Everything I ever dreamed of, everything I asked for, everything I wanted to be—everything—God has graciously given to me. He has answered all my prayers beyond my wildest imagination, starting with my amazing wife and children to living out my calling and prospering financially. Yet, in the midst of all that, I recently found myself feeling depressed, isolated, disconnected and lonely.
As I looked at my situation, I recognized this truth: If you’re not careful, what’s on you will eventually get in you.
It could be judgment, criticism, abuse, rejection or abandonment. When you let any of those things take root in your heart, they will begin to manifest themselves through your words and actions. For example, when you are accused or attacked, you might respond with pride. Once you lose your humility, you become vulnerable to the enemy’s curses. But a curse without a cause can’t land.
When you allow the Liar to get inside of you, then you’ll begin to feel guilty and ashamed. You’ll close yourself off from the support you so desperately need. Instead of turning to people you trust for prayer and encouragement, you will find yourself stuck in the hole the devil dug for you.
The enemy’s strategy is to disrupt connection. You have a call on your life, but it’s bigger than you. I have a call on my life, but it’s bigger than me. None of us can do what God has called us to do without the help of other people. Together, we make up the body of Christ. Unless you are properly aligned within the body, you will never be able to walk in the fullness of God’s call on your life.
I don’t know where the end of God’s grace is; I just know I’ve been in some really dark places in the last 20 years since I’ve been serving the Lord, and I haven’t found the end of it. His grace will go a whole lot further than anything we can wrap our minds around.
When you find yourself in the worst place you’ve ever been, it’s perfectly acceptable to run to God.
Don’t judge yourself when you mess up. Give yourself grace, and let’s give each other grace. You might feel like you have nobody, but that is a lie from hell. Let’s be a community that a bunch of misfits can connect with. We need each other!
