We're Not That Different From Each Other

Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message)
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Hebrews 11 
1. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith Abel..
By faith Enoch..
By faith Noah..
By faith Abraham..
By faith Sarah..
By faith Isaac..
By faith Jacob..
By faith Joseph..
By faith Moses..
By faith the walls of Jericho fell..
By faith the prostitue Rahab..

I walked through the front door of my house and had already changed my mind. I had already doubted, I was sinking in fear and all of the lies that I allow to direct my thoughts on a daily basis and they had all consumed me. I wasn't sure I wanted this as badly as I had thought I did before. 

Surrounded by 1,200 women in downtown Austin this weekend we were filled, challenged, and sent forward to run our race. We watched leaders hands trembling on stage, admit to standing on a rock unsure of what the future will hold, but completely in assurance of who holds our future. We were reminded that we are the generation who can either choose to shrink back or to get in the race and run hard. We can run this race together. 

Its amazing what being around other women who are authentically processing inwardly and outwardly how God is changing their hearts can do to your heart. It gives you strength, courage, and fills your heart with an authenticity that seems to be missing in daily life. It gives you real people to run your race with. You know that you are not alone. 

And then I walked through my front door. 

I remembered that I had valued an easy paycheck over my dreams. I remembered that there were bills to pay, nice furniture I dreamed of owning one day, and a plan for my future that had no place with these dreams I had thought about all weekend. I was still processing what I was carrying on my heart this weekend and the more I thought about it, the more it became much easier to set those dreams aside as "crazy" and be done with it. 

I feel absolutely crazy. Dreaming big dreams feels so unnatural. My deepest insecurities are rising to the surface. And then I remember....

I remember that this hall of faith we read about in Hebrews was made up of sinful, insecurity-filled people who chose something different.. obedience.

They put their toe in the race, not even running full speed, and God did the rest.

They decided that crazy was going to have to be okay with them.

They trusted in a God that was greater, that His promises were stronger, and they may not even get to see the end result of their obedience and faith in their lifetime. They trusted, and they obeyed.

By faith, they obeyed.

My dreams feel absolutely crazy. They feel impossible. I am writing them down, because tonight Im doubting. Tonight I tried to convince myself that it was much easier to ignore this dream, and it probably is. I keep remembering my insecurities, my past, the lies that tell me I will never be good enough..and I am ready to shrink back. I keep telling myself that this isn't part of the big plan. It isn't part of my plan.

I am burning with an unfulfilled responsibility to challenge our generation to get real with their life. To get real with where they've been, and where they are going. To throw off the shame, the regret, the judgement, the fears that come with telling our stories. Because stories can change lives. Stories reveal what is true, what is tough, and what God will always work through.

Stories change people.

Somewhere along the way we've make it seem okay to tell ourselves and the generations coming up behind us that our stories are something to be protected, to be hidden, and to pretend like they never happened. Stories are not valuable to us, they shame us.

These stories, these people we read about in Hebrews, their stories are real. The prostitute, the crazy man building a boat because he heard God tell him about a flood coming, the murderer, they were all used by God in these amazing ways because He redeemed their story. They could walk forward because they refused to be defined by the shameful parts of their story and they were confident in their future.

Its time.

Its time to start dealing with our past, and our future. Its time to start telling our stories. Its time to stop hiding from the shame, the approval of others, the hurt and the time it will take to really deal with what our life from birth to now might have looked like. Its time to start getting real with the people around us.

If we can't show people a God who works through real life, through our sins and imperfections, who takes whats disgusting and completely redeems it, what can we show them?

The funny thing is, once we start sharing our stories we begin to realize that we aren't all that different from each other. The stories may be completely different, the circumstances, the words we use, but at the end of it all we find this common thread. We are all imperfect people searching for what our purpose is. We are empty, and need to be filled.

I listened to two women share their stories this weekend, and not even their complete story. Just a part of it. It was just enough to show everyone listening that a former prostitute and a girl growing up in a safe and encouraging home life could both find themselves at the same exact crossroad and a deep need for Jesus.

You see, we're not that different from each other. So let's stop hiding our stories.

Let's stop letting Facebook and Instagram be a substitute for real life.

Lets get real, because how will others see a real God in our fake stories?