that focuses highly on identity that I always get it right, but I can’t. This time of reflection has left me hungering for reminders of my identity, and just as he always does, God has satisfied my hungry soul. Not because he has to, but because I am his daughter in need of it, and he loves me so much. Here are a few things He has been speaking over me and I pray these words bring a refreshing to your soul.
He says I am healed.
In Isaiah 53:5 we read:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
But what kind of healing is it that we’re in need of? In 1 Peter 2:24, the Bible tells us “that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.”
We are healed for righteousness; you are healed for righteousness. Through Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross we are now healed of a terrible, ugly, debilitating illness. That illness is sin. Don’t we all get so tired of it sometimes? The weight of our sin? I know I do. And then Jesus comes to us and says, “give me the stripes, so she can be healed” and all the weight is gone.
He says I am free.
Not only has God given us healing from the terrible sickness of sin, but he has also given us freedom to live victorious lives. Romans 6, verses 6 and 7, tell us that we were crucified with our savior. We have died with Him and are now completely free from sin’s grasp. Just sit in the joy of that for a moment!
Galatians 5:1 reads “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” This begs the question: Are we still so caught up in current sin that we’re anything but free? Or are we holding our past sins so tightly that we’re suffocating? It does not bring our Jesus joy to watch us choose bondage to sin when he has paid for that with his life, nor does it pleasure him to watch us punish ourselves for our pasts. We are daughters of freedom and we should delight in it!
He says I’m victorious.
In the Old Testament, some principles for governing warfare are being laid out in Deuteronomy 20. God reminds His people that when they are seeing the chariots, horses, and armies of the enemies not to be afraid or doubt Him. In verse 4 it says, “for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
These same words ring true to us today. We may not be fighting flesh and blood wars, but we fight against a very real enemy. Today, King Jesus says to us that he will fight for us and he will save us. We have the victory and we have no reason to fear! The war is won, sisters!
Today, I pray that any feelings we may have of doubt, fear, or uncertainty will be washed away in the sea of God’s truth. My feelings may say I’m sick with sin, but He says I’m healed. My feelings may say that I’m a prisoner to all my failure, but he says I’m free. My feelings may say that I’m a loser bound for defeat, but He says I’m victorious. Thank God that His words are the only ones that matter!
Hi, I’m Brittney Dillon. Wife to Ryan, Mama to four great kiddos, lover of Jesus, and now the Assistant Manager of Content Development here at Worth the Risk. I’m a wanna-be homesteader, a drinker of entirely too much coffee, and a definite girly girl. I have experienced on a deep level the freedom that comes with knowing who you are in Jesus. I pray that you will walk in that same freedom. Let’s let Jesus be the only name by which we define ourselves!
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