Release it!

"Jesus didn't say: "According to God's will let it be done for you"
Jesus did say: "According to your faith let it be done for you"
You're waiting on God to move... but God's waiting on you.

End the stalemate!

Open your mouth son of God! Release the creative power of life with your tongue!Grab hold of the keys to kingdom of heaven and open doors that no one can shut,  and shut doors that no one can open!
Grab hold of your enemies' sword and take off that giant's head!
The fire that's raging in you is contagious!
Release it, beloved! Release it!"

 - Scott VanderWerf

Commmunication

        Miscommunication is a huge road block for the majority of people. Verbal communication is hard enough to get right without adding in all the nonverbal cues we pick up on. Even people who think of themselves as great communicators miss the mark by assuming they can read others well. Countless factors play into a person's expressions. Unless you know each person's individual factors you wont read them correctly - leading to miscommunication.

     There are dangers when judging people by their body language and facial expressions. I used to believe we could read people by their outward expressions, but the more I grow the more I'm realizing how wrong our expressions often are. Many things contribute to the way someone represents themselves and their nonverbal communication. These things include but are not limited to anxiety (fear/worry), depression (chemical imbalances), current events (positive or negative), health/sickness, family life etc.

       When interviewing for a job, or meeting new people we try and put our best foot forward and give a good first impression. However, I didn't know we needed to put work into representing ourselves day in and day out. I just assumed the truth in my heart would show through on it's own. But as I'm currently learning, many things we have no control over  play into how others read us.

         For instance, have you heard of the RBF? Forgive my language, RBF stands for "Resting B*tch Face". I wish it was called something else but that's the popular term. It's when your natural resting face looks mean or serious. I think I've suffered with this my whole life, but only realizing this within the last two years. It makes me wonder how many times I given off the wrong impression when in fact my heart was full of love.

          If I'm not purposefully putting on a pleasant face, my face naturally looks mean - it's just the way my face muscles rest. Am I a mean person? Absolutely not! Actually, if you ask those closest to me they'd say I'm silly, thoughtful and forgiving. By only judging my face you wouldn't know this. I may come across as unfriendly or uninterested when in fact my facial expressions have nothing to do with what's going on inside of me. With this discovery I'm learning not to put a lot of weight in people's faces.

        Along with our face, our expressions to different life events can be misread as well. Miscommunication is a bigger issue than I ever realized and communicating well is a lot more work than I ever imagined! We have different ideas about what reads as -  pleasant, excited, sad, dismissive, accepting, sarcastic, rude etc. We have ideas of what these things sound and look like to us, but others may have a different opinion about those expressions or not even realize they are using the wrong expressions. Unless we are willing to put in the hard work of good communication we likely encounter miscommunication with the majority of people we meet. How many connections are we missing out on because people don't respond or act in a way that lines up with our senses.

           You may read shallowness, phoniness, and sincerity one way, while the friend you're getting to know sees those traits a different way. Unknowingly they end up giving mixed messages about their sincerity because they don't have a "mirror" to see themselves. Anxiety may be causing them to give off the wrong signals, causing you to read them wrong. There are so many things that factor into a person's nonverbal communications. How many relationships have we walked away from over miscommunication. 

        Look at criminals, they are master communicators. Some of the worst serial killers walked among normal people and were held up as model citizens until their exposure. They mastered good communication to a certain extent in order to manipulate our senses and build trust. Most people however don't study human behavior that closely, we don't have criminal minds or criminal motivations. We go our whole lives misrepresenting ourselves, or believing the wrong things about others. Nonverbal communication is a huge obstacle simply because we don't know we're doing it wrong or that it even exists.

           From here on out I'm going to give extra grace to people and give the benefit of the doubt, realizing most people don't know what they are actually communicating. Miscommunication is the cause of  many walls that separate us. As I continue to see the stones that build these walls, I'll continue to write and expose them in hopes we can grow in unity and love for one another.

I Didn't Know My Own Strength

Lost touch with my soul
I had nowhere to turn, I had nowhere to go
Lost sight of my dream
Thought it would be the end of me

I, I thought I'd never make it through
I had no hope to hold on to
I, I thought I would break

I didn't know my own strength
And I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn't know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour, my faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up, hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn't know my own strength

Found hope in my heart
I found the light to life my way out of the dark
Found all that I need here inside of me

Oh, I thought I'd never find my way
I thought I'd never lift that weight
I thought I would break

I didn't know my own strength
And I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn't know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour, my faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up, hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn't know my own strength

There were so many times
I wondered how I'd get through the night
I thought I took all that I could take

I didn't know my own strength
And I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
Oh, I didn't know my own strength

My faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up, I hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn't know my own strength

I was not built to break, no, no
I got to know my own strength

What is community?

        What is community? Throughout the Bible I see pictures of Christians living life together as one, yet I've never seen this in my own life. I've seen a few missionary groups live this way, but they excluded anyone outside of their circle. I've seen random secs of Christians here and there form community, but rarely. I haven't seen it as the norm. Why is that? How is it possible for Christians to suffer from extreme loneliness when there are members of the Body of Christ everywhere? How have we be become so independent in our living and moving around day to day? 

        If there is community it's usually a group of people who idolize a leader of some sort, so the community is based off of mutual worship of a pastor or famous person within the church, it's not based on true fellowship - oneness of spirit and worship of God. How would we even create a healthy thriving community of believers? 

       I wish more people would begin asking these questions within themselves. Questions lead to answers and answers lead to solutions/change. This has been my prayer for a while now. We need God answers, God solutions, because what we've been doing as the church hasn't been working. There are to many people left out. There are many who are disconnected and scattered. 

          We've focused on many things as the church, but the main focus that will continue to take shape is, family. Not just your family and my family, but THE family of God. How do we expect individual families to thrive and function when we as a church are not functioning as a family? Family first. 

         I know part of God's role for my husband and I is to, "gather those who have been scattered", as the Lord told us. Many have given up on community, but they have not given up on Jesus. Let us focus and pray about true community, that we may gather together in power, unity and love - transforming family from the inside out.

What's your story so far?

            For many years I believed the lie that sharing our testimonies was frowned upon because people think you are showing off, and some even labeling those experiences as not from God, or whatever it may be. 

            When you start sharing about God's power and His ability to interrupt our reality the demons start throwing mean and hateful words your way. But we can't let a few spiritual bullies stop us from sharing what God does for us. Our testimonies encourage the ones with hearts after God. Evil people in the church hate the testimonies of the saints, but the true church, the children of God, rejoice over them.

          What's your story? Join with me in asking God how He wants us to share it. :-)