Sometimes a person comes into our lives for the purpose of teaching us monumental lessons. They come for just a season, and once we’ve learned the lesson, this person will most likely leave as quickly as they came. These folks are not necessarily the most religious, they may not even be Christian, but they’ve worked out within themselves some aspect of truth. The Lord has determined that we need their wisdom regarding this truth, because it is necessary for us to continue growing spiritually. It doesn’t matter who you are, you need people like this in your life. I call them either truth-seekers or truth-speakers. They fit in one of those categories and the worst thing that you or I can do is to ignore the wisdom they present.
If you are able to catch what you’re meant to receive, it might change the trajectory of your life, and you will never forget the lesson that is learned. This has happened to me on more than one occasion, and I must be honest and tell you that these truth seekers and speakers have passed through my life during some of my most challenging seasons. Through God’s grace, they brought clarity to the web of confusion I was experiencing. On one such occasion, I was searching for motivation, something that would inspire me to continue pressing harder than ever. A fierce sister stepped onto the scene and brought fire in her own unassuming way.
She was unapologetically self-assured, and had esteem and confidence in areas where mine had clearly taken a hiatus. I had lost the taste for the things that once brought a sassiness to my humble stride. I was tired emotionally, mentally, and physically. This truth-speaker demanded that everyone around her wake-up, and initially I was very much annoyed by it. I liked things tidy, quiet, unobtrusive, and controllable. She was anything but. It took more energy than I could spare to simply be in her presence, and I surmised that I was dealing with way too much to be bothered. She wasn’t having it. Almost as if I was the snip to her snap, and the zip to her zap, she magnetized herself to me.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT) declares, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” As Christians, there can be no doubt that the love of God transforms us. Our old self is dead, and even though we might be still trying to resurrect her through old memories and downtrodden emotions, she’s gone; never to return.
Romans 5:3-5(NLT) tells us, “3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” God allows us to go through things that remind us of the new creation we’ve become in Christ. This new creation is constructed on faith in him, and tribulations remind us to keep our eyes firmly planted on the cross that has brought us to victory.
My truth-speaker’s eyes were shielded from the lowly, defeated person I believed myself to be at the time. She saw me as one with exponentially greater faith than what I believed myself to possess. I now realize that God had allowed her to see my future in the present, and that’s how she ministered to me uniquely.
I was on the ground, and she picked me up. She shared her story with me, and it is far more remarkable than anything I have ever experienced; and hope I never do. After hearing her testimony, I understood her strength; that it had been forged from being on the ledge constantly, and her faith, from having been rescued by the Lord time and time again. I was on that ledge, not in the way that she had been, but there nonetheless. And she ministered to me as if we both had triumphed together and were basking in the glow of another victory won through God’s glory.
Through her presence in my life, God carried me to the next level of faith in my spiritual walk. She taught me to keep’em guessing, and never let’em see you sweat. We don’t have to look like the sadness we’re going through or have been through in the past. We don’t have to let that youthful, spunky sass fall to the wayside because someone has tried to murder our self-esteem, or because we’ve suffered great loss. No matter our age, we don’t have to lose the vigor that captures the essence of our truest, most spectacular self. Whether we believe it or not, when everyone looks at us, that’s the person they want to see.
We live from the inside out, not the outside in. When our outside is an expression of the faith and love we have on the inside, an indescribable glow becomes our trademark. We must protect this and always guard it, because the enemy wants to steal it. God warns us in 1Peter 5:8 that we have a great enemy, the devil, and he’s looking for an opportunity to devour our souls. We cannot allow this to happen.
Eyes are always upon us. People who we would never suspect know more about us than we think. When it comes to those for whom you are destined to be a light, never let them see the lie the enemy has tried to use to undermine your confidence. And when it comes to the haters, always let them see your faith in God front and center.
If you’re really going through it right now, God didn’t bring you this far to leave you; in the name of Jesus Christ, you will come out on the other side. Yes, we have all experienced some humdingers when it comes to hurt, pain, and brokenness, but we’ve lived through it. We’re alive and kicking. The sadness and disappointment didn’t take us out. That’s something to celebrate! You stand today as a woman that has been transformed into a greater version of yourself. Tribulation has sharpened you and made you stronger, so celebrate your faith in Christ, sister-girl, and wear it well every day.■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“You Don’t Have to Look Like the Sadness You’ve Been Through” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.