29: Who Jesus Says We Are -- Victorious

Call me crazy, call it elementary. After twenty years in church, four of which were spent attending chapel daily in college, worship has taken on a new meaning in my life. Of course, it is easy to stand up on a Sunday morning and sing the words towards the ceiling. Its even easy to lift your hands. But internalizing the words and making them your own is quite a different story. For me, that process began a few months ago. Honestly, I can't even remember the particular song we were singing that morning, but I'm sure it had something to do with becoming victors over the giants in our lives, demons fleeing, and coming to life through Christ. I began to really consider the words, and thinking about the giants in my life. I thought about the demons that have plagued me -- things like family issues, my own anxiety, fear, depression, and self-injury. Some days, those things seem insurmountable, especially when the enemy sneaks in the back door to whisper that my pain is insignificant.

The Trauma said don't write this poem. No one wants to hear you cry about the grief inside your bones. My bones said write the poem. -- Andrea Gibson, The Nutritionist

What I realized is that through worshiping -- by speaking God's word back to Him, I could become the victor of every battle, knowing that Jesus has won the war.

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I know what you might be thinking. Of course, I had read the scripture. I knew that I could do all things through Christ, and that he has made me more than a conqueror. Intellectually, I knew it like the back of my hand. But my heart had to catch up. Isn't that the way it always goes? It is for me, at least. Even after an entire lifetime spent singing the songs and lifting my hands, I am quick to forget that which I have not hidden in my heart and bound around my neck. I write here to remember. 

All of the sudden, I was singing about my giants falling and my demons fleeing, and dry bones coming alive. My dry bones. 

I realized how thirsty I was -- how desperate I was for a victory that was already mine. And God met me in that place of desperation. The Holy Spirit was gracious to remind me that I am never alone in the heat of these battles.

No matter what I face, He is good, and He is able, and He is with me.

[Tweet "No matter what I face, He is good, and He is able, and He is with me."]

Greater is He that is in me, that inhabits my praise and calls me daughter. Greater is He than anxiety, depression, fear, and circumstance. Isn't that the most amazing promise?

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Some Fine Print:

This is the twenty-ninth of thirty-one installments to be posted throughout the month of October. To view the entire table of contents as it is made available, click here. You can receive the entire series in your inbox for free by subscribing via email (no spam, just my heart by way of weblog). Please feel free to pass these words along to a friend. Sharing is caring!