I really appreciated the illustration this Sunday of putting on “goggles” and how the lens we look through affects our vision. I love when Pastor Jason gives us a visual on stage — like putting on the glasses of fear, anger, jealousy, insecurities and anxiety.
If I’m being honest, at one time or another I’ve worn every single one.
This week specifically I wore the glasses of fear and anxiety as I heard about the world news. I found myself scrolling through the headlines and opinions of others as the Holy Spirit gently warned, “put down the phone Erika…choose to trust me.”
Just the other day I wore the glasses of anger as I tried to make sense of a loved one’s health diagnosis. “How is this fair, God?” I asked with some lingering bitterness in my heart.
This year I’ve picked up the glasses of insecurity many times…listening to the enemy tell me I wasn’t “good enough” or “cut out for this” as I struggled privately in my own thought life.
One word stood out to me specifically this past Sunday, as Pastor Jason was talking about our response to God in times like these — the word he used was resist.
He put it this way: “Holiness has to do with relationship, obedience, and resistance.”
In my romantic-leaning mind, the word “resist” doesn’t come up for me as way to show God obedience and love. Resist seems like hard work…and why does love have to be such hard work?
But as believers we know it’s not about the “work” we do…but about God’s grace in growing us through sanctification — the process of becoming more like Christ.
But “resistance” is an active word. A very active word. As I thought more about this, I realized that I often “resist” a lot in my relationships so that I can show the other person I truly love them. For example, being married is an active resistance against attraction to other people. Or the times we “resist” saying exactly what’s on our mind in a conversation because we know it will hurt the other person.
This week as I’ve faced putting on those different “glasses” of fear, anger, anxiety, or insecurity…I know that God is pleased when I actively resist and take off those lenses — perhaps even throwing them down in the process!
It’s the act of obedience that says, “I will redirect my thoughts to truth, even in the midst of unknowns and uncertainties.”
I see this active resistance in David’s Psalm 42:5-6a where he says:
Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
Can you hear that resistance? Can you hear David fighting to praise even when his eyes want to see calamity in front of him?
Dear friend, as you go about your week, and even throughout every hour of this day, I’m praying that you choose to actively resist. That you choose to trust, that you speak to your own soul when it’s caught up in the anger, or the strife or the “what-if’s”….and that in the middle of it all….you would undeniably see His relentless hand of grace.
If I’m being honest, at one time or another I’ve worn every single one.
This week specifically I wore the glasses of fear and anxiety as I heard about the world news. I found myself scrolling through the headlines and opinions of others as the Holy Spirit gently warned, “put down the phone Erika…choose to trust me.”
Just the other day I wore the glasses of anger as I tried to make sense of a loved one’s health diagnosis. “How is this fair, God?” I asked with some lingering bitterness in my heart.
This year I’ve picked up the glasses of insecurity many times…listening to the enemy tell me I wasn’t “good enough” or “cut out for this” as I struggled privately in my own thought life.
One word stood out to me specifically this past Sunday, as Pastor Jason was talking about our response to God in times like these — the word he used was resist.
He put it this way: “Holiness has to do with relationship, obedience, and resistance.”
In my romantic-leaning mind, the word “resist” doesn’t come up for me as way to show God obedience and love. Resist seems like hard work…and why does love have to be such hard work?
But as believers we know it’s not about the “work” we do…but about God’s grace in growing us through sanctification — the process of becoming more like Christ.
But “resistance” is an active word. A very active word. As I thought more about this, I realized that I often “resist” a lot in my relationships so that I can show the other person I truly love them. For example, being married is an active resistance against attraction to other people. Or the times we “resist” saying exactly what’s on our mind in a conversation because we know it will hurt the other person.
This week as I’ve faced putting on those different “glasses” of fear, anger, anxiety, or insecurity…I know that God is pleased when I actively resist and take off those lenses — perhaps even throwing them down in the process!
It’s the act of obedience that says, “I will redirect my thoughts to truth, even in the midst of unknowns and uncertainties.”
I see this active resistance in David’s Psalm 42:5-6a where he says:
Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
Can you hear that resistance? Can you hear David fighting to praise even when his eyes want to see calamity in front of him?
Dear friend, as you go about your week, and even throughout every hour of this day, I’m praying that you choose to actively resist. That you choose to trust, that you speak to your own soul when it’s caught up in the anger, or the strife or the “what-if’s”….and that in the middle of it all….you would undeniably see His relentless hand of grace.
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.